Oh, I always love seeing your flowers! It's so interesting what different flowers are blooming in your garden at the same time as mine. I LOVE that Texas laurel; it must be a real showstopper in bloom.

You have sunflowers and zinnias (or whatever that bright raspberry pink flower is, third from the bottom) already? Amazing!

Thanks. The raspberry pink flowers are gerbera daisies.
The sunflower is a volunteer from birds seed.
The mt. Lauren is lovely, but the scent is overpowering in large numbers or closed areas. A lot of us get headaches from them.
Things are very early this year, due to the mild winter this season. The bees are very happy.

Wow, Plantmaven, you're way ahead of me in the Dallas area,I'm not showing much of anything yet, but it looks like spring is going to be early for sure!

Very nice! Sunflowers are one of my favorites that I hope to grow this year.

Love the clover-like foliage.

What are the tall red flowers?

Great gardens! And I am still looking at snow. What is that poppy? I love that deep red color.

Jenny P

Kristi, the clover like foliage is the columbine leaves. The tall red flowers are corn poppies. I bought a pack of seeds about ten years ago. They self sow every year. When the peony poppies bloom, I will post pics.

It is hard to believe that this is the 5th spring at this house. It seems like just "yesterday" we were doing the lasagna thing to get rid of the grass.

I never plant annuals by the directions on the package. I plant them at the time they would drop their seeds naturally. I figure mother nature's been at this a lot longer than I.

I must admit, the closer I get to 70 years, the more difficult it is to garden.

Plantmaven,
your garden is beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
~Natalie

Boy, I can relate to that, plantmaven, the strength and stamina just isn't there anymore! I retired just a year ago, figured I could just garden all the time, but it doesn't work quite that way, and when it gets hot that's all she wrote!

I am having to retrain myself not to try to hurry, and after 50 years of working, raising a family, gardening, etc., that has been hard for me, as I think it needs to be done "now", lol!

It's fun being lazy!

So pretty! I love Columbines. Thanks for the lift. We're still covered with snow here. But the next couple of days are supposed to be warm (at least by our standards lol) and we'll get rid of most of it.
I'm itching to get out and play in the dirt. Luckily I have my light set up and winter sowing to keep me from having total cabin fever.
Thanks for sharing!

Fixer...when I start whining about the summer heat, remind me of what a great winter and spring I had. lol

Kathy

beautiful

mr toad

plantmaven - everything is so early! It's like July here.

BTW your poppies aren't corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas). They are Papaver somniferum, possibly originally the variety 'Cherry Glow,' although they start to vary once they begin to self seed. You can tell clearly by the glaucous foliage. You will also be able to see the differences in the seed pods. Exactly the same botanically speaking as your 'peony' poppies.

Great colors! And I read the post just in time to find out from Flora to look for cherry glow poppies, I LOVE that rich saturated color!

That's an interesting iris as well, unusual watercolor edging.

Thanks Flora. I am happy to have the correct name.

Gotta, that iris is beautiful. The camera does not do it justice. Those are the bulbs Iris xiphium, aka dutch iris.

The name iris is derived from Greek mythology where Iris was the goddess of the rainbow.

Oh, that mountain laurel is SO pretty! I don't think that would grow here, but it's a beautiful purple! :)

Kathy- Will do, if I can drag myself away from my garden long enough.

According to the extended weather report, most of March is supposed to be mild for us (and by mild, they mean anything from above freezing on) It would definitely be too risky to plant out at this point, but I can get a jump on the garden clean up this year. And of course, I have my spring bulbs to look forward too. I had some Crocus in bloom before this snow hit.
I'm planning big things this year, so I'm haunting the forums for inspiration. I have my own garden, plus my mother in law's. After visiting various forums, I have definitely decided on the cottage garden. I like a variety and this seems to be the best fit. Also, I live in an area where all the houses are the same design, so the way to set ours apart is my garden. This is my fifth year in the house and it's taken me this long to figure out what I want as far as the garden goes.
For now, I'll content myself with looking at other people's flowers.

They grow in alkeline soil. I have seen they in the median of a street in a chicago suburb. Which really surprised me.

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Kathy,

Your red Poppy with black center looks EXACTLY like my Breadseed Poppies, leaves, stalks and all.

Mine are up and growing fast. They will be blooming very soon.

I adore all of your Columbines! My only surviving Columbine is up, but a long way yet from blooming.
I have been surveying my garden for survivors from last summer. I lost so many plants. :(

Enjoying all your beauties though. :)
~Annie

~Annie

For some reason this forum won't let me post a new post, which is why I added the pics here.

k

Kathy,
I have been having the same problem all day today. I click on Post a New Topic and it does nothing. I keep clicking and finally, the new topic appears, but I had to go looking and found it down at the bottom of the main page.

What's going on for gosh sakes?

Annie - Plantmaven's poppies look like your breadseed poppies because they are the same species, Papaver somniferum. Lots of lovely varieties around. Just to stir things up a bit, you're both growing opium poppies ;-)

Years ago my veterinarian told me about a large field of poppies. I drove by to see the field. It was gorgeous. I could see when lots of seed heads had been snapped off. Too early to be mature. I assumed potheads had been there by the way they had tromped around the center of the field.

Flora,
That is absolutely spot on! Breadseed Poppies are Opium Poppies. ;-)
(sorry...I didn't see your post above)
Beautiful though, aren't they?

They are almost as prolific at reseeding in my garden as are Larkspurs. I have them both growing EVERYWHERE I grow flowers, and some of the poppies are even growing next to the burn pile.

I sent some to my niece in California. Oh, my! Does that mean I am drug trafficking? (:O

More pretties, yay! Everything looks so inviting. My garden is just starting to wake up. The crocuses are up and the hyacinths and daffs are starting to bud.