Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’

Well it’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day and the picture above is NOT what our garden looks like.  The picture is from the same day last year.  This year you have to search really hard to find flowers amid the ice and snow.  We are probably 2 weeks behind last year in flowers.  Here is the same set of Adonis this year.

Adonis in bud

February has been super dreary with low temperatures, cloudy days, and intermittent snow.  What follows is my attempts to find some flowers for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day.  First of all we must give credit to the snowdrops which persist no matter what.

Snowdrops continue in blooming

And then there is that first hybrid Hellebore which started flowering in December.

Helleborus niger HGC® ‘Jacob’

Likewise the Heather hybrid that started flowering in November just continues to ignore the crummy weather.

Krarmer’s Rote Heather still blooming

The Camellia’s have hung in there too, although I know they would like warmer weather.

Camellia sasanqua red still in bloom

A glimpse of Camellia japonica red flower

Double-Pink Camellia japonica wants to bloom

Usually I would expect to see the first witch hazel blossoms by now, but I must say they are much smaller and more beaten back than usual

Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis)

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ (Witch Hazel)

Aside from those instances in the outside world we have to turn to the greenhouse plants.  This Lachenalia came from Gettysburg Gardens last year.

Lachenalia aloides

It is multiplying rapidly in the greenhouse.

There is also another Cyrtanthus which I think I have identified based on descriptions on the Pacific Bulb Socity site.

Cyrtanthus flanaganii Baker

And then lastly, a very cute little false yellow crocus which provides it’s own grassy leaves and bright yellow flowers for multiple weeks.

Nothoscordum sellowianum

Map of our journey

Last year, which now seems like ages ago, we joined an Alpine Garden Tour of Spain and Portugal that was focussed on the various Narcissi that grow naturally there.  For us it was intended to be little bit earlier taste of Spring than we would normally get here in Maryland.  We began with several wonderful days in Porto getting a sense of the culture and the cuisine.  Then we met up with our guide and headed out to our first destination in the hills near the Serra da Estrela National Park

Hotel Rural Quinta da Geia near the Serra da Estrela National Park

As you can see from the citrus, the climate is indeed a notch warmer than our Maryland zone 7a.  But, as it turned out, the first couple of days were definitely on the cool side and we were bundled up with our warmest clothes.  This short movie clip will give you a sense of what it was like to go plant exploring those first two days.

At the end of the day we came back to the warm farmhouse for a lovely meal and after dinner drinks.

Fig Leaf Liqueur

After two days in the mountains we drove down the coast past Lisbon. Along the way we encountered lovely rock rose on the hillsides.

Rock Rose (Cistus albidus)

These are widespread in Portugal but are apparently zone 8-10 in the U.S.

We ended up at Cape Espichel.  The weather was warmer but still not what one would call spring-like.  

Botanizing at Cape Espichel, Portugal

The flowers were incredible though.

Giant Fennel ‘Ferula communis’

It was here where we began to realize that as nice as the Narcissi were the really special aspect of the trip was the display of terrestrial orchids.  These are plants we just don’t get in the U.S.

Sawfly Orchid ‘Ophrys tenthredinifera’

Bee Orchid ‘Ophrys lutea’

Naked Man Orchid ‘Orchis italica’

For the balance of the trip we were located near Ronda, Spain in lovely farmhouse that dates back to Roman times.  The couple managing the hotel were a wonderful source of information about the area.  For four days we traveled out into the surrounding hills looking for flowers.

Hotel Cortijo las Piletas near Ronda, Spain

The picture below gives a good sense as the environment with a sense of discovery around every corner.

Erodium all over the hillsides

Iris planifolia

One morning found us out in a pasture that was full of beautiful little white Narcissi

Botanizing near Ronda Spain

Narcissus panizzianus

But also the characteristic Fritillaria of the area.

Iberian Fritillary ‘Fritillaria lusitanica’

Another day took us to top of a local peak where we could look out across the Asphodelus to the surrounding countryside.

Asphodelus fistulosus on hillside above Ardales, Spain

It turns out that the animals really don’t like Asphodelus (Onionweed) so it is everywhere.

Some of the towns we went through are very picturesque white villages hanging on the mountainside.

Grazelima, Spain

And with more orchids nearby.

Orchis olbiensis

Orchis olbiensis

This was, ironically, near the time when the covid-19 was beginning to spread rapidly around the world.  It was striking to see this image in one of the villages.

Júzcar, Spain

As it turns out we left Spain on one of the last flights before all travel shut down.  Nonetheless we will keep in our thoughts this lovely part of the world with beautiful flowers and remarkable scenery.  I leave this post with this image of Ronda as a place to be returned to someday.

