February 2023

It's still winter and most of the garden is dormant however Japanese Andromeda blooms don't mind the cold and Daphne's fragrant little blossoms sure help us get through the end of winter. Hellebores will bloom later this month.  A nod to Winter booming beauties in my garden.

October 2017

Here are the late bloomers in my October garden. They will for the most part hang in there until the first frost hits the ground and it is time to put this garden to sleep.   As you can see there are still a few late bloomers to enjoy in the October garden, Dahlias, Monkshood,…

Narcissus, Daffodils, Jonquil, Happy sights of Spring Delight.

Daffodowndilly She wore her yellow sun-bonnet, She wore her greenest gown; She turned to the south wind And curtsied up and down. She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: “Winter is dead.” –A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young Few other sights shout "SPRING's COMING!" better than  Daffodowndilly does with…

Februalia, Lupercalia,Valentine, purifying and love, love, love.

To find the origins of our modern Valentines Day celebration we'll go back to ancient Rome, to a festival of ritual purification during the second lunar period of the year. It was called Februalia. In these bygone days this month was a time of sacrifice and purification to atone for the sins committed. Homes were swept,…

Ranunculus

'I AM DAZZLED BY YOUR CHARM' Fields, meadows and grassy places, bristling with golden Buttercups, can be found throughout the northern temperate regions of the world. Look for these lustrous  and delicate looking beauties near creeks, ditches, lakes or other damp places. Ranunculus is a genus of about 600 species including the Buttercups, Spearworts and…

Sweet William

Sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus) member of the Caryophyllaceae family is as popular as cut flower as a garden plant. Usually grown as a bi-annual it will grow foliage the first year and then blooms the second year. Sometimes it’s a short lived perennial but when given a chance, it will reseed itself generously and behave…

Snapdragon struggles.

During the second half of Spring, when my daily garden walk leads me eagerly to the row of Snapdragons,  I keep my fingers tightly crossed in the hope to find strong healthy shoots that will have ample strength to keep upright those beautiful inflorescence which hopefully will soon appear. Snapdragon's raceme-inflorescence are composed of many…

What is your favorite flower?

In the floral industry we get asked that question quite a bit and no one in their right mind will answer with just one favorite flower, simply because in the flower world there is simply too much beauty to behold. The colors, the shapes, the smells, the wonders, the legends, the secrets and promises, the magic…