Thinking of Spring

Winter has been particularly dreary this year–We’ve had colder weather than is typical and lots of rain–On top of that, the flu has run rampant among family and friends, making for an unpleasant season–I took a walk around the yard today and looked at new beds and plantings–There isn’t much in the yard yet, we’ve only been in our wonderful new home for about 5 months–Still, I was heartened to see a few signs of spring:

Daffodil ‘Ice Follies’ peeking up out of a bed newly-planted last fall– Ice Follies is one of the most popular daffodils in the world–The flowers are large with a yellow trumpet surrounded by white petals–Also planted in this bed are daffodils ‘Barrett Browning’, ‘Dutch Master’ and narcissus obvallaris, a miniature daffodil species–

Liatris spicata alba showing buds–These are white-flowered, hence the designation ‘alba’ in the name–Commonly called gay feather, I never got around to choosing a spot in the new yard after bringing these from our previous home–These are still in the heavy plastic bin I hastily brought them over in–Last fall was such a crazy time, our house-hunting and move happened very fast and during a super busy time of year; I was frantic to get everything I wanted to bring and didn’t have time to get everything in the ground before cold weather–Our garage is full of tender tropicals and other plants waiting for spring planting–I also have two large plastic pots of the more common purple liatris, a cultivar called ‘Kobold’ that seems to have made it through the winter so far–

Below, hens and chicks:

I’ve got a number of sempervivums that will be transplanted in spring into new containers–Here are a few that are handling winter well–These are unidentified pass-alongs that were given to me–I recently received an order of four named hybrids in the mail that I’m excited to pot up and grow–More on those later–

I must have plants in bloom in the house during the darker winter months–It lessens the impact of the season on my disposition–I don’t dislike winter (I adore snow), but by the time January rolls into February I’m pretty much over the season and itching for spring–

Each year I buy a new amaryllis at Christmas for holiday cheer (and to have an excuse to add to my collection)–I extend the enjoyment of these beautiful South American natives by bringing mine out of dormancy late in the year so they are blooming later in winter to early spring–Below is the lovely, classic Hippeastrum ‘Minerva‘:

These exotic, cheerful flowers really brighten up any winter day–I have several pots of other amaryllis spiking and will feature those as they open–

In the kitchen window I’ve had a revolving collection of African violets for more winter cheer:

I picked these up on the reduced table at our local Kroger for a song months ago–As the various pots go in and out of bloom I move them in and out of the kitchen for continuous enjoyment–

I took four leaves from this classic purple and now have more seedlings of this to grow on or share later–I have a habit of propagating plants just because I like the process weather I need more of any particular plant or not–

Later in the spring I may try to cross several of these to see what new hybrids the seed (if viable) may produce–

I’ll end with a look at a planter of cheerful pansies out by the front steps–Like most flowers, these need to be dead-headed; they do much better when spent blooms are regularly pitched off, relatively easy to do in a planter as opposed to a bed–Cheers!–