No, I’m not writing about ketchup. The most exciting thing, after the long wait of winter, is finally seeing mini green shoots and sprouts, peeking out from mulch and dead leaves.
I’m all aquiver with the anticipation of plants yet to come, so I thought I’d share my eagerness with you. (Unfortunately, they just plain don’t photograph as well as blooms and full-grown plants!)
Ok, this isn’t really a test, but if you don’t scroll all the way to the bottom of the pictures, you can guess what’s peeking out, looking for Spring! Tell me how many you get right!
‘Victoria Blue’ Mealy Cup blue sage (Salvia farinacea)
Un-identified lilies — I’ll post about these later when theyare blooming, because I need help to name them.
They are my red mystery lilies that aren’t Oxbloods.
‘Gold Star’ Esperanza (Tecoma Stans)Appropriately, Esperanza means “hope” in Spanish.
‘Trailing lavender’ lantana (Lantana montevidensis)
An unidentified wildflower in the ditch on our dog-walk!
‘New Gold’ yellow lantana (Lantana camara)
‘Black and Blue’ Salvia (Salvia guaranitica)
Coreopsis of some sort, I think!Did you guess any of them? (I know – a few baby leaves isn’t much to go on! And I can’t even name them all and I planted them ; )
I just planted some trailing lavender lantana myself over the weekend. Enjoy watching yours come back!
Isn’t it an exciting time!
Brianna – they are so pretty and stay more compact than most of the other lantana varieties. You’ll have to show us yours!
Earthwoman – it IS exciting. Just makes me happy — isn’t it amazing how it’s just the simple things that really matter?
Maybe I could guess a few in person but can’t see the photos well enough to try.
Hey, your esperanza is coming back, Diana! I’ve bought them but they don’t survive – same for durantas. You have lots of action at ground level. My cupheas look alive so far and there are tiny leaves on a couple of Persian Shields. All the tiny leaves are definitely exciting.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie – How ironic! For me there is no sign of the return of my Cupheas or my Persian Shield! But I think the deer might have eaten the Shield – at least one of the three, before winter arrived. I guess that’s what makes gardening so fascinating, isn’t it?! I usually have most of the Esperanza come back, though I have lost one or two over the years. Last year, 2 of the 5 in the back didn’t survive the winter. And they were right next to others that did.
I didn’t now what they were but I could feel your excitement. Yippeee
My two esperanzas have always come back. But I typically lose a bat-faced cuphea or two. I am pleased to see that the pink cuphea Annie gave me has returned again. But this was a very mild winter, wouldn’t you agree?
Lisa – Yippee until the freeze last night! Arrgh!
Pam – It was a very mild winter. How did you fare last night/this morning? I’m very afraid…one thermometer out of 3 showed 31…. yikes.
OH, the joy of spring springing! Fun, fun, fun. I’m glad we spent the day outside on Sunday, because we’ve had gloom and miserable rain since. Welcome rain, but I hope Mother Nature is saving some of this for the dog days of summer!
Sherry – I tell my daughter to listen to the Bearenstein Bears cartoon advice — make the most of what the day has to offer! It’s my new mantra. You’re right about saving some rain for the dog days of summer — I hope we didn’t get all of ours last year!
No freeze damage here, but I saw frost on the ground on the drive to school. How did your garden fare?