Seasonal Page

Crocus and Croakers! February and March in Our Garden

Now that I'm using my son's old computer system, I have a monitor with higher resolution (was using 640 X 480). This will affect how I am laying out the page. This will probably be better for those of you who have been viewing the page with the higher resolutions all along. For those who have lower ones, I hope these will still fit on your screen without scrolling back and forth. I know what a pain that is! Problem is... the lower resolutions are getting less and less common, so I will probably go with a wider layout...within reason.

By the way...you won't find any photos of frogs on this page, but the reason I put "croakers" in the title is because they are awake and singing more and more every evening!

Front Entry:

This is the front entry in late February to Early March. Now that the crocuses have multiplied themselves, they really could use some lifting and dividing!	These are the same crocuses near the sidewalk close up. For some interesting effects on this photo using Photoshop filters, see the bottom of the page. The photo at the top of the page is the same group after rain and on an overcast day.
This mish-mash of crocuses is growing underneath the fruiting cherry tree near the driveway. They have seeded themselves from the original clumps. The group of solid purple and golden ones to the right of the photo were some of the originally planted crocuses. I don't really notice the golden ones seeding like the white, striped and purple ones do.	See the automatic light glowing on the carport? This photo was snapped in the AFTERNOON... maybe around 2:30. That's how dreary and dark it was. We had TONS of rain and gloom in the months of February and early March. Someone walked near the sensor for this light and it was dark enough for it to kick on! Pathetic.
The poor leaves on these got nipped by cold night temperatures, but how cheerful the early primroses always are. I probably buy a few of these every spring!

Deck and Front:

This is the happy group of Tete a' Tete narcissus growing in a deck planter. I love this early "daffodil" and it's one of the few that will come back for me in open ground.

That bright blue spot with a black head and crest is a Stellar's Jay... the Western counterpart of the Eastern Blue Jay. They are pretty and comical, but can be pesky. This one is waiting for me to leave so he can raid the cat's food dish on the deck! The thing I hate the most about these birds is that they will rob other birds' nests of their babies and carry them off as food. Saw one take a small barn swallow once and I haven't felt quite the same about them since. I guess they have their place in the natural scheme of things and they are beautiful birds!

For those of you who don't live in the Northwest... THIS is a "sunbreak!"

Hardy Cyclamen coum. Love this plant!

The Back Area:

After being locked in by clouds for weeks, the mountains finally get a chance to be seen. Look at all that nice white snow!	Notice anything missing? The blue and white van was finally sold and towed away. This was a rare day when the sun came out and the greening of the pasture grass is obvious. Makes the adrenaline start to flow and spring fever is setting in!
A familiar view if you visit here often. The small Witch Hazel, 'Arnold Promise' blooms in the right foreground and you can see the emerging leaves of the daylilies and perennials. Harder to see is the group of hellebores along the back between the tree and the row of barberries next to the carport.	When spring fever sets in for Ron, he gets out and mows the grass! It's still kind of wet, but that first mowing really makes things look a tiny bit better. I just cut down that big clump of Miscanthus grass a couple of days ago (17 March).
This is the 'Cream Beauty' crocus picture that was offered as wallpaper. They are growing in the ash bed in the back yard.

The Alley Bed:

Sunshine in the alley bed! There are still some blossoms on the Witch Hazel next to the house and the early golden crocus are up.	A closer shot of the early crocus, lit up by rare sunshine!
A little bit later the larger crocus come up... these are under the dogwood and the green flowers to the left are from a Helleborus foetidus seedling. Sprinkled throughout are the leaves of Cyclamen hederifolium.	When I came closer to those crocus to get a closeup, I saw these two very large and slow bumblebees trying to get around. It appeared they may have spent the night in the closed crocus flowers and woke up when the sun hit them all (thus, opening the blooms so the bees could climb out).

A Host of Hellebores! This is the first year of bloom for most of these.

A nice bright burgundy.	This one had a similar color upon opening as the one to the left. I've noticed that the new foliage forecasts the darkness of the flowers. These burgundy seedlings both had bronze new leaves.
A bit stripy with an apple blossom quality.	Nice old rose with some subtle veining. I like this color!
This is hard to see, but is a piece of a plant I got from my sister's rental a couple of years ago. I call it "Dave's Hellebore" because he passed away at that home shortly after they moved in and these had been blooming and appreciated by him before his untimely death. Glad this plant has taken hold and will provide future seedlings.	One more...might be the same or similar to the rose one above. Love the deep color and ruffles on this one!
This was the group that started it all. These are the parents under the Styrax tree. They are blooming more this year after having a top dressing of alfalfa pellets last season.	These are very similar photos but were taken a couple of weeks apart. I wanted you to see how well Hellebores hold up over time. They really are wonderful plants during this bleak season! That door in the background is how the kids get to their bedrooms. Maybe an inside access will be in our near future?

A bit of computer play...

For Fun...I played with a few photos in Photoshop and came up with these. Thought you might enjoy looking at them. Computers are amazing. Doesn't replace true skill and artistic talent by those who can do this the slow real way... but great for the rest of us!

Above Hellebores photo with a watercolor filter applied.	Crocus photo (wallpaper offered on index page) with watercolor filter applied.
Same Crocus photo with "smart blur" filter applied. I really like this one.

There's more on Page 2

This page last updated on April 20, 1999.

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