Friday, February 15, 2008

February Blooms for GBBD

When I announced that the GBBD post (an idea of Carol of May Dreams Gardens) of last January would be my last one, it seemed to disappoint so many garden bloggers, that I've decided to do a few more. Yes, I'm a great big softy but you knew that, right? But I won't do another whole year, as the GBBD posts from May til October take me about 4 hours to make. And 4 hours per post is a bit much, don't you think?
It takes me that long because I have so many blooms during those months that all have to be photographed, their names written down on long lists, then I have to look up their common name in English as I'm Dutch and therefore I am more familiar with the common names for plants in Dutch, not English. Because I've watched the British gardening programme Gardener's World, I am familiar with quite a few common plant names in English, but that is British English, not American or Canadian or Australian English. During last year I've found that the common names for plants are not always the same in America, Britain, Canadia or even Australia and that means that my best bet to avoid confusion about which plant it is, is to write down all the botanical names of the plants. I know quite a few of those as I've been gardening for quite a few years, but not all and as I like to spell them right too, that means more looking up which is time consuming.
Then I have to get the pics from my camera onto my pc, make them smaller (another rather time consuming process), load them up on Blogger (takes quite some time too), write the text and then ................ TADAAAA, suddenly 4 hours later, my post for GBBD is done. So I hope you will understand why I won't do those posts anymore this year.
Since last Tuesday I've been having a lot of pain both in my neck and right shoulder which makes blogging and commenting a bit painful so I've decided to go easy on myself this time and make it a short bloom post, well, short-ish. ;-) So I will only show you what is in bloom outside.

So far you've seen:
- 3 Hellebores in flower
- Winter Aconites
But I have also in flower:
purple Crocuses and
yellow ones and
white ones.
There is also
lungwort in flower,
and Skimmia,
Grape Hyacinths,
Bergenia,
Violets in blue,
yellow,
burgundy and white.

Adding a lovely scent to the winter garden is
Sarcococca or christmas box. The plant itself is nothing to write home about but it's scent is great! The pic is not as good as I had hoped, sometimes my camera's autofocus is not really doing its job properly.

Something about which I'm very happy, is that my daffodils are out already. I took this pic last week, now more flowers have opened.
I'm nuts about dafs, no other flower says Spring to me more than the daffodils do. Such cheerful flowers too!

Still in flower is the
hanging rosemary,
the winter Jasmine,
Periwinkle or vinca minor and
my Camellia. In this pic its in my conservatory as we had some nights with - 5 C frost and I didn't want to get frost damaged flowers.

As I like wildflowers I include them in this GBBD post too and here they are, my darling
daisies!

My pride and joy at the moment, apart from the first daffodils, are the snowdrops. Here's a pic of the special greenpoints,
still a small clump as you can see, but it is only its first year of flowering and I have high hopes that someday it will look something like this;
a clump of ordinary snowdrops, but aren't they simply gorgeous?

My garden has truly woken up and it is not only showing a lot of blooms already, but it is also full of promise of things to come.
Amelanchier forming buds.

The weekend is going to be sunny but cold over here, the Spring weather left us last Wednesday. But as long as the sun is shining I'm not complaining. It's good to see that the days are lengthening and nature is waking up.

Have a great weekend!

copyright 2008: Y.E.W. Heuzen

It is February.
The bulbs are shooting,
the moon is slipping
dripping stars, hot and sticky.
Jane Eaton Hamilton

40 comments:

Carol Michel said...

I'm happy to see you've decided to join us again for bloom day, but oh my, I had no idea it took you so long to put together those posts! Perhaps for future bloom days you could do your "top 5" or so blooms or something like that so it isn't such a chore?

Your hellebores are beautiful. I'm waiting for mine to bloom, but it will be awhile. And I've always liked how you let the little daisies naturalize through the lawn. I hope to do something similar in my lawn this year.

Thanks for joining us again. Your garden is always a treat, a delight, for all of us.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Wunderschön was bei dir alles schon blüht. Hier ist es wieder recht kalt geworden, der Wind ist richtig eisig und man meint es wäre noch viel kälter! Du hast ja zum Glück den Wintergarten, da beneide ich dich glühend drum.

Gute Besserung für deine Schulter!

