Spring: This week's new arrivals

Spring is a busy season - for both me and my plants.  I'm spending more time working in the garden and have less time to pull together blog posts.  And the garden seemingly produces new blooms every time I turn around. To address both concerns, I thought I'd use my Wednesday posts to provide quick looks at the plants producing their first blooms.  At present, I plan to continue these for the next several weeks, or at least as long as the new blooms keep on coming.  If you didn't see last Friday's post on spring's arrival, you can catch up here.

Here's what's new this week:

I've seen a few Dutch Iris blooming in other peoples' gardens.  This Iris hollandica 'Sapphire Beauty' has just opened its first flowers in my back garden.

Once again, I failed to divide Scilla peruviana when the clump finished blooming last spring.  However, it doesn't appear that means I'm going to be short of flowers this year.

I never recorded the Narcissus bulbs I planted in this back garden bed 2-3 years ago but I think they're Narcissus 'Beautiful Eyes'

I haven't had the best luck in growing Ranunculus in the past but I took advantage of a mail order sale this past fall and ordered 4 varieties.  This is Ranunculus 'Tecolote White'.  The flowers are a little wimpy but appreciated nonetheless.

Ranunculus 'Tecolote Rose' is following just behind the white variety.  The other 2 varieties have yet to show themselves.

Lobelia laxiflora is already bountiful enough to make an impact.  This is one of the plants most beloved by the local hummingbirds.

Hybrid Helleborus 'Phoebe' is peaking through a Calliandra shrub in the back garden

I've no record of planting this noID Ageratum with white flowers anywhere but this one has appeared consistently in my back garden border for the last 3 years.  Unlike the annual Ageratum houstonianum, it behaves like a woody perennial shrub and it grows significantly taller than the projections for that species.  It's approximately 4 feet tall at present.  I cut it back every year and it returns.  

As an addendum, here's one of the birds that's recently become active in my garden I captured a couple of shots while buzzing through my garden photographing flowers:

I think this is a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos).  He's quite vocal at the moment.

He's a handsome devil too

There's an eighty percent chance of rain in my area this afternoon, possibly continuing into Thursday, as well as another chance of rain next Monday night.  I hope both storms materialize!

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party