Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

They Call It Stormy Monday

Helleborus orientalis Royal Heritage™ Strain
deep mauve, purple and even white flowers


But, here at C&L, Wednesday's just as bad.*


I have a case of the late winter blues!

'Golden Lotus Strain'
What a surprise



The gray skies and chilly weather have me singing the blues.
Not as good as B. B. King,
perhaps a bit whiny
with un soupçon
of self pity
tossed in.


Double yellow Golden Lotus Strain

All February Mid-South gardeners comforted themselves with the belief hope that March would be glorious.

epimedium's winter color

The hellebores are glorious,
the dafs are starting to show and
there is greenery everywhere~

The weather has been anything but glorious.
We await the sun's re-appearance.

Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor'

In the meantime~
The sunny, golden eye of the smallest crocus make me smile.
The daphne which survived its very wet first year is now scenting
the Garden of Benign Neglect, just as I imagined it would
and it does look like camellia 'White By The Gate'
may be opening a few blooms this week!
and,
there's a rumor that sun and
very warm temperatures
are forecast for Nashville!
So you may hear
George or Richie sing
'Here Comes the Sun'
if you happen to drop by
Clay and Limestone this week!



Thank you for listening, you dear, dear gardening friends. My spirits are already lifted. Talking with you has a magic ability to lighten the load! Even if it's a load of self pity!

Hugs to you all~I hope your Wednesday is anything but Whiny!


Gail


Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. Victor Hugo

*Thanks to T Bone Walker for a great blues song!

36 comments:

  1. Hi, Gail;
    Great blues song -- however! You should be smiling with such lovely blooms surrounding you. They certainly brought a smile to my face!

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  2. Hi Gail, your Helleborus orientalis is so charming! I can't believe we have to put up with this weather in March for the price of a warm November.

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  3. Lzyjo, That's it exactly! gail

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  4. Gray skies are gonna clear up! Put on a happy face! It's been terribly overcast here too with only one decent day of sunshine in a couple of weeks. It can really drag a spirit down. Sunshine has healing powers, it'll be back soon. :-)--Randy

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  5. I will join in the backup singing while you wail away, Janis, er Gail. I feel the same way, although seeing those beautiful flowers does make one slightly guilty for not shouting happily from the rooftops that spring is nearly here. It will be, soon. Right?
    xxoo
    Frances

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  6. Yes, lets start a new thing, called Whiny Wednesday. LOL. We could feature dead plants, and gardening failures...then we could whine when no one participated any longer.

    Just joking.

    March truly is a fickle month, if it is not sunny, it's snowing. If there is no frost, there is hail. We just need to live through it, I look forward to April. One of my most favorite months.

    Jen

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  7. We have all sung the blues this winter Gail....hibernation was far too long.
    Surely surrounded by all those beautiful blooms the sun is shining in your heart......and your smile.....

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  8. Your photos always look like the sun is shining:)

    I believe our weather is better than yours for a change. After weeks of blue and gray blahs, the sun is bright and the temperatures are in the 60's. If only it would stay like this. Alas, it is supposed to get colder and rain by the weekend.

    Love those double hellebore!
    Marnie

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  9. Great, its really nice and beautiful flowers Thank You

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  10. Hey there little girl, You have much (as you well know) to be thankful for! You just go right back up and look again at those beautiful photos!! :-) Now, do you feel a lot better?

    You made me very happy with these photos. I indeed need to be looking a the purchase of a few more hellebore, I think! Have a great day, Gail!

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  11. I know just what you need. A heavy dose of sunshine. I was reallly whiny, gloomy and depressed just about a week ago. Out popped the sun and I was able to get into the garden and dig. My spirits are lifted way high. I full recommend sunshine. Your hellebores are marvelous. I love the doubles. I wish I knew what a daphne smelled like. I am too far north for them. I could use a nice scented bloom right now.

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  12. Your flowers are beautiful! Of course, the weather will turn for you.

    We've been in a warm (to me 60+ degrees is warm) snap and I've done so much gardening. I have no blooms, though! :-) I worked outside from 9:00am until 4:30pm only stopping for a sandwich lunch brought to me by The Musician!

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  13. Gail,

    Those lotus hellebores are killer, the first one I think Julia has in here garden I'll be gathering babies hopefully. White By The gate is in bloom at Duke gardens I took photos the other day, awesome white camellia, you are lucky to have that one!

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  14. We had clear blue skies today, no wind with temps in the 60's. It was so nice I did not know how to respond. Perhaps a bad winter makes you appreciate what might otherwise be taken for granted.

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  15. The skies will clear up soon, Gail! Just look at how beautiful those hellebores are and you'll have a good reason to smile!