LG Lis

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I am amazed that you have so much blooming outside now. I always think of your part of the world as colder during winter. All of those blooms are a sight for sore winter weary eyes.

Anonymous said...

Wat een leuk bloemig rondje door je februarituin! Ik ben ook een narcissenfan, de lentebol bij uitstek!

OT Op mijn weblog heb ik een reactie gegeven op je opmerking over outcrosses en inteelt.

Geniet van het komend zonnige weekend en voorzichtig met je schouder!

Frances, said...

We will miss your bloom day posts terribly. Maybe like Carol suggests, just a few of the best blooms. It won't be possible in a couple of months to show everything in bloom here either, but that is not the worst thing in the world, is it?

Frances at Faire Garden

kate said...

Thanks Yolanda Elizabet, for posting your blooms this month. I love the way the light is hitting the dark Hellebore. These are such gorgeous flowers. The winter jasmine, christmas box, skimmia and lungwort are fun to see.

I love the daffodils, daisies and the delightful snowdrops. You will have a large climps of them in no time!

Anonymous said...

Bloeit jouw longkruid al?
Zeker vloerverwarming in je tuin;-)
Jammer dat het kouder aan het worden is (en nog - wordt)het ging juist zo lekker!
Die pijn in je nek en schouder is vervelend, door dat kille grijze weer van de afgelopen dagen ga je die "zwakke" plekken nog meer voelen hè!(Ouderdom komt met gebreken zeggen ze dan)
Het is niet alleen lastig achter de computer, maar ook in de tuin!
Maar al met al gaat het er tóch steeds meer op lijken, lente!
fijn weekend, groeten, Marian

Anonymous said...

4 uren .........pffffffffffff !!
je ben t niet goed bij je hoofd menschh !!! En dan komt je tuin er weer aan , vind je het gek dat jij een schouder en arm hebt die gaat zeggen ....doe het lekker zelluf !!!
Heb weer eens zitten lekkerbekken bij al je bloemetjes , zoveel heb ik er bij lange na niet , maar vergaap me hier wel !!!
;))))
meis een lekker rustig weekend wens ik je , beetje van de zon genieten en lekker even niets ??
groetjes Lenie

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I'm amazed at how much you have blooming right now. This year I must get Hellebores, I can't believe I don't have it already.

I can certainly understand the time factor involved in the GBBD posting. Your blooms are always some of my favorites. Perhaps you could make up a master list of plant names, (I did something similar last summer), and also do as others have suggested and just pick from your favorite blooms. As long as you keep posting I don't care. I just love seeing your garden!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you posted this month; it's always such a joy to see your garden.

It's also good to learn that I'm not the only one who consumes hours fashioning a post. Maybe it's the perfectionist nature of us INTJs.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to blooming Bliss!

* Carol: it was never a chore. One of the reasons I joined GBBD was to have a record of what was in flower in my garden throughout the year. Another was that I loved showing my fellow bloggers my blooms. Last year I was slowly recovering from an illness and as I wasn't able to do much, I enjoyed all that blogging. It was such a fun way of getting to know people. But now it's back to the grindstone for me and I have less time for blogging. Perhaps I could do a top 5 or something else, I'll think about it, OK? And I'm looking forward to greet all the daisies in your lawn!

* Lis: it is much colder here too, around 5 C during the day and - 5 C during the night. I live in a more temperate climate than yours, that's true. Thank you for your best wishes!

* Lisa: you are not the only one. For some reason many people think that my country is covered in 3 feet of snow during the winter, but it isn't. The things you learn while blogging, eh? ;-)

* Brimstone: ik geniet altijd zo van die eerste bloemetjes in de tuin; je knapt van zoveel bloemigs helemaal op! Ik zal voorzichtig aan doen!

* Frances: don't worry I'll think of some alternative, OK?

* Kate: I hope to have large clumps of snowdrops and winter aconites and crocus too. They are all such brave flowers and can stand a bit of frost and snow too. They cheer me up every time I see them.

* Marian: ja, al 2 weken maar ze staat dan ook heel beschut en op het zuiden. Het was fijner geweest als het lenteweer had aangehouden. In ieder geval wordt het lekker zonnig en dat is ook heel fijn in deze tijd van het jaar.

