thank you for the pictures, so calming and lovely!

Here are two more I took this morning - I hope others of you will also post early Spring blooms, if you have any (crocus? daffodils? ).

Jackie

Here is banksia lutea at eye level:

Same rose, time, place, except I looked up...

Reve d'Or taken yesterday - one thing I had not paid attention to on this rose is the way the new foliage goes so well with the color of the blooms! The mature foliage is a medium dark green, but the new foliage has pale green, yellow, pink and brown notes which are an amazing complement to the buff/apricot blooms.

Jackie

It is the tail end of colorless winter here , that was a welcome sight to see your beautiful flowers Jackie. I don't have any noisettes but love them from pictures I have seen, your Reve d' Or is gorgeous.

.. a bit early for roses, perhaps another 3 weeks or so to the first bloom..

..some Spring-a-lings to keep the interest going right now..

Camellia 'Spring Festival'...

Ribes odoratum [Buffalo currant]

Narcissus 'February Gold'.. usually March flowering..

Oxslips, Cowslips, Pulmonaria 'Benediction'.. Primula 'Cisca'..

Oxslip..

Veronica 'Georgia Blue'.. Rhodanthemum hosmariense 'Marrakech'.. Arabis..

..roses won't be too long I hope..

Aubrieta, is a stalwart of our Spring gardens..

Erysimum 'Golden Jubilee' with white Arabis..

..bird of prey on the greenhouse... this is a Kestrel ..

Thank you, Marlorena! Any pictures of flowers which are blooming NOW are somehow cheering, as Spring is slowly creeping along (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).

Love the Kestrel! We have small "sharp shinned hawks" which come into our garden - they are even smaller. One thing I learned about them by watching - last year one came for several days in a row. It was hunting squirrels, which it was chasing by climbing within our large pomegranate complex of bushes, and chasing them around inside of the bushes, using its wings to climb around! I had no idea they did that.

Jackie

Jackie and Lisa, thank you... yes I love to watch the birds and their antics... this is the first time I've noticed a Kestrel near my property... I took the picture from my bedroom window..

Lisa... I love that Leucocoryne.. I had never heard of it before but find I can get one called 'Andes' here.. they are tender bulbs.. I'm going to have to get some of these after seeing your picture...

Yes Oxslips are Primula elatior... Oxslips are native to my area of England and are not found anywhere else here growing wild... they thrive on cow dung, so when I manure the roses I put some around these plants too.. the flowers tend to be all on one side of the stem..

Shakespeare also mentioned them, and at one time I made a border with all of these.. now only the Oxslips remain with some roses..

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:

Lisa, we "average" 35 inches of rain a winter, but the Spanish bluebells (which share that bed with 2 ground covers and some hosta on the shady side) get irrigated all of the 6-7 months in the summer when we normally have no rain whatsoever. I planted the bluebells about 15 years ago, and have done nothing to them ever since except water in the summer, and every year they come up happily in the Spring. So, perhaps they like a lot of water.

Marlorena, I love love your garden - you are so careful to have lots of different plants, and everything goes together so well. I always wondered what oxlips looked like - thank you. I do remember those lines were a clue to finding the "real" musk rose, which obviously blooms when all of those other early Spring bloomers do, and not in the Fall when the "in commerce as" rose bloomed.

Jackie

Thank you Jackie... perhaps we can add to this thread as Spring goes on... you and Lisa always have a lot going on early.. my garden is sort of timed to start from early April.. right now the fresh foliage on all the roses are a feature,.. all red, mahogany's, greens and greys... and not an ounce of disease at this time..

I hope you don't have to cut down your Banksia rose as it's so nicely trained I notice, in between windows...

It must be the extra water that the bluebells like, Jackie. Our average is about 9 inches a year. I’m pretty stingy with my water during the dry months. I tend to use most of it on my roses. Bulbs that go dormant in the summer and need it dry during that time do well for me.

Those Oxslips are really neat! Yours are the only ones I’m likely to see, so thank you for sharing them. Perhaps I could pretend the rampant Oxalis in my garden is Oxslip:). It’s been a real pest with two rounds of it already,the first wave due to our early rain and then late rain brought another round.

Here’s an Italian Anemone about to open to the sunshine. Campanula glomerata ‘Alba’, and daffodil foliage next to and behind it. Lisa

Lisa, does your Bill Wallis seed all over the place? I had a similar one, forgot what it's called but I had to get rid of it..

...I have Anemone's.. the Ostrich Feather type.. they've been flowering since the end of January and still going..

