Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Spring, its coming!

Yes I’m rushing it, but you don’t have to look too hard to see the signs, even in my garden which seems to be a week or two behind others around Portland.

Look at the Hellebores, these buds are about to burst open…
And this one is poking out new growth. That’s one of last season’s toasted leaves on the right.
The Hydrangea is covered in leaf buds…
And a few have already started to open. I need to prune it back before it’s too late. Pruning on crutches, could be dicey.
The Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ just keeps sticking its little fists further and further out of the soil.
Euphorbia cyparissias showing new growth...
And Euphorbia polychroma is also getting with it. I still need to trim back the dead stems from last year!
The leaf buds on my Lilac bush are getting bigger and bigger…
As are the flower buds on the Rhododendron. If the past is any indication they won’t be blooming for another 3 months but they sure look “pregnant with possibility” (I hate that phrase but it just seemed so appropriate)
The Camellia looks to be a little ahead of schedule this year. Could it be the mild January temperatures we’ve been enjoying?
I was surprised to see what looks like new leaf growth (or an alien hand) starting to push out of the 4ft Tetrapanax trunk. It’s going to get a great start on things as long as we don’t have an unfortunate February freeze.
Same for the new little Tetrapanax in the front garden, look at that little purple leaf!
And look at these silly Daylilies! Don’t they know it’s only January 27th!?
And lastly I found this. How exciting! I get to end January having found a bloom in the danger garden! I have no idea what it is, this is an inherited shrub. Soon the whole thing will be covered in tiny white blossoms but for now, I’ll settle for the one.
Spring Fever anyone?

14 comments:

  1. You have tons coming up in the garden! It's going to be great. The Tetrapanax is new to me, but it's very cool looking. The daylilies are funky looking, I thought tulips at first ... Great blog, love the name and the header shot. I'll be sure to look for more.

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  2. YEAH!!! It actually isn't raining here today. Should be that way until Saturday, maybe I'll get to play in the dirt a bit :)

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  3. The buds look promising, I just wish spring would get here tomorrow.

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  4. Bet the tiny white, soon to be clouds of white flowers is an early spirea.
    We always get sucker punched with the promise of spring, but don't shout "zonal denial" too loudly until we're really into spring.

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  5. Ahhh...spring. I can hardly wait, and, like you, I'm counting the buds every single day.

    Hey, I wonder if that mystery shrub could be a white forsythia (abeliophyllum distichum)? I've always loved them...

    S

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  6. Hi Loree~~ I'm thinking you've got a Bridal Veil Spiraea on your hands.

    Just today I noticed a clump of green working its way from the depths of a too-thick mulch. As I stooped to help it out, there were actually daffodil BUDS. Granted its an early variety, but still. I'm hoping for continued temps. If it gets cold again, yikes. It will look like dawn of the dead in my backyard with all the sheets draped over vulnerable plants.

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  7. God. I'm boycotting all blogs in warmer climates than mine from now until spring comes to my part of the world -- ie, a couple months from now.

    But: I can't resist mystery plants! Not abeliophyllum distichum, for sure -- it has 4 petals, and that flower has 5. Could be spirea. Maybe exochorda?

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  8. Please don't ever say 'pregnant with possibility' ever again. My Euphorbia has new growth on it, which I noticed yesterday! Yay!

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  9. This mild week has me thinking Spring, too.
    Isn't it heartening to see all the new growth? Our one hellebore is actually blooming already, but the flowers are deep inside the plant where they're masked by the thick leaves...strange.

    But what's this I hear about a mini deep freeze within a week? Noooooo!

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  10. Hey there Gardeness, thanks for stopping by! I am so glad I could introduce you to the Tetrapanax...you NEED one!

    MTJulie, good luck! Here's sending you dry skies (which surprisingly we actually have here in Portland right now!)

    How it grows, me too. Only 51 days!!! (yikes)

    Thank you Patrick for the i.d., which has been confirmed by several others. I hope this is the year that we have no surprise February frosts. I just don't think I could deal with that.

    Anon S, I think the consensus is that it's a Spirea.

    Grace, I will pray for no Dawn of the Dead scenes in your backyard! And thanks for the i.d., mystery solved!

    Greensparrow, that's exactly how I was feeling in December when we were having record setting cold. It hurt to look at pretty garden pictures when all of my plants were suffering! I'm sorry....your spring will come and it will be amazing! I've never heard of exochorda so I looked it up. Nope, I think that you had it right with the Spirea guess.

    D&N, ya once was enough huh? Yea for your Euphorbia! Just think...soon your banana will be pushing out a new leaf!

    Jane, no! It's not happening. Whose spreading these weather lies anyway? Spring!!!

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  11. I can hardly wait.
    Thou I love all this rain, it is getting a little soggy around here.
    During a brief peek a boo of sun today I ran out and hacked back a few ornamental grasses.

    Nice pix's Loree.

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  12. That new tetrapanax leaf looks like otter feet. If this weather keeps up, it's going to be time to divide stuff soon, I wish we could know for sure we were done with the cold, it sure seems that way. I'm thinking of moving the plants in my back room out to the yard again. I just can't imagine another cold snap at this point.

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  13. DD Michelle, I bet it is! Surely an end must be on the horizon?

    Megan, yes! That's exactly what it reminded me of but I couldn't put my finger on it, thanks! Jane mentioned a freeze next week but I haven't been able to see any signs of it in the forecasts, god I hope this warmth continues!!!

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  14. something about that single white blossom tickles me more than clouds of same.

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