Ja, die schouder en nek is erg vervelend, dat heb je goed gezien. Ook jij een fijn weekend en dikke knuffs voor de katjes!

* Lenie: ik ben niet gek, ik ben een vliegtuig, voom voom!!:-) Maar vrees niet die 4 uur was maar heel af en toe en dat ga ik nu niet meer doen. Geen tijd en ook geen zin meer in.
Ja, heerlijk he die blommigjes, daar knap je helemaal van op.
Nou niets? Ik heb tamelijk veel te doen maar allemaal leuke dingen ter ontspanning. Ik heb wel geleerd om naar het lijf te luisteren als het NEE zegt. ;-)

* Robin: you shock me, no hellebores? Really Robin, what were you thinking of? ;-) Now is the right time to get them as many are in flower already so you can see what colour flowers they have.
I'll keep on posting, never fear!

Thanks for visiting!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this post, Yolanda Elizabet. I wonder if you realize just how cheering it is for those of us with little to enjoy in our own gardens right now. If you decide to do more Bloom Day posts, we'll be right here to cheer you on; if not, we'll think of you being happily busy *in* your garden instead of indoors blogging about it.

chuck b. said...

I forgot to get a picture of rosemary.

Your hellebores are sumptuous.

gintoino said...

yolanda, I'm glad you decided to post for GBBD again. Your garden as usual is a feast to our eyes. Loved the helebores (we don't see them much around here)

Anonymous said...

Je GBBD- blogjes zien er altijd geweldig uit en daar gaat natuurlijk bakken tijd inzitten...! Ook in de tuin is nu weer veel te doen....had een dag maar wat meer uren..;-))
Sterkte met het pijnlijke lijf- tijd voor met 'een boekje in een hoekje'??

Anonymous said...

You're revealing your compulsive nature, YE, to tell us that you "must" include every single bloom, with both common and botanical name (spelled correctly, of course). I sympathize completely because I'm a tad compulsive about my posts too. The photos take a tremendous amount of time, especially if one posts a lot of them.

I hope we'll still see you on Bloom Day but perhaps in an abbreviated way. There's no rule that you must display every single bloom you have. Some people just post one good photo and then a list of blooms. It all works.

Anyway, great Bloom Day, as expected, at Bliss. My garden is awake too!

Anonymous said...

Wooow 4 uur is wel heeeel veel tijd! Geen wonder dat je last hebt van je arm en schouder! Maar.....het is wel te zien aan je log dat je er zo veel werk van maakt: ziet er prachtig uit met zo veel foto's! Toch even kalm aan gaan doen nu hoor!!

Ik wens je een heel fijn weekend!
beuzeblaadje

Priscilla George said...

Just wonderful blooms. I only have a few things blooming. Wonderful. My grape hyacinths have not started to bloom or set bud yet.

Gotta Garden said...

What a lot of changes, YE! The things I have missed! I am so sorry to hear that you've been ill...you certainly hid it well. I totally know and understand about how long things take...forever sometimes! Then, I have to remind myself that it is supposed to be fun, right?

Well, LOVE all your blooms but wanted to say how much I want want want winter aconites! But I have had zero success...sigh. I think I need to find them in the green...near impossible here. I visited a garden recently where they were all around, spilling into the paths...and I kept thinking, "Why don't they pot them up and sell them??!" Oh well. I'll find them someday!

Take care now. Rest and relax...because we need you out here in garden blog land!

Kerri said...

Yolanda Elizabet, seeing your blooms is like a lovely preview of things to come for us! It gives us hope and encouragement that there really is growth and color under the snow!
I adore your Hellebores and can't wait to see my own beginning to grow. The Skimmia is interesting and such a cheerful color.
I'm not surprised it takes so long for you to put a post together. The whole process is very time consuming.
Thanks for sharing all these beautiful blooms.

Anonymous said...

PS Kun je je foto's niet op fotobucket o.i.d zetten en van daar uit op Blogger?
Onze foto's maken we kleiner met
http://www.bordermaker.nl/ een heel handig programma, gratis te downloaden! En dan als bulkload naar photobucket! Scheelt enorm veel tijd!
groetjes, Marian

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Blooming Bliss!

