Wow! I have really fallen behind. It’s been a busy spring, with lots to report, so after being AWOL for a couple of weeks, I will now bombard you with a rush of posts in the next few days, starting with belated Bloom Day & Foliage Follow-up.
After three years of little to no blooms, the Clematis armandii is again smothering the front deck in fragrant blooms nearly as lavishly as the first year.
Here’s a close-up of that same evergreen clematis. Can’t you almost smell it?
The first of the Rhodys to bloom here is Rhododendron PMB. It is far from the showiest, but it did bloom right on schedule for GGBD.
While the earliest, bright yellow daffodils are welcome for their promise of spring, I am happier with the white of ‘Salome’ with her pinkish cups.
And my favorite of the Narcissi ‘Thalia’.
The Euphorbias are in full swing. Here’s ‘Blackbird”, no longer black, but still pumping out bracts to beat the band.
The fruit trees are beginning to blossom, the pears being the first. If the rains will give the bees a chance at them, there will be a bumper crop of fruit to put up and/or give away. C’mon out!
You know there is more, it being April and all, but that is all I have to show you right now. For more, you know by now where to find it.
Out in the weeping bed (yes, we have a whole berm given over almost exclusively to weepers) the Himalayan Weeping Juniper is settling in nicely.
Tucked into the nooks and crannies are a number of sedums, with the hope that they will eventually spill over the edges. I have lost track of which one this is, so if you know, please tell. It is a good spreader and transplants easily.
Augment my sparse foliage report with a visit to digging, where Pam will leave you sated.
The weeping juniper is cool, but my faves are still the euphorbias. And that little sedum is awfully cute too.
Thalia is a beauty. I like how the simplified color palette makes you pay attention to the cool form of the flower. We can’t do rhodies well down here so I always get plant lust when I see them in posts. No need to apologize for this one not being the most enthusiastic. It still is pretty spectacular to me!
My Clematis armandii is going crazy this year too, after several years of doing nothing. And I love your container collection…don’t think we’ve seen that shot before!
Pam~My photography doesn’t do the Juniper justice. I’m a euphorbia fan also.
James~And Thalia smells good too. It is only right that we should grow something you covet (turn-about, you know).
Loree~I don’t do so many long shots because I haven’t mastered the technique. I try to add a few containers each year.
How bizarre , why has your backbird turned green ? too much sun ? A winter freeze killed off my Armandii a few years ago. I did get Clematis cartmanii ‘avalanche’ which Is evergreen and has white flowers, I love it so much I bought it twice ( joy creek) by accident of course,
I have toyed with the idea of getting a Clematis armandii for a little while. Hoping it won’t get too large…..love its fragrance….really torn.
Linda~A mystery, indeed, but others have reported on ‘Blackbird’ reverting as well.
Janet~How nice to see you turning up here…welcome! ‘Fear no clematis’ is my motto.