Ronda, Spain

Camellia japonica double pink

Well, I’m super late at posting this month for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day but I’m sure everyone on the planet is aware of all the extraneous forces gobbling up our time and attention.  We returned from a botany tour in Spain and Portugal just under the wire from the border closings and we’re now under self-imposed quarantine while we enjoy the flowering bounty that we found here in Maryland.  The camellia’s are particularly abundant.  I’ve never seen all five of our japonicas blooming at the same time before and with so many flowers!

Camellia japonica double pink

Camellia japonica double pink

Camellia japonica double white

Likewise the Hellebores are enthusiastically greeting the spring.

Hellebore double pink

Helleborus double white

Some of the Helleborus flowers are really exceptional.

Helleborus ‘Peppermint Ice’

Helleborus x hybridus PDN double bicolor

The daffodils are the other mainstay for this season, though it seems like they are all coming at once.

Narcissus ‘Little Gem’

40 year-old planting of King Alfred’s

Narcissus ‘Edinburgh’ on orchard hill

Narcissus ‘Tropical Sunset’

The daffodils on our hillside number into the thousands by now and they are seem to be having a great year.

The star magnolia is always a sign that springtime is here and it’s almost two weeks ahead of last year’s blooming.

Magnolia stellata

As I walk about the yard there are lots of smaller joys of springtime as well.

Iris unguicularis

Ipheion uniflorum ‘Tessa’

Mukdenia rossii ‘Karasuba’

Jeffersonia dubia

Primula vulgaris

Corydalis solida ‘Gunite’

Haquetia

The glory of the snow has its little blue flowers all over our pasture and woods at this point.  But I planted a few of the selected cultivar in the perennial garden and they are quite showy.

Chionodoxa forbesii ‘Blue Giant’

Chionodoxa forbesii ‘Pink Giant’

And a very special little Fritillaria always garners my attention.

Fritillaria stenanthera ‘Cambridge’

Fritillaria stenanthera ‘Cambridge’

When I look at the alpine beds and troughs there are some really special things showing up. Dionysia are happier in Turkey and usually our winters don’t work for them outside on the East Coast, but this one came through just fine.

Dionysia aretioides

Saxifraga ‘Valerie Keevil’

Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’

This is a new tulip for me obtained from Odyssey Bulbs last year.  Notice the very crinkled foliage.

Tulipa vvedenskyi

And from John Lonsdale I got a marvelous compact Asphodelus.

Asphodelus acaulis

Paradoxically, even as the springtime is bursting forth with flowers we are getting an outpouring of flowers in the greenhouse, some of which just have to be brought inside.

Green Amaryllis

Clivia in the House

Yellow Clivia in the House

But there are also many other little items in the greenhouse.

Scilla peruviana white

Freesia ‘Red River’

Sparaxis Hadeco hybrid

Babiana rubrocyanea

Babiana purpurea

But probably the most unusual flowers in the greenhouse are the various Ferrarias.  They are the appropriate end to this extra-long posting.

Ferraria ferrariola

Ferraria punctata

Ferraria divaricata

Lycoris radiata

A total surprise for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day is this lovely Lycoris.  It started blooming last week and I almost missed it because it’s been terribly dry and not very rewarding to check out the growing things.  In general it’s been more a case of survival with less than a 1/4 inch of rain in September and only just now getting a few drops.

We can still count on the annual zinnias, marigolds, and cosmos, but we’re definitely on the light side for flowers right now.  

The Nasturtium in Beth’s raised bed have been putting on quite a show.

Very happy Nasturtium

A couple of the perennials that reliably show up, even with drought are shown below.

Japanese anemone ‘Whirlwind’

Tricyrtis ‘Sinonome’

And a first time plant for us that may or not be perennial is the Cestrum.

Cestrum x ‘Orange Peel’

This flowers all during the growing season in our area.  And it just keeps getting bigger.

There are also some lovely flowers still hanging on the Hydrangea by the back porch.

Hydrangea ‘Limelight’

One of the troughs that I inherited from a member of the Potomac Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society has a delectable little Sedum growing in it.

Sedum cauticola (?)

I noticed in the alpine bed several flowers on one of the Daphnes, and that seems quite out of season.

Daphne collina x cneorum

Also in the alpine bed the Sculletaria continues to flower, as it has all year long.

Scutellaria resinosa

In the greenhouse itself, there is a marvelous little gloxinia-looking plant from Bolivia.

Seemannia nematanthodes

The color on this little beauty is really remarkable.

And just outside the greenhouse is a little Zephyranthes that has jumped ship into the alpine bed.

Zephyranthes sp. escapee

Speaking of escapees the grass in the orchard has all of a sudden become Japanese stiltgrass.  This is an almost total takeover in one year.  It’s quite beautiful, but definitely invasive.

Japanese stiltgrass

I did mow it after taking pictures.  Ideally one does this before it sets seeds for next year.