* MSS: I'm sure it's the perfectionist nature of an INTJ. ;-)

* Nan: you're welcome! I hadn't realized at first but I do now. That's one of my reasons for doing GBBD posts during the early months of the year.;-)

* Chuck B: those hellebores are indeed sumptious and I'm glad to have them.

* Gintoino: loved your contribution to GBBD too! ;-) Don't Hellebores do well in Portugal or is it difficult to buy them?

* Marl1: dank u, en ja zoiets kost veel tijd. Ik dacht ik zet het er maar eens op want niet iedereen realiseert zich dat. ;-) Boekje vasthouden gaat niet zo goed, dus kijk ik DVD's en zo, of ga wat wandelen.

* Pam: it is not so much of a question of *must* but of *want*. When I create a post for my blog I 'd like it to be a good one. I see no point in spreading the wrong info and when I publish pics I'd like them to be clear so that everyone can see what the plant, flower or garden really looks like.
The botanical names of plants are international, when I use them everybody knows which plant I mean and if they don't it is easy to look them up. It does not suprise me that you like your posts to be just so too!

I'll think about what I'll do for the summer months for GBBD, OK?

Good to hear that your garden is awake too! Must have been a very short nap. :-)

* Beuzeblaadje: niet elke post kost me zoveel tijd, de meeste ongeveer 1 uur, maar de posten voor Garden Bloggers Blooms Day in de zomer kosten wel zoveel tijd. Ik doe het rustig aan en het is al wat beter gelukkig.Ook jij een fijn weekend!

* Vanillalotus: the grape hyacinths were in flower last month too, much to my surprise. Yours will start flowering soon too, never fear!

Thank you all for visiting and commenting. I enjoy reading the comments!

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Es haut mich glatt um, was bei Dir schon so alles blüht. Beneidenswertes Klima habt Ihr.
Wenn ich Deine Schneeglöckchen-Tuffs sehe, weiß ich was bei uns unbedingt fehlt. Sogar die Bergenien blühen schon bei Dir. Der reinste Wahnsinn. Unsere Krokusse haben erst mal wieder einen mitbekommen durch den Frost und der Teich hat auch plötzlich eine Eisschicht. Dünn, aber Eis.

Ich wünsche Dir auch gute Besserung. Gerade wenn der Frühling naht, kann man Schmerzen nicht gebrauchen.

Liebe Grüße und einen schönen Sonntag wünscht Dir Birgit

Anonymous said...

Yolanda, I can certainly see that you put a lot of effort into your posts, but four hours is a bit excessive! You have such lovely things to write and photograph. Hope that you find some relief for your neck and shoulder. Are any of the cats any good at massage? How lovely to see your garden awakening.

Sherry at the Zoo said...

Wow! 4 hours is quite a long time, but look at all the pleasure you are giving us! Think of all those smiles! I know I was smiling as I was reading...(and drooling over everything you have in bloom)!

Unknown said...

Beautiful, Yolanda, just wonderful. You had me at the hellebores, of course, but then that green tipped Galanthus sent me into raptures. All your hard work--in the garden and on Bliss--is deeply appreciated by your loyal readers!

Shady Gardener said...

Thank you so very much for sharing your lovely, beautiful flowers. You have been very generous with your time - and it's certainly appreciated! :-)

Sue Swift said...

Hi Yolanda Elisabet,
Of course, you could grow less in your garden so that you didn't have so much to blog about ...:))

Seriously, I know how much time taking and uploading photos can take - especially on days when Blogger doesn't want to co-operate. Why not just choose one plant per month that you think is typical and post about that. A couple of photos and you're done.

I love GBD but I realised that my own posts risked repeating themselves this year - I shall be growing some new stuff, but the old favourites from last year will be there in abundance. and it could get boring. So, I'm toying with the idea of the "plant of the month" theme myself. I started this month with primulas (though quite honestly i've not got much else to blog about at the moment!) and I'll see how it goes.

Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree said...

I always enjoy seeing what's in bloom in your garden. And I hope you continue with at least a few, 2 or 3 special flowers for each month. Just choose your favorites.
Those aconites are so pretty! I had some in my old garden, missing them now. I should try and get some for this garden.

Melanie Chopay said...

Yolanda Elizabet, I can see why it would take you four hours to do one of these posts during the late spring and summer! Wow, what a lovely, enjoyable read that was.

