
Greenhouse in January
This is one of the very few postings where there are no GBBD photos of flowers on the outside. The reason being extreme cold and snow blanketing the hillside.

Snowy hillside in January
The best I can offer are flowers in the greenhouse that are actually quite nice and well worth bringing in the house.

Cyclamen graecum
There are actually some orchids that I am keeping in the greenhouse at the moment. And some lovely Cyrtanthus on the way.

Orchid and Cyrthanthus in the greenhouse
Meanwhile outside all you can see are some early daffodils patiently awaiting their turn.

Rinjveld’s Early Sensation showing tips.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day December 2024

Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana)
Well there is not much outside for this Garden Blogger Bloom Day. I see some burnt-off Camellia Flowers and there are just a couple of early snowdrops in the woods, but mostly we are finally seeing some evidence of winter with temperatures down to the mid-20’s. The most colorful flowers I can share at this point are in the greenhouse like the Princess Flower up above. I expect that it will continue to flower all winter long.
There is an absolutely lovely Greek Cyclamen from Edgewood Gardens which just continues to get bigger every year.

Cyclamen graecum
This year we bought a very nice Cyclamen persicum from Abernethy & Spencer in Virginia

Cyclamen persicum
This will definitely never be an outside plant but they are easy to care for and flower for a very long time. I had one that lasted for over 20 years in a windowsill in my government office at one point.
One of the bulbs I’ve gotten from the Pacific Bulb Society many times is Freesia. Very easy to grow and always nice to look at.

Freesia
One of my favorites in the greenhouse are the Nerines from South Africa. This particular one came via Far Reaches. It has particularly large and long-lasting flowers.

Nerine ‘Pink Triumph’
And then finally I would note that I do see the Adonis on their way with nice fat buds.

Adonis buds
I expect to see early flowers next month.
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day November 2024

Camellia x ‘Yume’
Well I have to say that camellias dominate the local flower landscape for this GBBD. We had a dry and very warm Fall. All of the Camellia sansanquas and hybrids are in bloom as shown above and below.

Camellia sasanqua red

Camellia sasanqua red

Camellia sasanqua ‘Double Rainbow’

Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic’
But in addition several of the Spring blooming camellias are showing flowers.

Camellia japonica red

Camellia japonica double pink
As I said it’s been unusually warm. One of the surprising things I’ve noticed is that the Loropetalum, which is only marginally hardy in this area has grown substantially this year. It is literally creeping up the house.

Loropetalum almost ten feet tall
And even more amazing it has flowers showing already.

Loropetalum chinese var. rubrum ‘Zhuzhou fuschia’ in flower
Elsewhere in the yard there are seasonal signs

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

Corydalis lutea flowers until frost

Daphne × transatlantica ‘Eternal Fragrance’
This Daphne flowers almost all the time.
We were threatened with frost this week but it didn’t really happen. We ended up moving most of the fragile items into the greenhouse, but to make room we had to take a very large Elephant Ear out.

Alocasia ‘Sumo’
And then we ended up putting it in the entryway to the house where it makes a definite statement.

Alocasia ‘Sumo’ in the entryway
Also in the greenhouse is a nicely flowering Nerine

Nerine undulata
and a very early Freesia

Freesia fucata
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day October 2024

Dahlia ‘Mai Tai’
Well it’s another month of flowers and I am very reminded by GBBD that accounting for the flowers in bloom during October brings the dahlias very much front and center. Each year we think we will more carefully label and support the dahlias and each year we have them sprawled all over a row in the vegetable garden with no support at all. Nevertheless we pick and enjoy the flowers and swear will do better by them next year. They are certainly worthwhile.

Dahlia ‘Taboo’

Dahlia ‘Maui’

Dahlia ‘Excentric’

Dahlia ‘Pooh’

Dahlia ‘Picasso’

Dahlia ‘Garbrielle Marie’
You can see the use of these dahlias in the center of our new kitchen.

Dahlias in the new kitchen
Next to the Dahlias we always have a sequence of gladiolia in the garden.

Gladiolus ‘Black Cherry’
Of course there are many other flowers in the garden for fall, especially some of the annuals.

Tithonia ‘Mexican Sunflower’

Nasturtium
And some of the reliable perennials

Toadlily (Trycyrtis ‘Sinonome’)

Crocus Rose

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’

Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’

Crocus Fall -speciosus
But the other thing that happens in this season is that we begin to see the first of Camellias that will contribute to the yard for the next 6 months.

Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic’

Camellia x ‘Survivor’
There are also a few greenhouse plants that worth sharing.

Nerine ‘Peppermint’

Nerine Zinkowski hybrid

Oxalis hirta ‘Gothenburg’

Plectranthus
And one last thing I wanted to mention. We planted a Heptacodium two years ago and it flowered for the first time this Fall. What was striking to me was not the flowers but the red leaf bracts which follow afterwards. I can see how this is going to be lovely small tree.

Heptacodium miconioides ‘Temple of Bloom’
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day April 2024
Well, I am spectacularly late for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day this month. My excuse is that we went to England in April and had a chance to visit some of the world’s most delightful gardens. We spent one day at Kew and and another day at Wisley and soaked up tons of inspiration for the future.

Kew Garden

Wisley Garden
Arriving back home we found many things in bloom and some past bloom (as expected). But I will share some aspects of the yard just to provide an insight as to what is going on here. The redbuds, dogwoods, and wisteria are fully out now and the apples are the last of the fruit trees to be flowering but they have a very strong bloom this year.

Pink Dogwood in the front yard

Fragrant Cloud Dogwood

Kwanzan Cherry is finished

Apple Orchard getting organic spray with radish flowers in abundance
The peonies have both finished blooming for some (P. caucasica) and just now blooming for others (P. mariei for example).

Paonia mairei

Early Tree Peony
We were delighted to see the Loropetalum get a full bloom this year. It’s marginal in our climate but the winter was very mild this year.

Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum ‘Zhuzhou Fuschia’
There are many flowers happening at the moment ranging from very tiny iris to greenhouse delights and onto spectacular wisteria and trillium springing forth.

Iris henryi

Watsonia from the Greenhouse

Viburnum carcephalum

Trillium grandiflorum
In the alpine bed we have pulsatillas, poppies and delosperma.

Pulsatilla albana v. flavescens

Morrocan Poppy (Papaver atlanticum)

Delosperma basuticum
And out in the woods we find numerous surprises.

Narcissus ‘Badgeworth’

Camassia in the woods

Shooting Stars (Dodacatheon meadia) in the woods

Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-Pulpit) in the woods

Viburnum prunifolium (Blackhaw)
Altogether there are wonderful things happening everyday. And now more to plant…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day March 2024

Picking basket
It seems sometimes that Springtime comes all at once and this is one of those occasions. We wait through much of the winter looking for a crocus or a snowdrop to peek through and then when temperatures come like they have this month we have an explosion of flowers for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many daffodils, hellebores, and camellias all asking for a place at our dinner table.
The camellias have been amazing this year where they have somehow avoided the usual cold spells that often brown the blossom edges.

Camellia japonica white

Camellia japonica double pink

Camellia japonica double pink
This particular double pink is absolutely huge for this local area, probably twelve feet in height now.
And the hellebores bloomed up a storm this year. For the first time I did not cut back the old leaves and I have to say I didn’t really notice a problem. The flowers poked right up through the leaves and they’ve been wonderful. I guess that’s what happens in nature when gardeners aren’t busy cutting off last year’s leaves.

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Peppermint Ice’
It also a banner year for our daffodils. I can remember reading years ago that I would have dig old clumps of daffodils and spread them if I wanted to keep them happy. I have to conclude that such is not the case. Everywhere I look the daffodils are both thickening their clumps and voluntarily spreading to surrounding spaces.

Narcissus ‘Edinburgh’ on Sunset Hill

Narcissus ‘Chromacolor’ in the woods
A new one for this year is from Quaffs

Narcissus ‘A Million Kisses’
This is one of the largest daffodils I’ve ever seen.
The trees are also coming into bloom. I’ve seen the first apricot and peach blossoms. And the Star Magnolia is doing its thing.

Magnolia stellata
One of the nice things about the star magnolia is that it almost never gets burnt off like some of the other magnolias. So once again I’m pretty confident that spring is actually here.
Last year I cut away an old lilac that had been overshadowing a thirty year-old bush cherry. And now the little bush cherry is a delight.

Scarlet Gem Bush Cherry
Along the fence in the front yard the Edgeworthia is fully in flower.

Edgeworthia by front fence
And the little Anemone blanda are popping everywhere in the yard and the woods

Anemone blanda
The alpine bed has a little nest of Ornithogalum amidst other things.

Ornithogalum fimbriatum in alpine bed
Right next to the Ornithogalum is a lovely little Armeria doing what sea thrifts do well.

