The first small clump of the little wild daffies that always show up by the big oak tree are popping up. I want to say they're about a month early but that's not always so. By no means are they an indicator of spring coming early! The patch of these will end up being about 3'x5'.

Signs of Spring.


Freesia and daffodil foliage.

Carolina jessamine has started to bloom.

The garden today after about 2” of rain. Various herbs, dill, cilantro, fennel, some breadseed poppy seedlings. Windsor fava that got some “freezer” burn. Various brassicas and mustards.

Looking fantastic @karstopography. The brassicas are fabulous, don't seem to have been bothered by the january chills at all. Great job protecting them. I do think it's interesting that favas are not as tough as some other crops, but they're bouncing back.

I lost so many plants in the rare hard freeze we had last month. What didn't outright die, died down to the ground.

However, spring is here and it can't be stopped... Well, maybe if there's an Act of God, lol.


The oxalis is sprouting up everywhere, but I'm leaving it be because some of the pollinators like it. Daffodils. Bletilla ground orchid sprouting up all around the small pond.
Some of the bees have returned and were all over the Carolina jessamine.

Sorry the freeze was hard on you @SpookyShoe . Your spring survivors are gorgeous!!

Speaking of the freeze, many of the plants that suffered damage were cut back to the ground and will come back from the roots, bulbs, corms, etc. We saved what we could by putting pots that were transferable into the garage and covering them with sheets.


Elephant ear: Shrimp plants: Crinum: Mexican petunia (Ruellia):
The plumeria, some potted ferns, nuns orchid, potted milkweed, and random pots of summer annuals went into the garage and were covered with sheets.
Sago palm:

Heroic rescue @SpookyShoe .

Our wild Paper whites are blooming. I repeatedly mow over these, but somehow they always come back.

Cilantro bolting. I planted more. I don’t mind the flowering. Maybe when the sun comes out there might be some pollinators.

Windsor fava moving into a flowering stage. Our 19° January weather clipped them rather harshly, but most have come back reasonably well.

Today I filled in some holes and low places in the backyard but first I had to remove the residents of one hole. Yeah. They weren't happy.

My bread seed poppies are picking up steam. First time growing those. I sprinkled the minuscule seeds out in December and I think every last one germinated. I’ve been thinning all along, but I might leave them be at this point.

The dill continues to grow. I thin it and use the thinnings off and on. This little patch of shelling peas is getting eclipsed by the Fava Beans. The Runway arugula is making a lot of flowers and seed. My mom is still eating the arugula after it has bolted. It really isn’t all that spicy.

Coolish day with sprinkles. I think the herbs, peas , poppies don’t mind.

For a second I thought the dog was either a statue or a stuffed toy.

TomatoNut95 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 12:36 pm 20240224_111815~2.jpg20240224_112710~2.jpg

Today I filled in some holes and low places in the backyard but first I had to remove the residents of one hole. Yeah. They weren't happy.

The resident that you are holding in your hand looks extremely angry.

The following photos are of plants that I saved from the rare killing freeze we had in January. My sweet husband (a little bit grudgingly, haha) carried the pots that were too heavy for me. We place them into the garage and I covered them with overturned thick fabric grow bags, sheets, whatever I could find. Now the plants are thanking me for the effort.

The pentas are from last summer.

I had six milkweed plants in large pots. They looked a little raggedy at first, but they are blooming beautifully now.

The snapdragons and dianthus were planted last fall and are considered winter flowers here. Of course those flowers can handle a frost /light freeze but not temperatures in the low 20s like what we had.

Chinese ground orchid.

A hanging basket of Raspberry Stream alyssum. I purchased this plant about a month ago.


Chinese Fringe flower... a very large shrub.

Pink jasmine, the buds are pink and open to produce very fragrant white flowers.

The Bradford pear is blooming.



"Dog vomit" fungus... it likes to grow on mulch.
A stand of freesia are blooming.

@SpookyShoe you know how I love bletillas that Chinese ground orchid. My mom grew these & I've tried for a few years to find some. A neighbor once gave me a couple but before they grew my hubby covered the area with heavy stones. Then I found some online @ $30 plus shipping for 2 corms last year. Only 1 grew & it's still barely peeking out of the ground. Yours are lovely I love seeing your pics every spring. At least I have freesias & daffodils. Yes spring is here!

Be sure to post pics of your nun's orchids, hope they survived the freeze!

SpookyShoe wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 8:09 am "Dog vomit" fungus... it likes to grow on mulch.

And is the preferred Slime Mold of Primordial Gelatinous Ooze Mavens...the latter'd be a great name for a garage band, am I right?

The Gotch

I may have discovered the greatest way to garden, at least for low lying raised beds.

peebee wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 1:22 am @SpookyShoe you know how I love bletillas that Chinese ground orchid. My mom grew these & I've tried for a few years to find some. A neighbor once gave me a couple but before they grew my hubby covered the area with heavy stones. Then I found some online @ $30 plus shipping for 2 corms last year. Only 1 grew & it's still barely peeking out of the ground. Yours are lovely I love seeing your pics every spring. At least I have freesias & daffodils. Yes spring is here!

I can mail you a few corms if you want. I think I need to wait until the plants finish blooming and the foliage dies back some. I'll put a note in my calendar reminding me to do this. I can get your address then.