AZALEAS IN MY SPRING GARDEN

SPRING BLOSSOMS IN ANNAPOLIS

Cherry Blossoms, driving out of our neighborhood

Bradford Pear blossoms - in front of an historic home, downtown Annapolis, MD

One of my favorites, pink butterfly Magnolia flowers

TIME TO PLANT THOSE VEGETABLES

Spring at last here on the East Coast, the last frost has come and gone and time to get the vegetables growing - great ideas from Homestead Gardens for raised planter boxes, neatly finished off in between with pea gravel, and pots of herbs and flowers.  Vegetable gardens no longer have to be hidden at the bottom on the garden.  Interplant with flowers, herbs, bulbs - have nasturtiums tumbling from pots, annuals like Calendulas not only look attractive but also have edible yellow or orange petals - great to add to summer salads.  

A herb with a stunning blue edible flower is Borage - an attractive plant with five-petalled flowers and large, coarse leaves that have a delicate smell and taste like cucumbers.  Mix it up, make it interesting, to look at, and to eat.

VIEW FROM THE TOP

I love these three little men sitting on the side of a building on Bienville St, New Orleans, watching life go by.

SOUTH LOUISIANA - NATURE'S GARDEN

NATURES GARDENS - SOUTH LOUISIANA

HOMESTEAD GARDENS SPRING DISPLAY - BLUE INSPIRED

ORANGES, REDS, YELLOWS - HOMESTEAD GARDENS SPRING DISPLAY

Primulas, Tulips with Coreopsis, Ranunculas

THE BLUE GARDEN

Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, MD (short drive from Annapolis), does a wonderful spring display in March each year.  This kick starts my enthusiasm for spring gardening - I have to be careful not to start planting too soon as we can still have a few frosty nights.  This year, the display theme is "Mediterranean" - as beautiful and colorful as ever.  A few photos of the "blue garden".

ART IN THE GARDEN

Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri. I love these glass birds in the Climatron Conservatory - they look like elegant flamingoes sweeping through the pond.   

HELLEBORUS IN BLOOM

Slowly, the Helleborus are opening up, after a really cold winter.  I have three different shades of pink, from pale to a deep, rich burgundy, almost like velvet, and then two or three clumps of the white tinged with green. 

A FLOWER AT LAST!

CROCUS - LITTLE POTS OF SUNSHINE AFTER A COLD WINTER

What a little sunshine can do to the crocus buds - the first open flowers after the winter, first day of March 2011, such a welcome sight. 

FIRST HINT OF SPRING - BUDS

Crocus and Helleborus buds - first hint of early springtime - buds, flowers, warmth, blossoms.