Meandering Randomly writing about whatever garden subjects pop into my head

Happy Earth Day.  It’s a day to celebrate the Earth and all that she gives us, like this gentle, soaking rain we so need here in the magical Mid-Atlantic.  Everything is so green! The trees are smiling.

I showed an earlier photo of the Chinese Snowballs, Viburnum macrocephalum, in their green stage, before they whitened up.  Here they are in full, glorious bloom, and the rain enhances the effect.  They’ve been in bloom now for many days.

Posted under Holidays, Spring Flowers, The Spring Garden

As in all gardens, each Spring day brings something new.  Here at Woodland Cottage, we are passing from early to mid-Spring.  Soon, we’ll be in what I like to call “full Spring”–when the Azaleas and Dogwoods are really kicking.  It occurs usually when the mid-season Azaleas come into bloom.  That will be soon.

We landscape designers have been hopping double-time this Spring!  I haven’t had much time to sit down and write to you–I apologize.  I hope these photos will make amends for my slacking off!

This is my favorite Camellia japonica.  I’m not sure of the variety.  Does anyone know?  It is one of my latest blooming varieties…just finishing up now.

An old-fashioned favorite, Calycanthus floridus, is a native here.  I call it Sweetshrub; some call it Carolina Allspice.  My dear friend, Catherine, has it encircling her screened porch–heaven.  She calls it Spicebush.  Here it is, the dark brown/maroon flower in the foreground.  It has a sharp, spicy scent.

I have an unknown Variegated Pieris, Pieris japonica, with spectacular red growth in the Spring.  It fades to the variegated, green leaves over time.  With a background of Bloodgood Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, the pair is a real show-stopper.

Posted under Spring Flowers, The Spring Garden