Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for February

Crown Azure pansy

It's usually a tough Garden Bloggers Bloom Day month for most garden bloggers in the northern hemisphere. But that doesn't stop us from showing off what few blooms we have!

Lent lilies with summer snowflakes and narcissus in the background

Luckily I live in the South where spring bulbs just barely start to pop this time of year. Even though we had a colder winter overall last year, I had more varieties of bulbs in bloom then than now. I guess the new norm is to expect the unexpected.

Leucojum aestivum, aka summer snowflakes

Can anyone tell me why Leucojum aestivum is commonly called summer snowflakes? I'm guessing it blooms in summer somewhere but certainly not in my neck of the woods!

Unknown narcissus but might be 'Grand Primo'

The narcissus pictured above is almost always the first to bloom in my yard. These bulbs were rescued a few years ago from an old homesite. Though the bloom stalks are always shorter than the leaves (as you can see here), it's a great dependable bulb. My guess is that it's 'Grand Primo' though that's only a guess.

Northern cardinal at a birdbath

This time of year I seem to take more pics of birds than blooms. They provide some colorful relief from a drab winter.

American goldfinch at the pond

Anyone else spending too much money feeding the goldfinches this time of year? I'm inundated with them!

Improved Meyer lemon

I do wish I didn't have to baby my Meyer lemon tree so much. We're just a teensy too cold in north Louisiana (Zone 8a) to reliably grow citrus, especially mine since it's planted in a stock tank. These days when the freezing weather hits I put a shop light near the tree and cover both with sheets.

'Butterfly Blue' scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

The Meyer lemon and rosemary plants are always reliable attractants for pollinators in winter. But I have a few other plants around my yard that also do that. I'm very impressed with the pincushion flower. It seems to always have a few blooms on it and the bees love it.

'Peggy Clark' flowering apricot and pollinator

As does the 'Peggy Clark' flowering apricot. This tree is outstanding for long bloom period. It started blooming at the end of December and my guess is that it won't be finished blooming until the end of February! The blooms start opening at the bottom and then slowly work their way up to the top. Highly recommended.

Unknown type of hellebore (aka Lenten rose)

And let's not forget the hellebores. Again, mine are just starting to bloom, which is a little later than usual. As you can see from the photo, I'm having a little fun with my new camera's macro capability. :-)

Don't forget to check out what's blooming in other parts of the world by checking out Carol's GBBD post!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2016. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.