This morning a number of blogs I follow pinged into my inbox to remind me that today, the 15th of the month, is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I love this meme hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, it especially gives me a sense of happiness this time of the year with the realisation that life goes on and soon the garden will be full of color. There is also a sense of sadness when you notice that a much loved plant has not reappeared. When reading Helen’s (Patient Gardener) GBBD post and saw her Pulmonaria, it suddenly occurred to me that I had not seen mine this year and when I went for another look there is no sign. A trip to the Garden Centre shortly to replace it will be on the cards.
Most of my daffodils are still waiting to bloom, but the ones in the front garden have been out for several weeks now, providing a cheerful welcome as I walk up the garden path.
The other provider of color in the front is my wonderful Skimmia “Foremanii” shrub, which has red berries on it all year round and at this time of the year it is also covered in pretty white flowers.
Moving to the back garden, the Pieris “Forest Flame” is now adorned with beautiful urn shaped creamy flowers. This shrub is looking so pretty at the moment I have posted two photos. Disappointingly, none of the daffodils are out yet in the side border, so the Pieris are the only flowers that are signalling Spring in this part of the garden.
The back garden, again is slow to show color. The Forsythia has lots of tiny yellow buds, so it will be another week or two before it looks splendent. I did, however, find a few flowers for the March GBBD.
What is looking absolutely glorious is the Ribes (Flowering Currant). I usually prune it after it has flowered but last year I didn’t, so it is rather a large shrub at the moment but it does mean it’s dripping in lovely pink flowers. Again, two photos for this plant. The only thing I have against Ribes is its smell! To me it reminds of me cats, but whatever it reminds you of it is certainly pungent.
The Euphorbia has done something strange this year and is only flowering on half the bush, the other half is looking as though it is dying so I will have to keep an eye on it. However, it has spread into another part of the garden so all is not lost.
Scattered around the flowerbeds are lots of Primula, the purple ones seem ok, but the pale white variety are being eaten to pieces. There are also lots of Forget-me-nots which are just flowering now, I look forward to seeing a sea of blue and pink flowers when they are in full bloom.
From now on the GBBD posts moving through the Spring and Summer months will be full of beautiful color and joy. Meanwhile, hop over to Carol’s blog and take a look at the other Garden Bloggers Bloom Day entries – they are from all over the world and it is always interesting to see what is flowering at this time of year in other countries.
