Countdown to spring! Part 10

I do love balloons

Yes, they are Balloon Flowers with Russian Sage. There's also some Echinacea and many lilies around that spot but the snow has me blue because it's just too bright outside and it does hurt my eyes as well, Robindog.

I'll pull a Jo Ann and post a second photo of the day - same area.

very pretty

beautifulPirl.

Everything looks wonderful as usual.

glads

Great clem color, Allison.

Wonderful tulip shot, bop - nicely composed.

Nice astilbes, Bill - one of my favorite plants.

Beautiful blue, Pirl.

Clem Silmakivi.

Zounds!!! That's fantastic, Victor. You should be in the clematis selling business because your photos of them are so terrific.

Does that one like shade at all?

Thanks, Pirl. I have a few of them. Varies from more pink to more blue. I believe all of mine are in full sun so I can't really comment on shade tolerance.

Nothing wrong with another shot with even more colors in a great combo of plants Pirl.
Now see that is why they call them glads, what brilliant happy color Jen.
Another great clem shot Victor. Love the center contrast of pink and purple colors.

Good grief! I'll try to be patient and wait for tomorrow to post a photo of the hydrangea, Harlequin, that Silmakivi would match so beautifully.

nice ones Jen & Victor!!!

NOID that annoys me... never got much bigger after planting

sweet

I threaten it every year... grow or die!!!.. hasn't worked so far.. LOL.. I see everyone else has nice patches of them... I have two of them in two different spots.. just not cutting it for me.. that one is 5 years old and still only maybe 6 inches wide

We have a few really piewny ones,I always thought it was lack of sun.Neighbor has huge clumps of them in all day sun

sigh ... that lack of sun problem again???

Wha, I love the way the astilbe sets off the whole shade garden. Lovely!
Ngam, I am waiting for bleeding hearts, too. Pirl, very pretty combo of colors. Jen, those glads are intense.
Victor, the clematis photo should win a prize. Perfect!
Onewish, I have trouble getting dianthus to come back here which is sort of the like North Pole. I start seeds each year and treat them as annuals. Sometimes I get lucky and last year's come back but meanwhile I always have some blooming.
I thought I'd post a picture of my neighbor's old apple orchard in bloom:

very pretty... can almost smell that warm breeze

That orchard is beautiful.
Here is my collage

except for the last 5 years I have lived always in the southern states of the US, so for me now to live in a colder place than NY, shaking head as I've always thought of NY as colder than were I lived and now I'm colder than NY, just can't wrap my brain around this..... Yep, I know spring "the official" marking is just around the corner, but for where I'm at it feels like it will never show up.....

Just incredible photos everyone, I love them all, as I come here every morning to have a moment in spring before heading out to work in the north pole weather....LOL

thanks to all who post, I love the idea of this thread as it really works for me.

Janet

yes thanks for starting it Victor... these are the best photos... I enjoy them every day

:::::::::clapping:::::::::: for all of you!!!

Nice Apple orchard! No squirrels! lol!

love the lighting on that shot WC

Thank you, it's late afternoon at sunset.

Gorgeous lilies, WC. Great cropping. Another lovely collage, ge!
Janet, my part of New York is upstate and probably a lot like your weather around the Cleveland area. For instance, I don't dare put my tomatoes out until early June!

I'm up by Lake Ontario Bebop and its the same here. Memorial day is everything into the garden.
I dont dare go to a garden center that weekend. I buy annuals earlier and keep in the house.

I do the same thing with my annuals Ge, for the same reason. ^_^

Beautiful pictures everyone.

Down here on Long Island we only put our tomatoes out around May 27th - it's Jack's birthday gift to himself to spend the day on his knees. At the same time we plant all the annuals he grows from seed and I plant the dahlias. Planting in cold soil isn't good for the plants...or the gardeners.

Lovely plants, everyone. That orchard really brings spring much closer to my eyes! Nice collage, Jo Ann. Allison - some take off and form grand patches and others languish. Threaten it and move it and maybe it will do better. Maybe a little super phosphate would help - it could hardly hurt! WC - fabulous!

thanks for the info Pirl... figured it didn't die yet... worth a shot

pretty one Pirl

When I have a plant I love and it just doesn't take off I switch places for it. Sometimes it's something in the soil (or not in the soil) and a change of place works magic. Our aster wouldn't grow no matter where we tried it and then hit what I call a "sweet spot" and it devoured a huge area of the garden so I dug it up and put it at the top of a hill of sod (from making the vegetable garden) and it's happy there...so are we.

very nice.. wonder the same about the couple of asters I planted ... they were kind of skinny last year.. but still new... planted the fall before last... that soil should be pretty good though.. every time I plant something there ... always tons of worms.. the pacasandra patch behind the rock wall we put there seems to attract them... so even though I hate pacasandra.. everywhere I ripped it out ... there seems to be good soil left behind ... figured since those roots weave there way around it's making the soil better.. my neighbor gave me permission to get rid of his patch that works it's way into one of my beds... he doesn't say much about the garden or anything else for that matter... but the woman who moved in with him compliments me all the time.. figured I would take some of my shasta daisies and put them there.. they do block out a lot of weeds.. going to be a task clearing it though... it's even growing up though his deck

Pirl, that lily is lovely. Does it have a strong perfumed scent?

You all are at it again, posting some real beauties.
Onewish I can grow sweet william just fine but pinks just poop out and leave here so you are doing better with them than I ever have.
Bebop there is nothing like the smell of an orchard of apple trees and not bad on the eyes either. Beautiful shot.
Another gorgeous batch of blooms JoAnn. Who is the beauty on the lower right hand side? Gorgeous.
WC the sunlight hitting on those lilies is really wonderful. Beautiful picture, seems to make me feel calm.
Pretty lily Pirl. Is that sedum in the background 'Angelina'? Love that yellow green color and have some coming this spring.
This is weigela 'Ghost'. It turns to a very light green in the later part of summer and looks rather ghostly. I like it very much and so do the hummers.

Allison - it's rough when a plant gets out of control under a deck.

No scent on that lily.

'Ghost' is lovely!

pretty weigela... love the colors

Any flower that attracts hummingbirds is a winner!

I, too, love coming here to get a breath of spring.

Memorial Day works for planting time where I grew up in Wisconsin & is the same target date for youngest DD who lives in MN. She goes in for tomatoes & cucumbers on her small plot.

nice pic's! that looks like angelina to me too - spreads like crazy here and i have put some starters in several places last fall hoping it continues to spread.

rosey glow barberry with alberta spruce in background.

As for dianthus My neighbor yanked out every shrub and plant in front of her house in September,and re did the entire landscape.Bolders ,nice shrubs,tree hydrangea really looked good .
She left DH in December.
Go figure.