How's this for signs of spring. This is a bloom on my Camellia. The poor bush is covered in snow.
We got 3 1/2 inches of snow. The kids had a blast this morning before I took them to school, which was delayed two hours. Now it's really starting to melt though
Sylvia,
dont mean to feed them, they just help themselves to the cat food. i was afraid that they might hurt the cats, but one got too close to my momma cat and she slapped it upside the head! the racoon just walked away. the other day there was a possum in my garage and i saw an armadillo in the yard. also have several large barred owls that live in the creek behind my house. they make the strangest noises. they love to come to my pool at night.
tracie
That sometimes happens, but believe me, my cats wouldn't dare hit the coons. Adult coons can be dangerous for kitties to mess with. A momma cat might be protecting her little ones, maybe?
the grey cat you see in the picture is one of her "babies", they are about 7 months old. we kept 2 of the 6 kittens. Candy was a great mom, but she started being really mean to the kittens when she started back in heat. she would slap them or roll them. i got all 3 cats fixed a month ago, dont have to worry about any more little ones. here she is with some of her kittens.
The only thing that has not stopped blooming are my gerbera daisies. They seem to do do better in the cooler sunny days than in the summertime. Also, there are buds on the oleanders in front of the house but no blooms yet. The roses are starting to get new growth, I have to get out there this weekend and cut off all the rosehips! Maybe I can get some pics tomorrow. :)
Brrrr.... y'all! Snow photos ~ ughhh! LOL I am so sorry, right now there is a frost but we are only at 35 degrees.
I will have to search but somewhere I saved the info on how much damage what temps will do to our plants... I'll see if I can find it.
Luckily my Texas Mountain Laurel buds did not freeze, at least not this round. We shall see.
Josephine.
Had intentions of putting some things in the ground today. Just read it is expected to be 24 degrees Friday night. Guess I will wrap some other things up again. I should know better.
LouC
LouC, it looks like everything I got from you the other day is going to make it. Thank you SO MUCH!
Wasn't much and sure didn't come close to what you have done for me. Give us a little time and we will catch up.
Christi
Found this blooming this mornin'
These have been bloomin' for a few days
Beautiful clarity on the violets photo. My Iris are running slow... maybe they knew more foul weather was on the way!
I know, I know I'm not in Tx. But our zones are similiar, will you enjoy my Tulips? Hi everyone. BTW; we've got some snow this early morning as well.
Lovely Tulips, Lily.
Thank you frostweed, I'm planning to interplant some Texas lupines here once the weather warms up some.
Good idea!
Hi Kim! Those are gorgeous Tulips. Here we sit, hinting around for Spring... any day now as I drum my fingers. LOL
BTW Kim, have you ever grown Arum Italicum?
Yes Pod, I've a clump in the front of the border. They usually made those lovely red seedpods for me, except last year. I don't know what happened then. I snapped this pic. hoping to find my little friendly gardener helper on the leaves....
Let's try this shot.
Kim ~ that is such lovely foliage. I am taken with that plant and have been for a while. Please tell me what requirements it has. I.E. ~ sun ~ shade ~ water ~ soil ~ pests?
I am guessing your friendly garden helper would be a lizard? LOL
Pod, I've this on the sunny, South facing flower bed. Rich well composted garden soil mixture, not too much water, well drained. The leaves disappear during the hot summer months after they flowers and set seeds. The leaves do stay evergreen all winter though. :-)
I can send you a start if you're interested. The postage cost is going to be the same if I send you one plant or 10, so pick out something else in the garden and I'll mail them out. :-)
Kim
Kim ~ you are sweet for the offer. Hold that thought, I may take you up on it but for now, I was researching how well it would do in shade and trying to assemble some shade plants for the new area. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/817328/
Lilylove, what was the name of that plant? Fascinating leaves, really beautiful.
Silver, those are Atalian Arum. They're hardy in our zone, not bothered by any pest for the last few years that I've had them. Occasional visit from my friendly gardener's helper, 'love-joy' my lizard. I don't think moles or voles even bother them. lol. I've known to have opossom visit the garden, but nothing has bothered this bulbs since I planted them there in 2004. They're slow to spread though.
This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 10:21 PM
Silver, try the latin name; Arum atalicum?
Pod, these little danty thing I noticed that you already have in the garden, may just be one of the candidate to help beautify your shady garden from the other post?
I changed it to italian arum and googled it. Have you found it to be invasive?
That last picture looks like something we call Baby Blue Eyes.
Not the former, but the latter could be. The 'Baby Blue Eyes' could be. :-)
I love that Arum and I don't care if its invasive. :) Thanks for posting the picture Kim.
I used to have Baby Blue Eyes. It was not invasive at all for me. In fact it seems to have disappeared. I miss it very much. I felt very privileged to have it because blue flowers are so rare.
I found italian arum in PF and some people say it's very invasive for them. They all live in warm climates. It sounds like zones 6 and higher it behaves itself better.
What I really like about the arum, is that besides the fact that it IS bugs resistant. The attractive leaves persist all winter, after they make intricate looking flowers, then come the attractive redberrie sedpods. Perhaps, it's the seedpods that stray and thus become "invasive", if that were the case, I'd like to see those all over my garden without ever any complain from me. lol. But, sadly birds may have taken care of that priviledge away in the past. As I've many other berries producing plants in the garden for them. If only I remember to cover the seedpod every year? Just a thought. lol.
Kim
Kim, is your blue bloom Ruellia? I hadn't thought about a Ruellia in that spot... will they bloom in shade?
Silverfluter, it is Arum italicum and gorgeous. http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/00765.html
If you are worried about invasive, it could be contained in a pot. I think the seeds spreading via birds could be a concern but the roots/tubers/bulbs stay pretty contained where they are planted. I am sure invasive might be under ideal conditions which mine definitely are not! LOL Even PDN (above link) says naturalizing will be a slow process. Kim has found the same thing.
On the other hand, I have wondered for years why no one in TX grows these...
Can it be grown inside as a houseplant?
I honestly don't know. I've read it will make an excellent container plant but have no reference of it being used as a houseplant. I have admired it (and resisted it) for years... LOL
Pod, the blue bloom is that of vinca minor. Before they bloom I thought it was some sort of ground cover jasmine. Anyhoo, it's potentially rampant, and does take shade nicely. Good thing about those they can be shaped down with weed-eater or mow down. :-)
As far a Ruellas, I have the usual love/hate relationship with those beauties. I do tolerate them however, and keep only a few each year to enjoy their blooms when everthing blooming quiet down during the growing season. Ruella form tenactious tab roots. You can't simply pull them up, you've to dig them up with picks once we allow them to grow up to flowering age.
Sorry ~ Vinca should have been on my mind. It is in bloom right now. And in this area. I use it to cover the mess under the bird feeder.
I have a few different Ruellias and like them. Katie is bad about popping seeds and spreading although the white Katie doesn't seem to share that habit. May try some of them in this spot later...
Hey y'all! I hate to interupt, but I need to I.D. a plant. I transplanted these from my sister's house thinking they were wild onions but now they are all developing purple flowers that look like tiny lupine blooms. Know what they are? Here's a pic of them from a few months ago.
Could it be grape hyacinth? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/692/
Yep, I think that's it! Thanks Cocoa! Do you have these? Are they good to have? If anyone wants any, I can get all you want.
