Blooming in My Garden

The first daffodils of spring.

Signs of Life

If you look closely, you can see that the gardens are beginning to stir.

Lilac

Bronze Fennel

Cyclamen

Chrysanthemum

Columbine

Spring Surprise

I started out my wintersowing with a lot of containers, a lot of seeds and a lot of good intentions. But life has a way of happening and I always seemed to be too busy to plant containers. I finally threw in the towel during the last week in February. I had planted a grand total of “only” 56 containers.

March came in like a lion and we had snow last week. This week has been much warmer but still too early for anything to have sprouted. Or so I thought. Just for fun, I peeked into the containers. And saw green! I got out my spreadsheet (no one is surprised that I have a spreadsheet, right?) to see what was coming up:

Tall Fernleaf Fiddleneck

Heirloom Poppy

Valerian

German Chamomile

Verbena bonariensis

Wallflower

Stock

Lavender Love

One of the advantages of keeping records is being able to identify plants years after their introduction to my gardens. I know from my “Fall 2006 Bulb Order” spreadsheet, that these cuties are Crocus tommasinianus. And from the zero in the price column, I know that they were freebies. What I didn’t remember was that they were billed as “Species Mixed Crocus”.


When I see the word “mixed” in a description, I expect more than one color, don’t you?


Regardless, their cheerful lavender blooms are welcome after a long, dreary winter.

Philadelphia Flower Show

This post is my personal opinion only. It in no way reflects the views of Rutgers Gardens or any of its staff. I am not a spokesperson for Rutgers Gardens.

I was able to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show this year thanks to my fellow Straw Hatter, A. She graciously offered to drive knowing that I get way too nervous driving in cities and just the thought of trying to find a place to park sends me into a full-fledged panic attack. Thanks, A!

I was very apprehensive after the disappointing NJ Flower Show but once we stepped into the hall, all of my fears were banished by the breathtaking displays. I didn’t have just one or two “wow” moments. Almost every garden evoked multiple “wows” from me.

The cavernous darkness was no impediment to my camera but the crowds were. Again, lacking a tripod and this time constantly jostled by the crowds, I wasn’t able to hold the camera still enough for long enough to capture the crisp images that I was seeking. I did play around a little with it and came up with this Photo of the Day:

A fun shot of a lily.

The theme of the show was Bella Italia. The display gardens for the most part stayed on topic.

Some of the designers, though, were a little geographically-challenged. This one went too far north and ended up in Ireland:

And right next door, another one veered south and landed in the Mediterranean:

Wait, don’t tell me. Seahorse, right?

By far the most popular exhibit was a tribute to the Italian fashion industry. It was so crowded, that it was nearly impossible to photograph.

Like last year, my favorite was the topiary Dog Park. This little fella was just begging to have his picture taken:

You can see all of my photos of the Philadelphia Flower Show on Flickr.