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  16. Gail I am sorry you're getting such sucky weather. When we had 45 degrees, wind and gray skies yesterday, I realized just how much I had expected sunny skies this week and how I can't tolerate cold temps at all anymore.

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  17. It's OK to whine, Gail, it gets the whining out! I will send you some of our glorious sunshine that hopefully will soon produce fruitful blooms like yours. Happy St. Paddy's Day!

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  18. Yes, the sun is grand. It's warmth makes for happy plants. Giving them strength to come forth & produce fruits whether it be blooms or fruit.
    My sun has been wet. lol But the warmth is causing lots to bloom for my enjoyment. Making a happy camper out of me.

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  19. Gail, such lovely sunny blooms to tide you over until the big orange ball in the sky comes out to play. The sun is sure to come to warm our winter pale faces, but I do think this time of year is the hardest, kind of like the old saying, "It's always darkest before the dawn".

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  20. Get it all out, Gail! May the sun warm your heart soon and blooms smile at you.

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  21. Isn't it wonderful how seeing a glimpse of a flower can brighten the darkest day? I do hope warm weather is on the way and I can't wait to hear you sing it's praises next week!

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  22. More lovely photos. Thanks for stopping by. Sorry to hear your were in a funk, hope your feeling better. those lovely photos must help. :)

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  23. cheerful heart must open up
    forget the irony that never came
    maybe yesterday was so dark
    but may be light today
    and we have fun together

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  24. Darling Gail, I am finally sending you sunshine from Oklahoma. For today and tomorrow, we are supposed to see sun. You know where I'll be don't you? Unfortunately, colder temps and snow are predicted on Saturday. I need to get my new hellebore planted, along with some Japanese blood grass, violas and a columbine. I'm waiting until the temps go past 29F though. Hang in there, it's been a long row to hoe this winter.~~Dee

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  25. Even though our spring is, as always, way behind yours, it has been an incredibly sunny spring so far, and that has my heart singing! I used to have one of those SAD lights... I don't know if it really helped or not, but I sympathize with your grey humdrums!

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  26. I hope the rumor of sunshine and warmth comes true Gail. It's been a long winter, and I can empathize with your craving for the sun.

    We are enjoying sunny weather this week, but the weekend. . . cold and rain/snow mix. yuk!

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  27. Sorry about the less than hoped for March weather Gail. Everything is topsy-turvy this year, isn't it? We are expecting 1 foot of snow tomorrow (at least that's what is forecasted) If it happens, I'll be singing the blues with you. Your hellebores and crocus are gorgeous tho. Soak up the sun if the warm weather finds you ~ that will help!

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  28. I'm sorry you've been brought down by the gray skies. The sun will shine again, the Crocuses will open wide and smile back at you.
    I like your 'Tricolor' crocuses. I have one lonely 'Tricolor.' I don't know what happened to the rest.

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  29. Luckily, the 'blues' weather has not affected your colorful sense of humor and gift behind the lens, Gail!

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  30. Gail,
    You've hit our challenges as Southern (US) gardeners straight on - we're teased with nice spring-like weather after a brutal (for us) winter, and it's back and forth, back and forth.

    Love your poetic post.

    I think we're in the home stretch now!

    Lisa

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  31. Thank you all for your kind comments! I was in a royal funk! Getting outside has helped tremendously as does your support and kindness...gail

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  32. I love the Victor Hugo quote. I think we have had over ten inches of rain so far this March and plenty of cool temps to go with it. The next couple of days are predicted to be gorgeous, so i hope the nice weather makes its way to you, too. Your hellebores are lovely!

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  33. Hi Gail~~ My apologies if this sounds preachy but I bristle at the terms "self pity" or "pity party" or "feeling sorry for yourself." They're pejorative for expressing your emotions. I think it's better to just express how you feel and chuck all that stiff upper lip "stuff." [I was going to write something worse]. It's easy to get tired of the crappy, stubborn, lingering winter weather, especially when you've had a particularly harsh go of it. You're in good company with your blogger buddies. Whining is allowed!

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  34. Gail,
    Your Hellebores are gorgeous. I love the double "Lotus Strain' in shades of pink and yellow. It seems to be an odd pre-spring for many this year. I have heard many say their spring was early (ours included) and others say it is rather late with cooler than normal temperatures. It looks like you may be enjoying an absolutely beautiful day today... :)

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  35. While perhaps not a stormy Monday, they say we're in for a rainy few days, but that's OK. It's amazingly rather dry here, even after those massive snow banks melted all their water into the ground.
    I'm drooling over your Hellebores!
    No buds showing on my 2 plants yet.
    I'll just go out now and see if my little crocus blooms are daring to open on this cloudy day. Probably not.
    Happy Monday, Gail! I hope your gray skies have cleared up by now so you can put on a happy face :)

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