Today is Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – Hurray!   A reason to head outside and see what surprises await throughout Entwined Garden.  The brisk temperature this morning is 37 degrees with a high expected of a sunny 60!!!   Ooh la la!

Enjoy a virtual stroll through our Wake Forest, North Carolina – zone 7b garden…

These lovely blue striated Crocus chrysanthus ‘Blue Pearl’  emerge on a hillside reminding me of a nest of baby Bluebirds – beaks wide open.  Note: Make sure Bluebird nesting boxes clean.

Charming  periwinkle Vinca minor  ‘Illumination’ with yellow variegated leaves tumbling  out of a pot on the  back terrace.  A reminder of a fun Hort trip to Virginia with the Border Babes.

Jewels, harvested from nearby dwarf  Mondo grass- Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nanus’.   A gift that keeps on giving from precious friend Amelia Lane.   I’ve already planted these on my way back inside, by tucking the jewels between bricks, anticipation of the dwarf grass that will sprout to soften the garden path next year.

Heart be still…  Iris reticulata ‘Ida’  – love the intense blue and wild pattern in the petals, planted in a rock garden. Note to self – try making dye from the leaves!  Order more bulbs!

Primula vulgaris hybrid – Primrose – my earliest blossoms are always in pots kept outdoors… but I have also spied the leaves emerging in the shade garden!  I love this regal red with delicate gold edging & centers.  I plant where the blooms can be seen from looking our windows.  It is amazing how far away they can been seen this time of year when the rest of the garden is green, brown or white – uplifting to see these flashes of color.

A Valentine’s gift to my husband a about six years ago.

No surprise –Pieris japonica ‘Valley Valentine’ blooming right on time…

Glad you’re mine – Valley Valentine!

This is a treasure I am so glad to have… not often found in garden centers.   Although offered in mail order catalogs it is reported that it does not ship well.  Winter Aconite – Eranthis hyemalis. 

Horticulture  Magazine describes  as, “A “jester’s collar” of green bracts surround the base of each flower.”

This offering was rescued from Ed Osborne’s property before it was bulldozed and became a commercial site.  Ed was a friend of B. W. (Bertram Whittier) Wells (1884–1978) fondly known as the Tar Heel Ecologist in these parts, who studied the relationships to plant communities, later known as eco systems, but that’s another story….

The clumps of Aconites were shared with a number of friends.  Some of these friends,  5-10 miles away, will call or email whenever the Aconites begin to bloom & have reported Aconite from the same original clump have been blooming for several weeks now…  Upon hearing this last week,  I grabbed a jacket & flashlight and steamed out to the garden one frosty night to see if perhaps I missed them.  Bare shivering fingers feverishly raking through leaves as if possessed – and not a peep.

I have kept a regular vigil and finally this week…more signs of the colony emerging to herald spring!

On the far left side of the photo above – you can see minute green specks of leaves beginning to emerge.

This is one of my favorite Spireas.  Spiraea thumbergii ‘Ogon’ – miniature sprays of white flowers float through the air, supported by petite variegated leaves.   It’s been blooming since mid February and I swear it blooms 3 times a year! Then unobtrusively takes a bow to create a soft background when not in bloom.    I have it planted diagonally on two sides of a path leading to the lake.  This time of year it delights with the sensation of a snow flurry… even if we don’t get one…   I am a Chicago Gal after all and love snow!

Fatsia japonica “Spider Web”  still looking amazing even as the white umbels begin to droop a little…. have I mentioned how much I love this plant? Hardy to zone 7 -10… might try in zone 6 if protected.

Surprise Greens leftover from a salad mix… in a pot on the deck.  Time to purchase & plant mustard and other winter salad green seeds!

With a long list of  “to do’s” and  more photos to come… do visit again soon… I’ll be sharing all the fragrant plants now in bloom  that are sure to entice one into the winter garden… and of course  a Hellobore report!

Also be sure to stop by Carol’s May Dream Gardens  – where you can visit to see what’s bloomin in her neck of the woods and around the world’!

Enjoy – living the  EntwinedLife

Jayme B

NC Certified Environmental Educator

Garden Conservancy Regional Representative

JC Raulston Arboretum Volunteer