I have been so distracted with work lately that I almost forgot about Bloom Day again!  But I did find time today to get out and piddled around in the yard. Mostly I watered the mounds of mulched beds that have bulbs and other things nestled underneath. I also pruned back some of the salvia stems that never got trimmed after the blooms and leaves died off in the Fall.

There still isn’t much going on as far as a variety of flowers blooming, but I do have a few things adding color around the yard…

The Japanese Quince bushes are just starting to bloom. The branches are basically bare with a few leaves but the pink blooms are budding and busting out. I took cuttings of some of the branches and now I have a beautiful vase full of flowers sitting next to me as I type this post.

The daffodils and paper-whites are also in full bloom along the driveway. As you can see, I still haven’t raked the extra leaves here either. I like to keep them down at least until March. It doesn’t look that tidy, but it protects the plants.  When the last frost date has past I’ll rake them up and add them to the compost.

While poking around the garden I also saw a little blue peeking out next to the walkway and found these wild Muscari, also called grape hyacinths, beginning to bloom. It’s kind of early for them; so I was surprised to see them getting started.

Well that’s all I have right now. I need to add more early blooming flowers and bushes to the garden so that I have more variety and color in the late winter (must note that on my “to do ” and “wish” lists).  Hopefully next month I will have a lot more blooming goodies!

A garden of love, it’s in the DNA by Joan Armatrading…