To a Southern girl like me, azaleas are a sure sign of spring, but even though it's April, the azaleas around here aren't blooming yet. Guess it's been too cold so fat this season. This picture was made about 200 miles south of Atlanta, on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
I love these snowy white flowers.
Even the snapdragons are starting to bloom. Two-tone flowers really appeal to me, like these rosy-pinks with canary-yellow throats.If you've already had your last spring frost, it's a bit late to sow snapdragon seeds indoors. But you can still start them directly in the garden. A light frost won't hurt once they're up. Just give them a sunny spot with well-drained, moist soil, and you can have flowers throughout the spring.
Snaps don't thrive in the heat of the summer, so it's better for most warm-climate gardeners to pull up the plants and compost them, then sow fresh seeds in late summer. By the next spring, fall-planted snapdragons will come into full bloom.
For something different, try 'Black Prince' snaps, which date back to 1912. They're actually deep crimson in color, with bronze foliage. I'm looking for some 'Brighton Rock' seeds right now, which are sometimes known as 'Candyman.' Popular in the 1800s, the snaps look like candy canes with multicolored stripes and swirls. I'd like to find the lemony yellow ones with violet splashes.
Meanwhile, here's another snapshot from the raptor center at GSU. It's not particularly spring-y, but I loved this sleepy owl!
Our dogwoods should start opening any day now. Photos to come.
Lynn
www.LynnCoulter.com
2 comments:
Dear Mrs. Coulter,
I enjoyed your lovely photos, especially the sleepy owl! Our Azaleas are just about finished blooming. They were so pretty, especially the pink ones! My snapdragons are in full bloom and looking so pretty! I will have to try some heirloom ones this fall. Thank you for your suggestions. I look forward to seeing your dogwoods in bloom.
Have a lovely day!
Our azaleas here in the Augusta area did not do as well as in past years. One grouping of three were beautiful while the others never bloomed. We have about 50 scattered throughout our front woods and not much color this spring in the woods.
The Augusta National Golf course (Masters) was beautiful for my first visit but they were early bloomers and some of those prized ones at the famous Amen Corner were not blooming either!
However, the dogwoods were more beautiful then I have ever seen in my 45 years!
Post a Comment