Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Springtime in "My Secret Garden"

That's what my art students used to call my yard. It was their "Secret Garden" too. This is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I want to share it. My brother took this picture of a Japanese Magnolia in New Orleans last month.

Spring has finally come to my garden, and I am waxing eloquent. We still have chilly days mixed in with our warmer days, and rainy days always come between the sunny days, but you get the picture. Since January, we’ve had days that were warm enough to open the house and turn on the attic fan. The next night we are sleeping under quilts. Nothing is dependable. Go figure.

The songbirds have returned, and have been singing their fool heads off (under my window) since before daylight. The tree tops have turned bright chartreuse green, forming a lacy background to the drifts of white and pink dogwoods, magenta redbuds, and purple wisteria floating beneath their cathedral-like canopy. How do you like that for a run-on sentence? I warned you that I was waxing eloquent. Help me find some more adjectives, or just deal with it. I love this time of the year and it’s my blog so you can just suffer through my euphoric purple prose. Be glad that it’s about horticulture, not... errrah, those birds are singing awfully loudly...

Because my camera cord is misplaced, I snagged a few pictures from Google Images to show how things look. These pictures are from all over, but it really does look like this.

Here are a list of the things presently blooming in my yard: Rome Hyacinths (blue, pink and white); more Narcissus (yellow and white); Snowflakes (white); Redbud (magenta); Dogwood (pink and white); Wisteria (lavender); Carolina jasmine (yellow); late Forsythia (yellow); early Azaleas (read and white); early Iris (white, yellow and purple); Bridal Wreath Spirea(white); Woodland Phlox (blue and lavender); Homestead Verbena (purple). Every one of these, except for the dogwood, is very fragrant.
It’s lovely here. Wish you could share it.
Frances
Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future
P.S. This evening when I went out for the last time with His Highness, the Supreme Poodle Pasha Zackery, the fireflies were having a party in my trees. How much better can it get? Stars and fireflies. May spring come soon for everyone, and may you have plenty of fireflies to light your evenings.

12 comments:

Jace said...

Oh, lovely pics, Frances. I hope to see your secret garden some day. :) I love flower gardens!

Laura @ Caninedesign said...

Spring has come to you already? This is like our 5th straight day of gloomy rain. Not even daffodils yet. I'm jealous. Enjoy your garden!

Frances said...

Jace and Laura,

I love it that you two also like gardens. They are a passion of mine. One of the local ladies is a wonderful photographer and has an awesome blog. If you would like to take a peek the URL is: http://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/

LOL, aside from hurricanes, tornadoes, and ice storms, we have six months of heavenly weather - spring and fall. OTOH, winter is cold and damp, except for the days when it is gloriously crisp and clear; and summer is hot and humid, and hotter and hummider. It's never boring. *G*

Anonymous said...

You made my "southern" heart pound with these lovely pictures. In my minds-eye I can still vividly see the magnolia trees hovering over my mothers front porch and the dogwoods that lines the driveway. Although artificial, I still place a huge container filled with dogwood branches in my studio every spring. Thanks for this enjoyable post.

Frances said...

Hi AJ! I'm so glad that you stopped by. I was out this morning taking pictures. If I don't find that camera cord to download to the computer, you will probably hear me scream all the way to your studio. :-) Come back often.

Anonymous said...

Hey Frances,

I'm right there with you. I love spring in Florida. I've got the butterfly garden in full swing now. I've seen two Painted Ladies, Two Cloudless Sulphurs, and a glorious Palamedes Swallowtail.

I have yet to find any eggs. I'm hoping soon.

Jess

Laura @ Caninedesign said...

It was warm yesterday, so we started our vegetable seedlings. Carrots, onions, tomatoes, peppers, mint, and cilantro this year. Wish us luck for some good eating this summer.

Frances said...

Jess and Laura, good to see your girls. Rule #1) Root hog or die! Rule #2) Gaudy colors. Rule #3) Smell good. Rule #4) Birds and Butterflies. Rule #5) Tastes good. Did you know that if you stick the bottoms of your green onions from the grocery into your flower beds that they will grow, taste better than the bought versions, and keep aphids and other pests away from the rest of your plants? Marigolds chase pests away too, but I wouldn't advise eating them. After all they are the source of pestcides. Ick!

Laura, e-mail me!

Laura @ Caninedesign said...

Here's a link to get 160 flower bulbs for $10

Frances said...

Wow, Laura. What a fabulous website! Thank you for sending me the link. You see... I have this little problem... all I want is MORE! As she laughs maniacally. I feel like Frankenstein, with the storm tonight. Gosh, I hate storms. I just got one washout fixed and am wondering if it will hold. ARGGGH!

Elizabeth McKenzie said...

I love lilacs. Your pictures are lovely.

Frances said...

Elizabeth, thanks for dropping by, and for the lovely review. I hope to have more pictures up soon. I wish that I could grow lilacs, but it's too far south for them to survive. Sigh. However crepe myrtles do very well here during the hottest part of the summer. Right now the azaleas and iris are going wild. Smells yummy.