The queen of all southern flowers, in my opinion, is the Gardenia. This gorgeous blossom is from the largest of my Gardenia shrubs. I have pruned it every spring for 5 years, but at over 8 ft. tall, it’s due for a major cutting next year. Being planted close to house on the front corner allows the flower’s lovely perfume to drift into the open windows on early summer evenings.
The crisp white flowers are so beautiful. When cut and brought inside, their heavenly fragrance fills the air for days before fading. This evergreen shrub only flowers for a few weeks each year, some varieties longer and more than once, but it’s well worth the wait to enjoy this amazing plant.
This English Lavender ‘Lady’ was started from seed about 5 years ago. It needs replanting in a larger container soon to encourage more flowers next year.
Lavender is a herbaceous perennial and mint family member. Inhaling the lovely fragrance has been proven to relax, calm, and soothe. Both the tiny purple blooms and fragrant leaves dry nicely.
Hostas I planted late last summer have returned gloriously. They have made the shady bed under the Crabapple tree bright with green, white, & yellow. I also planted Dianthus aka “Pinks” here last year. These “Pinks” are now brimming with blooms of many different lovely colors.
Deer love to eat Hostas, so I am thankful these three beauties have been spared this year.
I’m late posting these Azalea pics. The lovely hot pink & white blooms faded a couple weeks ago. I am always amazed by the showy profusion of blooms produced on such an otherwise simple looking plant.
These gorgeous Dutch Iris bulbs were a gift from my thoughtful sister-in-law. She knows me so well and has given me so many great plants over the years. Also know as the classic Fleur-de-Lis, I was fascinated by these flowers as a child and am so happy to have them growing in my garden.
There are hundreds of Daffodil species and over 25,000 named hybrids. I only have a few different types in my yard, and haven’t taken time to identify them. I plan to divide and replant some crowded clumps of bulbs after the foliage fades this year to encourage more blooms next year.
I took these photos over the last few weeks.
They are all so beautiful and cheerful at this time when little else is happening yet in the landscape. I cut some of the super sweetly fragrant types a few weeks ago and put them on the mantle in the lovely bud vases my sweet sister-in-law gave me a few years ago.
Tiny, bell-shaped, frilly edged clusters of Grape Hyacinth blooms are starting to fill my containers now. I pair them with daffodils for pretty late winter color. I dug the bulbs from under the Crabapple tree just after moving here and put them into containers. The ground under the tree wasn’t ideal. They seem much happier in the containers and have bloomed profusely for years.
This photo was taken before the hyacinths bloomed, but you can see their trailing, green, skinny leaves hanging over the sides of the container. Also in this container, are a variety of miniature Daffodil and fantastically fragrant Freesia-which will bloom this summer. My sweet mother-in-law gave me the container when we moved in and I am so happy it’s finally filled with greenery and blooms.
This Daffodil is blooming early even for Georgia. I can’t remember seeing blooms on these before February. Hoping frost doesn’t kill them. Daffodils, aka Narcissus or Jonquils, have been my favorite flowers since I was a child. I would watch the dull hillsides for their fast growing green tips to burst through the fallen leaves. My Mom called them Easter Lilies, as many people do in the mountains of Western North Carolina, because they usually bloomed there at Easter.
If you get close enough, most have a fantastic sweet smell. I love to cut and bring them inside to enjoy their beauty and scent. Truly a lovely plant, I am excited to get more for my landscape and containers this fall.
My husband brought home cuttings of a mystery plant 5 years ago from a friend’s porch. I had trouble identifying it at first. I found a similar plant called Jewel Leaf Plant in a random indoor gardening book I had from my bookstore employee days. It listed the scientific name Graptopetalum Amethystinum. I think this one is Graptopetalum Paraguayense. I have heard it called many things, but most commonly the scientific name Graptopetalum, Mother-of-Pearl Plant and Ghost Plant.
Those few have grown, and I have transplanted cuttings from this mother plant for my friend. I cut the longest pieces with scissors, put them in this cup of water for a few months-adding more water as necessary, and planted them in the new pot after they grew roots.
An amazingly hardy plant, roots will even sprout from fallen petals. A member of the Jade family, the petals are soft, but don’t like to be rubbed too hard. Pale green will turn to dusty purple coloring this summer. It lives on the shady back deck until temps. drop below freezing, then moves to a south facing window inside. I think it needs more sun this season, as it’s never bloomed. I hope to see flowers this year.
My friend is coming to visit this weekend. I have been promising to transplant cuttings for her for years. Mission finally accomplished.
I hope it will do as well on her front porch in Raleigh.
