Late Winter Doings in the Garden

February Gold (maybe), unknown narcissus, Louisiana Sweetie, Muscari neglectum, and 'Gravetye Giant' snowflake

Well, the great bulb-o-rama hasn't quite started in my garden but there are little things popping up here and there, just enough for a few little bouquets. Though I'm anxious for spring I can tell it's really not that time yet. But let me entice you nonetheless with a few peeks.

'Peggy Clarke' flowering apricot and bee

This photo is from a few weeks ago. I love how 'Peggy Clarke' just braves it all and puts on a show of flowers in January. Of course, chances of them freezing are almost certain. But at least the bees have a little something to work on for a while.

'Minor Monarque', Narcissus x italicus

'Minor Monarque', an heirloom narcissus, was blooming in late December and into January. I really should have gotten a to-scale photo for you so you could see how tall the bloom stalks are and yet how small(ish) the blooms are.

Sweet olive, Osmanthus fragrans

Mmm, sweet olive. How wonderfully divine. I planted one by my mini-deck. I should be able to enjoy the fragrance for almost three seasons out of the year.

'Blue Glow' agave

I'm loving this new agave I purchased last fall from Joshua's Nursery in Houston. It really does seem to glow. I have two of these in pots and both have survived our winter outdoors just fine. Of course, it has been a relatively mild winter, all in all. (Though mostly dreary, cloudy, and too cold for my taste.)

A tiny little jonquil that's commonly called Louisiana Sweetie

Here's some more fragrance and it's from this little jonquil that smells like honey to me!

'Gravetye Giant' snowflake, Leucojum aestivum

'February Gold' daffodils, I think

I moved these daffs from someone's garden. It's okay, they had too many and needed them gone.

Unknown narcissus, maybe 'Grand Primo'?

These are another rescue, this time from an old homestead (details of the old homestead daffodil rescue are in this post). These are very fragrant.

Hellebore, or Lenten rose

It's hellebore time! I've got several in bloom and a couple in bud. I like the deep pink of this one.

Joker hellebore

Joker hellebore is a relatively new variety that has more upright blooms. I really like how upright they are, though I wish they came in more colors.

Cooper's Hawk

Since it's almost time for The Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I thought I'd show you a peak at what's happening with my backyard birds. We've been inundated with the usual winter birds, including American goldfinches and pine siskins. And this lovely Cooper's hawk. He thought he'd grab a quick snack. You can't see it but he's basically sitting right above one of the feeders. And what is sitting above the hawk ...?

American goldfinches

... the potential snacks! The finches are smart. They knew where to hang while Mr. Cooper scouted the ground below.

Don't forget about the upcoming bird count. And by the way, I gave a little donation to the Cornell Lab late last year since I enjoyed their Facebook posts so much. Little did I know that with that donation came a beautiful quarterly magazine. I love it!

One more thing - don't you want to join me at the next Garden Bloggers Fling? This one is in San Francisco so hurry and sign up - you don't want to miss out!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2013. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.