Your photo with the Ophiopogon (black mondo grass) in the container was extra special. My Ophiopogon just disappears in the garden, it's too small to capture the eye but the way you've incorporated it into the container is just delightful. I can't wait to give it a try too!

Naturegirl said...

Yolanda I can totally relate to the hours put into posting so many blooms and blossoms when posting!!
I thank you for all the time you give us in your presentaions.
WOW!! You have all these blooms and we still have mountains of snow!! The only blooms we have are the store bought tulips and roses left from Valentines Day..but that's OK with me!
Soon I will be posting blooms from a desert and I will tell you about it later this week on my blog but in the meantime Babie and I continue to look out our window and learn lessons of Nature..come see! hugs NG

Rusty in Miami said...

I am glad you are back; it looks like spring is waking up the garden in your cormer of the world. Feel better; I have the same problem with my left shoulder.

Andrea's Garden said...

hallo Yolanda, thought I drop by again and here are your beautiful pictures. I haven't had much time to do any blogging lately. Just too much to do at work and when I get home I am not in the mood to do much in blog world. About resizing pictures - there are some nice little tools like "Easy Thumbnails" which is a freeware and allows you to do batch resizing. See ya around, Andrea

Shirley said...

Hi there, Yolanda :-)

Great to see you sharing the flowers and colour from your garden for another month. My, it has a lot of colour and interest at the moment :-D

I'm late with my GBBD post - hopefully tomorrow. I've been busy with a few other posts including one on Blog Awards where I've been delighted to nominate you if you would like to drop by :-D

Petunia's Gardener said...

My, your garden is like previewing future months for me. It is only the snowdrops I found here. Many buds, though. Last summer, I would only post a few special photos, with maybe a few more other blooms listed. Just too many. It is fun being part of the around the world GBBD project. I know I can go look at the comments to Carol's post for bloom day anytime I want to browse some other gardens. You''ll soon have all of us wanting to move to the Netherlands! Thanks for your posts and the wonderful tour of your garden. Paula

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Yolanda, What wonderful pictures as always. I can see why it would take 4 hours to get your post ready. I am afraid it will be several more weeks before my garden starts to bloom. Thanks for sharing!!
Cliff

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

I completely understand why you don't do a regular post. This one was absolutely wonderful! Your crocus are so pretty. I need to get some other ones besides the purple. Thanks for reminding me to do that. I hope you feel better soon and the pain subsides.

Hugs,
Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Blooming Bliss!

*GG: That is right, it is supposed to be fun and it is for me and I hope for you too! :-) Isn't there some nursery in your area that specialises in spring plants and bulbs? Aconites can also be grown from seeds!
I'm doing my best to get well soon! ;-)

* Kerri: I'm glad my blog is so encouraging to those of you whose gardens are still fast asleep. Skimmias are great plants to have and so easy to grow too!

* Marian: bedankt voor de tips, ik ga het binnenkort eens even uitzoeken allemaal!

* Birgit: this is a good time to buy Schneeglöckchen. Here there are nurseries and garden centres that sell them in flower. My Bergenias are crazy, you are right, they have been flowering in September and October too. They say it is getting warmer soon in your country and mine, I hope so! And today I'm feeling a bit better.

* Nikkipolani: my Delia is very good at keeping my neck warm which is a great help. :-)

* Sherry: my blog seems to make people smile a lot, I like that! Here's a tissue. ;-)

* Jodi: it's good to be appreciated! ;-) I have more pics of Hellebores, very pretty ones too. That green tipped snowdrop is a winner, isn't it? I'm so glad it does well in my garden.

* Shady Gardener: you're welcome and I'm glad you enjoyed and appreciated it all! ;-)

* Sue Swift: good idea! Or perhaps maybe not. ;-)
Sounds like a great idea!

* Sylvia: it would be a great idea to get some aconites for your garden. I love these little flowers as they are usually the first one to appear, even through a layer of snow or ice. Such brave little troopers!

Thanks for visiting and commenting!

Anonymous said...

There is a whole lotta bloomin' going on in your garden.
I'm sorry to hear about your pain. I hope you feel better soon.

Lori said...

I hope you feel better soon! And wow, I'm impressed by how much work you put into your posts to make them accessible to everyone. I know I'm always inspired. :)