Gardening Activity

Much cooler than normal, we had another fabulous spring day here in the Carolinas. I was whining about our exceptionally cold and rainy winter weather through late February, but March and April have been quite nice. 

Weve had only a few hot spells, along with lower than normal temperatures.  Now, if rainfall amounts get back up to normal - were still three inches short for the year - that would be great!

Even though its just the end of February, more spring wildflowers are appearing.

There are more Chrysogonum virginianum (Green and Gold) flowers along the Heusel Trail (at the SC Botanical Garden) along with the first (small) flowers of bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).  Its surprising to see bloodroot now, but with Trillium cuneatum and Erythronium popping up, too, Ive been on the lookout for them and its been warm the last few days. 


This post, from March 26, 2010, showed a huge clump of bloodroot in our front wildflower border (it hasnt reappeared, probably due to drought and heat over the last two summers without supplemental water) as the gardeners were away.  But its offspring are flowering now, as there were quite a few seedlings that appeared in two years following.

Sanguinaria canadensis in the front border, March

Last year, I made mention of bloodroot on March 23 and its fruits on March 28 in posts (so Im a full month ahead this year!)