This year's weather has been more "normal" (as "normal" as weather gets, I suppose), while last year's was unusually warm. The plants in my garden are blooming about one month later this year than last.
So, what did I have blooming for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day?
Well, all of the blooms from last month are still sweetly blooming. The cool nights have helped the soil warm up slowly. Spring snowflake, pansy, hellebores, cyclamen, camellia, daffodils, irises, phlox, muscari, rosemary, loropetalum, violets, scabiosa, and candytuft are all still blooming in my garden. In fact, I was beginning to think there wouldn't be any new blooms to show this month.
That is, until I looked up. The crabapples are just beginning to put on their spring show!
I just love these trees! And the bees do, too! It seems are if they are all lined up to purchase a ticket to see the new blooms.
But I think the bees are missing the best show in my garden. The ferns have decided to emerge for Foliage Follow Up.
To me, ferns are nature's epitome of extravagance. So many stems, each with so many leaves. Each perfectly formed, each unfurling with exquisite timing and impeccable grace. The ants get to see this beautiful trapeze act unfold.
They also get the added bonus of seeing some super hairy legs on those ferns!
So, they're not only the trapeze act, they're also the clowns. Who would have ever thought that ferns were an entire circus rolled into one!
I can't wait to see what other performances will soon be showing up in my garden!
Great fern shots! Do you know what kind of ferns they are?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. Wish I did know, though. I would get more of them! I have planted several types of ferns in my garden, but these are the only ones that have continued to stay around!
DeleteThe blossoms on the Crabapple is just so beautiful! I have to say they are my favourite!!!
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to see it beginning to bloom. And the bees were so happy, too. The entire tree is buzzing!
DeleteI am jealous, Texas here I come.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy our 100+ degree heat beginning in May. . . .
DeleteAlistair - Ann's right! Our winters are wonderful, spring and autumn are glorious, but the summers are brutal. That's when the garden (and the gardener) go dormant! :)
DeleteHappy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Not much going on here. I always love to see the fiddleheads popping up. So appropriate on St Patrick's Day. :)
ReplyDeleteBetween now and next month, your garden will come alive. I'm surprised my garden has been so slow to start blooming. But lately, it's been really nice weather to work outside, and it's so wonderful to feel the sun on my back after staying inside during winter.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love to see the ferns emerging, they are just so wonderful the way that they are perfectly wound up ready to unfurl, no other plant seems to do it quite so well.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It's amazing that so much can be coiled up in one little plant!
DeleteWe've had some real roller coaster weather too! Now we are expecting severe storms tomorrow! It's so interesting to see how each plant grows. A fern unfurling each stem has got to be one of the most interesting. As a child I use to try and unfurl them, but they spring right back...they don't unfurl until they're ready!
ReplyDeleteI have never tried to unfurl one! What an interesting experiment! It's amazing that plants know just the right time that they need to come out of hiding!
DeleteFerns are fascinating plants and I love watching them come every spring.
ReplyDeleteI love them, too, Donna. I have always admired their airy foliage. To me, the unfurling is just one part of their charm.
DeleteI have a while yet for the bloom on my Crabapple, but like you I love to watch the Ferns open up. Probably the most interesting of them all to watch.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
I was actually surprised to see the crabapples blooming already. I'm hoping that means no more freezes!
DeleteHi There, So you have had a 'so-called-normal' winter? We have had an unusually mild winter --and since it has been very wet (rain), they say that we'll have tons of BUGS this year. We didn't get enough freezes to kill those old bugs... SO--this summer should be interesting....
ReplyDeleteLove seeing your blooms and your beautiful ferns.
Hugs,
Betsy
I was surprised that our winter was so "normal" after having two very mild winters before it. I had gotten used to not really having a winter! But, the "bugs" are one reason we always want a few freezes!
DeleteI love your pictures of the ferns. Our redbuds and dogwoods are on the verge of blooming and the quince, Mexican plums and forsythia are blooming now. All three of those look lovely against the backdrop of our piney woods.
ReplyDeleteAnn
thejardinencantado.blogspot.com
Oh, I wish I had a redbud and some dogwoods! They are so pretty. I have a quince that is trying to bloom, but I think it almost died last year, so it doesn't look very good. I'm hoping to revive it some this year!
DeleteI love crabapples, too. I have a Donald Wyman, which has white flowers with some pink blush. I love the color of your crab. I like ferns to, especially the big ostrich ferns.
ReplyDeleteOh, your crabapple sounds so pretty! I have four of these pink ones, but I don't know their name.