Armeria juniperifolia
If we go back into the woods (which is a pleasure right now) the path has many pleasures.

Corydalis solida ‘Beth Evans’ on woodland path
The bluebells are budding up and there are many daffodils but the Corydalis are enjoying their moment.

Corydalis solida ‘Beth Evans’
Nearby is one of the nicer Podyphyllums that we have (courtesy of Far Reaches)

Podophyllum aff. hemsleyi x versipelle
Finally if we go into the greenhouse we find an unusual Gladiolus that came to us ten years ago via the Pacific Bulb Society.

Gladiolus tristis
And lastly here is a yellow Clivia which is so carefree and always a delight to see.

Yellow Clivia
Happy Spring to All!
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day February 2024

Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’
As usual for a February GBBD the Adonis is the most striking flower in our garden. They always begin even when snow may be falling and they shake off the cold days. Good luck finding any because nurseries seldom carry Adonis any more. If you find them scoop them up in a hurry.

Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’
Elsewhere there a lot of winter aconite, hellebores, and snowdrops. The snowdrops are showing an increasing ability to propagate into the lawn and are multiplying every year.

Galanthus nivalis ‘Blewbury Tart’
And the winter aconite are everywhere, both where I’ve put them and where they are now spreading.

Winter Aconite happily spreading
There are even a couple of unusual cultivars that are spreading as well.

Eranthis hyemalis ‘Schwefelglanz’

Eranthis hyemalis ‘Orange Glow’
The Hellebores are just getting started but their flowers are always arresting and we usually cut some for display in the house.

Helleborus x nigercors ‘HGC Green Corsican’

Helleborus x hybridus PDN Yellow

Helleborus x hybridus PDN double bicolor

Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Winter Sunshine’

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Cotton Candy’
And out in the woods the Helleborus foetidus has continued to put out its flowers.

Helleborus foetidus
Of course it’s also worth noting that the early daffodils are just finishing. Many more to come.

Narcissus ‘Rinjveldt’s Early Sensation’
And the first of the Camellia japonicas putting out their wonderful flowers.

Camellia japonica red
Of course in the midst of everything the crocus are doing their usual springtime thing.

Crocus tommasinianus
Sometimes when you walk about the yard you go just to inspect the things that you expect to be blooming. I almost missed the first ot the small Iris sticking up its little flag.

Iris histroides ‘George’
And over in the alpine bed I found this little polygala putting it’s first flowers out.

Polygala chamaebuxus
It’s worth pointing out the greenhouse also has flowers to share with us.

Cyrtanthus breviflorus

Cyrtanthus hybrid

Geissorhiza inaequalis
There’s also a tiny thalictrum that needs to be planted outside

Thalictrum urbanii
We recently returned from California with its flowers galore so I was very pleased to see how many things were in flower here in Maryland. I put together a little SLIDE SHOW to share the general effect of my first walk around the yard last weekend.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day December 2023

Camellia ‘Yume’
Once again our best December flowers for GBBD are the camellias. The one above was purchased at Camellia Forest Nursery which is probably the best source for camellias in the whole country. It took a few years to get to flowering but now has probably a dozen buds on it for this year.
Its older cousin is the red camellia sasanqua which has a record number of flowers this year.

Camellia sasanqua red

Camellia sasanqua red
Even the camellia ‘survivor’, which flowered earlier than the others, still has a few flowers left on.

Camellia ‘Survivor’
Elsewhere around the yard there are still a few things that have withstood the 25 degree temperatures that we’ve seen so far. In particular the Japanese Quince is loaded with early blossoms.

Japanese Quince
And the heather has more flowers than I’ve ever seen on it.

Krarmer’s Rote Heather (Erica x darleyensis)

Krarmer’s Rote Heather (Erica x darleyensis)
One little surprise in alpine bed is a cute little polygala

Polygala chamaebuxus
When you actually go inside the greenhouse there are some very lovely flowers in process.

Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana)

Oxalis luteola
And some oranges just about ready to harvest

Satsuma dwarf Owari
One item from the greenhouse that has made it into the house is very striking Nerine from Far Reaches

Nerine ‘Pink Triumph’
I should mention too that when I went out to the woods yesterday I found the dark black berries from the Blackhaw Viburnum hanging in the tree.

Blackhaw Viburnum
A reminder of the flowers that will come in the springtime.
I should also mention that I spent early yesterday morning ordering seeds from the North American Rock Garden Society Seed Exchange. It’s a wonderful opportunity to acquire unusual seed from all over the world.