..Anemone St. Brigid 'Lord Lieutenant'... I must get some more...

..colourful foliage on 'Mme. Antoine Mari'.. today.. this is usually one of my first roses to bloom...

Marlorena - re the banksia on our house - yes, my DH climbs up his 35 ft ladder once a year (after it finishes blooming) and prunes it away from the windows and ties up some of the long fountaining canes it puts out. We have a Cl Cecile Brunner the same size next to it, which is trained around our bedroom window - it is just starting to bloom now, and the little pink rose buds form a frame around the window.

Our county just passed a huge extra property tax to fund a county wide new firefighting bureaucracy to reduce fire fuels in the public lands, and enforce new laws re foliage in private yards. The rules are so complicated, and have been imposed at several different levels of Govt, , that I am not going to try and figure them out - I'm sure sometime this summer some people will show up to explain them to me. They do have a "specialty" category where they will send someone (hopefully who has the vaguest idea what a plant is) to work with homeowners on specific plans. No matter what they do, I am sure that roses climbing 3 stories up the house will not be allowed, however.

Lisa - it sounds as if bulbs from South Africa will do well in your garden - they like wet winters and totally dry summers. Sparaxis, Ixias, etc. I have lots of them, along with of course agapanthus.

Jackie

Jackie....your spring garden is just beautiful! I love how it is overflowing with plants so early in the season. I cannot imagine having to remove your roses climbing on your house....that would be heartbreaking. Your yellow Lady Banks is so wonderful! I think of that and Cecile Brunner as the iconic roses of California...or at least Northern CA.

Marlorena...primroses are my second favourite flower (after roses) and I especially adore oxslips. I was lucky to find a single plant for sale a few years ago and planted it in my garden. It has now increased to a small clump, and it's my favourite spring flower. That's good to know they like manure....would horse manure work? I have some of that. You have so many beautiful little spring blooming things...it's quintessentially English :)

Lisa....like Jackie, your garden already looks lush and full! I would love to have osteospermum live year round for me. I can get it to survive some winters, but it looks so leggy and ratty that I just toss it. Have you pruned your Mel's Heritage at all this season? Do you prune it every year or let it go sort of wild at the top of the hill? I have mine growing on a 10 foot teepee, so I have to hack it back very hard each spring to keep it in bounds.

Here are some of the spring flowers I'm most excited about this year in my garden...

'April Rose' camellia:

My little oxslip clump:

Drumstick primulas:

'Gypsy Queen' hyacinths:

A spring planter:

'Pink Charm' daffodils:

Rosylady... beautiful as ever.. oh I like your Hyacinths and Camellia, and of course the charming little Oxslip.. nice to see that somewhere else in the world...

...and thank you so much... nice trough too.. I've also copied you with that stone edging to the border although mine isn't half as neat..

Jackie... fingers crossed some leniency is applied to your wall roses... but I suppose it must be some kind of a risk in drought conditions.. who knows what's going to happen these days... 2000 nurseries here are closed and have had to destroy all their Spring plants because none of us can go out and buy them...

Roselady - I love your pictures of the beautiful little plants - my garden is so wild that I can only grow flowers that small in pots - it is nice to see them in garden beds. Marlorena - yes, since our house is shingled, I'm pretty sure that the Fire Dept will be coming by, but maybe not until next year, as they have way more other things to do re the virus (100% of the firefighters in our town are EMTs also) now.

Some of my roses are bursting into bloom when I am not looking now. Here is 'Fortune's Double Yellow'. It is climbing on a structure in a clearing in the garden, so I had to get on a ladder to take pics of it yesterday. I took a cutting of an old one which is growing next to a bike path we use a lot. Mine is a baby - maybe 6 years old. It got a slow start, as I planted it at the bottom of a 80 ft tall oak tree in our front garden, but 2 years later the 70 year old oak tree got some sort of fungal rot and had to be taken down, and we had to move the rose. It likes its new spot, but is just getting up to where it gets more light - already twice as many blooms as it had last year - here are 2 pics - one from as far away as I could get on the ladder (with my DH hanging on to it - he is ladder friendly, but I am not so much), and one closer up.

Jackie

Beautiful ‘Fortune’s Double Yellow’ Jackie! I hope you were careful up on that ladder. No one wants you to fall and get hurt, although you managed to get a fabulous shot. I so enjoy seeing it’s soft, nuanced colors. I envy you the space for all those climbers. I must agree that the firemen will be busy elsewhere for a while. I think we can assume the roses against the house will get to show their glorious spring flush(at the very least) undisturbed. You’re right about the South African bulbs doing well for me, Jackie. I grow all of the ones you mentioned, and more. The Agapanthus patch that was here upon my arrival was a common pale blue one, and the olive tree grew too large, blocking to much sun for them to bloom much. I offered them for free on Craig’s List, and folks came and dug them out by the bucketful. Madame Alfred Carrier found herself a home in their place.

