Ah, Spring...

[sublimatedangel]

I've been going on and on about loving the weather and everything in bloom, yes? Because that's wonderful. And kwizbit asked for pictures, which I love to post every year anyhow, so expect lots of photos, spread across a few posts.


Camellias! I also have some that are a paler pink, but they're pretty much done for the season, since they're more of a winter flower. The darker rose ones and the rose/white ones will be gone in the next week or two.








Most of my violets are the simple purple ones, and they've already bloomed and gone. I have a few that are later spring bloomers (and again in fall) that live under the camellias, so here is one of those:








Wisteria, which I love:







Next up, we've got a peony. Our winters aren't always cold enough to make them bloom, and it's too early anyhow, so just a bit of leaf right now. Then we've got potato bush/vine or whatever. I keep debating about whether to keep it or rip it out. And then a wee little asparagus shoot - we've got a couple patches of it, though I never remember to harvest them when they're young.







And lastly... technically it belongs to the neighbors, but they've got a few little fig trees and you can see the baby fruit already - so cute.

Comments

[sublimatedangel]

Heh, not an expert, but I do love gardening.

For quick, easy color, impatiens are hard to beat. They come in just about any color, and there are different sizes, so you can get little 8" ones or 1-2', 3-4', 4-8'... they're really versatile. Rhododendrons are also pretty showy. Cinerarias (they look like colorful daisies) are good in shade, but I think they're usually an annual, so you'd need to replace them. If you want some larger things, camellias are easy and have about a billion diffent types, and hydrangeas can be very pretty (though color will depend on your soil pH).

If I had more shade, I'd probably get a fuschia... they have such pretty, elegant flowers, and have always been a favorite of mine. I LOVE hostas... their flowers aren't a big deal IMO, but the variegated varieties (green/white or dark green/lime green) are very striking on their own. And lilies (daylilies, calla lilies, etc) are just gorgeous.

I love columbine and bleeding hearts, but both of them seem to be beyond my ability to grow... we might just be too hot here for them, or they might be delicate, fussy plants.

Hope that helps! Not really sure what your climate is like there... you might want to see if the neighbors are growing anything you love, or ask at a nursery... they might be able to give you more detailed information about which things are almost impossible to kill vs. which are hard to grow in your area.

[star-momma.livejournal.com]

That *definitely* helps! And we're in Texas, so the heat's a bit of an issue for us too. And we've been stalking the neighbors, but most of them just go with bushes. Booooring :P

[kalistrya.livejournal.com]

You could try asking Mr. Smarty Plants. It's about native plants, so maybe there's a locally adapted option they could suggest. The garden is located in Austin, but they answer questions from all over the country.

http://www.wildflower.org/expert/

[star-momma.livejournal.com]

Ooo, nifty! Thanks :)