DeleteSo much going on for you! The crabapples are lovely -- and I enjoyed the link to the post from last year reminding us all to look up and see the garden blooming above us, not just down at ground level.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I forget to look past the weeds! It's always good to stand back and really see the garden every now and then!
DeleteLOVE fiddleheads. They are one of my favourites as well. So tantalizing the way they slowly unfurl.
ReplyDeleteIt really is incredible to see a fern unfolding. It would be a wonderful sight to see as an ant!
DeleteOh...the heat!! Not that we were get up to 26 degrees here in Edinburgh, I can't wait to feel the heat of the sun on my bones. I reckon we've had a pretty normal winter here too!
ReplyDeleteYour ferns are putting on a performance - it's amazing to watch them unfurl isn't it? I removed all the scruffy foliage from mine the other day - the fiddleheads are just fattening up!
It has been wonderful to feel the sun's rays on my back. I'll soon be getting a little sunburn! This time of year is always the best - until it gets too hot and the sun feels like an oven!
DeleteYou remind me that another plant I really need to get more of - in quantity and variety - is ferns. I love them, particularly as the new fronds unfurl. Beautiful blossom on the crab apple, they are such lovely trees.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to spread these ferns around. I have always admired ferns, and am glad to have found these that seem to love my garden.
DeleteYou don't often get the chance of saying that hairy legs are attractive ...
ReplyDeleteThe crabapple blooms are exquisite.
haha - No, hairy legs are often not very attractive! :)
DeleteA nice two in one post Holley! Love seeing new fern fronds unfurling in the spring :)
ReplyDeleteSpring is always so full of blooms - but seeing the ferns unfurling is always such a joy, too. I love seeing them at this stage with their curled-up heads.
DeleteThose ferns are so lovely. You are way ahead of us. Our ferns will not be up for some time. Such a lovely post. Happy spring!
ReplyDeleteI was beginning to wonder if spring would arrive with all these cold nights. I was surprised and excited to see the crabapple blooms and the ferns coming up!
DeleteThe crabapples about to start here, soon to look like yours' in flower / leaf. The up and down, with cool nights seems a theme all over down here - off to find some joshua trees in bloom!
ReplyDeleteCrabapples are one of my favorite trees, if only mine didn't sucker!
DeleteSomething new emerging almost every day, from now on.
ReplyDeleteI have good news: What I thought was a sucker of Oh, Phooey, Dr. Huey turned out to just be a new sprout of Gene Boerner! Joy to see those pink roses. The buds looked red to me when they were barely starting to open.
Oh, I'm so glad your new canes turned out to be Gene Boerner! I, too, look closely at any new canes coming up from the ground if my rose is grafted.
DeleteYou have such a bounty of blooms, Holley! My fruit trees are in full bloom too (but, unfortunately, no ferns...). I am so glad spring is finally here.
ReplyDeleteThis year, with the still freezing nights, I have wondered when to decide that spring has truly arrived. When the crabapples started blooming, I thought - that's it! Spring has surely officially arrived at my house! Maybe the roses will be blooming soon!
DeleteSuch lovely, exquisite photos of Ferns, Holley! You really captured some nice macros. And what a joyful sign the Crabapples are!
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a lot of new things going on in my garden, but what I did have enchanted me! :)
DeleteYour photos are GORGEOUS! You captured such beauty in those shots Holley!!!! I must say that I can't wait for spring but feel more at ease with the normal temperatures we have had this season in Chicago. (last year was too warm) Though nothing is blooming I know that soon magic will happen...and that is worth waiting for!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree - the last two years for us has been too warm. It was nice to have extended gardening weather those years, but we need the colder temperatures. You are right - spring is well worth waiting for!
DeleteI'm loving those ferns! They are incredible plants. I have one in my garden too, no idea what type it is but I absolutely adore it too : )
ReplyDeleteThey're easy plants to love, aren't they? I agree that they are incredible plants.
DeleteThere is no such thing as normal weather!
ReplyDeleteToo true! :) I can remember what "normal" weather was in my childhood, then as a teenager, etc. "Normal" always changed!
DeleteWhile your weather has been up and down, ours seems to be stuck in a winter rut. I think we are going to have a late spring this year. Crabapple blossoms are a long way off. For now, I will admire your pretty pink blossoms.
ReplyDeleteP.S. The new vegetable beds look terrific. I like your layout a lot Holley!
That groundhog is never right! I thought surely spring would be early, but you are right - it's decided to be late this year.
DeleteOMG...I wish I had some Crabapple trees...you can't beat their springtime show!
ReplyDeleteI really do love when the crabapples bloom. In my garden, they are the best show of spring!
Delete