Marlorena, the Leucocoryne I pictured above is ‘Andes’. I have others as well. They bloom at odd times for me, depending on where I have them planted. The single ‘Andes’ bloom is an early bird this year. Yes, I am finding that ‘Bill Wallis’ geranium seeds himself quite a bit. I didn’t think it was very prolific until I let several years of seedlings multiply, each year there are more. I could have easily stopped it early on, but I didn’t, and I don’t mind so much. The gophers tend to leave it alone, and it’s better than growing weeds in places I rarely reach. Your anemone’s are lovely. I don’t know why I always chose the single types. I usually prefer very full petaled flowers. I might have to try some of the ‘Lord Lieutenant’ next year. They are inexpensive, and easily available. I grow the single ‘Mr. Fokker’, who’s name I still cringe to say aloud when people ask:)

Roselady, I have yet to see a less than perfect picture of your accomplishments. Is there nothing you can’t grow? I love the bulbs you’ve grown! My bulb containers have been hit and miss this year, with some just now emerging. I put ice on several of the small potted tulips when we had warm temps. They spent the fall in the garage fridge, but when I bring them outside, success is largely dependent upon what weather nature brings. I didn’t prune Mel’s Heritage at all this year, Roselady. I have a hard time getting up that slope these days, and who knows how long my hip replacement surgery will be delayed now. I specifically didn’t want it done during the heat of summer, because watering is too much to ask of anyone during the hot months. I just cut away what canes need to be cut to avoid Mel’s Heritage taking over other roses, and have to leave it at that for now. He’s enormous, and should put on an incredible show in May.

I see that ‘Wild Edric’ rose has opened that bud wide. I think I’ll submit this, and try to get a closer shot of his huge bloom. I should be back to post it soon. Lisa

Marlorena....I look forward to seeing your stone edging in your pictures this year!

Jackie....I can't believe you and your husband get up on ladders like that!! My husband and I (we're 45) were cleaning out a shed last weekend and I commented to him that at a certain point in our life, we will have to stop going on ladders. I'm not sure what age that will be.

Your Fortune's Double Yellow is wonderful! It's one of my favourite old roses. Last year I visited Filoli in April and their's was blooming in their courtyard. It was a literal sheet of bloom! And the colors were so rich and glowing. Definitely one of my best rose-viewing moments ever!

...what a fabulous rose... worth getting on a ladder for although 6 foot is as far up as I want to go..

..Lisa... I thought that might be 'Andes'.. I shall get some even though they are not hardy here but I take a chance..

I didn't get Mr Fokker for that reason.. it would send me into a fit of giggles so best not..

Roselady - that's so funny - Filoli is the first place I ever saw or heard of FDY! It was in full bloom when I was there with a friend, and covered the entire wall of an enclosed patio. I I spent the immediate 15 minutes after we saw it searching around for anyone who could tell me who it was. So, when I saw it eating trees next to a bike path we use 3 times a week, I rooted a cutting and brought it back to my garden.

Jackie

Those pictures are incredible, Roselady! Jackie, no wonder you fell for FDY upon first sight. There’s more blooms than foliage showing in those photos.

It took me a bit, but I took the promised picture of ‘Wild Edric’s’ open bloom.

Wild Edric is loaded with buds, and another open bloom was hiding on the other side.

One more for now. The California native Limnanthes douglasii is in bloom. It has been reseeding for years and survives in the low area out front where it’s too damp for much else if we get ample spring rain. It dies off completely in May, dropping seeds that sprout the following winter. Lisa

Lisa...does 'Wild Edric' have some rugosa in it? It's really pretty

Rosylady, Wild Edric does have rugosa in its breeding. It’s the only rose I have that shows rugosa in it at all. Thorny things, aren’t they? My dear friend Ingrid, (from this very forum), gave Wild Edric to me a few years ago. I know it’s very difficult to find. I love having it, especially because it’s from someone so dear. She has two of them left herself, and they are also beginning to bloom.

I’m still watching the morning news, but I think there are a few new things to take pictures of today. Lisa

The Ixia are almost opening. Flamingo Garden’s Tea has many buds, and a single open bloom.

The little Lewisia blooms are looking cute today.