Johntheplantman's stories, musings, and gardening.

A February 20 walk through a north Georgia garden

A February 20 walk through the garden.  I was working on a rock project for a lady who is one of the best plant people ever.  It was the first really beautiful day after a rather difficult winter and I went for a walk through the mountain garden to check out what was happening.  I thought back on one week before when I had seen violas poking through the snow.

The plant that first struck my fancy was a rather large Edgeworthia with its white flower buds beginning to make their fragrant yellow flowers.  I hadn’t seen one of these quite as large as this one.

The beautiful fragrant edgeworthia

An impressionistic view of the edgeworthia bloom and the blue, blue sky

I walked up on a birdbath hiding in a wooded alcove.  The oak leaf hydrangea flowers had been left for the winter.  I could envision the coming summer’s blooms hanging over the bird bath with lots of birds enjoying the water.

A visual treat hidden in wooded seclusion

I had noticed the daffodils forming flower buds at the bottom of the mountain and found some on top of the mountain that were about a week behind.  I can’t wait to see the daffodils which, to me, are the true herald of spring.

daffodils in bud at the bottom of the mountain

Daffodils on the mountain. Altitude makes a difference.

The aptly named Lenten roses were starting to show off as they do this time of year.  These were nestled in several open places and delighted me with their gift of brightness

I love the Lenten rose. It offers hardiness, shade tolerance, and it offers early, long lasting color

Around and back behind the Lenten roses, the Autumn ferns were changing from their winter bronze to a beautiful lush green.

Ferns offer a lush green floor in shaded borders

I had to pause periodically to do a little supervision on the walk way installation, but the progress and the curved design made me even happier.  I can’t wait to see what she plants in the new garden around the flagstone creation

Work was progressing well for the back door landing

This will be quite the garden entrance. Beds will be installed on all sides

Back to my walk to find that Columbine leaves were starting to push their way up with an array of new green leaves, preparing the way for intense, interesting flowers.

The columbine preparing for an April or May showing of color

Iris have started their new growth for the year.  I like iris even without the flowers because they offer such nice vertical lines in the garden.  Verticals are hard to come by.

Iris give nice verticals and beautiful flowers as a bonus

I spent a good bit of time studying the interesting hydrangea buds.  Sometimes they get over- anxious and come out too soon.  The late frost will damage them.  These buds looked right on time to me.

The hydrangea buds look to be right on time.

The climbing hydrangea is showing healthy growth buds and will continue its journey up the rock chimney blooming extravagantly in the coming summer.