Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March '10

Mid March in our upstate NY garden is a rather dismal affair.

The gardens have just emerged from their snowy winter mulch and are looking bedraggled and much in need of tidying. 

The roses are still enclosed in their winter collars and covered with compost. That will come off soon. There are tiny snowdrops blooming in this garden.....

...but they kept their sweet little buds closed on this cloudy day. Perhaps they'll open tomorrow if the sun decides to shine down on us. Last week's beautiful spring-like weather dissolved into a cloudy, drizzly weekend with heavy, bough-breaking winds which took us right back to winter. That's the way March is...and April can be the same.

I noticed buds on these daffodils today. I think it'll be a while yet before they open as it seems very early for them yet.

Just around the corner the daffodil shoots are still just peeking through.

And down in the Fence Garden they're even smaller.

But inside we still have bright colors to fortify our souls.

I finally found a couple of Cylamens

This glorious pink,

And a smaller plant with rosy red blooms. They start out a bright rosy red and fade to a lighter shade.

Notice that the begonias in the background are still going strong. They've bloomed all winter!

   
These two Oxalis plants (aka Shamrocks) are new as well. 

With their shamrock shaped leaves they make a pretty display for Saint Patrick's Day.

I particularly love the purple. Both the dainty flowers and those beautiful leaves close at night. The 3-lobed leaves droop down...a phenomenon I haven't seen before.

About six weeks after I planted these Paperwhites they finally stopped looking like little ducks and began to shoot up, but alas, there are no blooms! They're duds! They were new bulbs this year. I wonder if they weren't cooled properly before being boxed. I'll plant them in the ground later on and just let them do their thing. Perhaps they'll bloom in a future spring.

The bright bouquet of daffodils is still beautiful, thanks to being kept on our unheated, covered side porch. I've used them to decorate the church for 3 Sundays!

Hannah takes a break from watching the birds to give herself a bath.

To see what's blooming for gardeners near and far, or just to satisfy your color craving (especially if you're living in a snowy region), visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens whose bright idea it was to start Bloom Day back in February 2007.

Happy Bloom Day everyone!