Lenten Roses in Bloom

I'm in love with Helleborus 'Pink Frost' in the Rose garden. It needs a few more ;)

They are all under snow now.

But oh! What a lovely start to March! 

Welcome 2017

Sunset on New Year's Day in the Woodland... light until 5:30pm!

Winter solstice

Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger, lifting to the light.

There is still hope growing, even on this day, the shortest day of the year...

Spring Flowers for April ~ GBBD April 2016

Welcome to Havenwood!

It has been such a roller coaster spring, as I am sure you know or have heard from many other eastern US gardeners. We had more buds in January than ever before, as our true cold did not arrive until February. Then a especially mild March, with more snow and cold in the first two weeks of April. And now it is 70 degrees again today.  This is not totally abnormal for our zone 5 garden, but the high temps have been much higher than usual. This has brought the garden further along than it normally is at this time of year.

Many flowers that were doing so well, so soon... too soon... did meet a cruel end with the frost.

The star magnolia blooms were blackened after one day of blooming all around our town. The taller daffodils did not stand up as well to the snow that covered them soon after they were full out, but the shorter ones have stood the test. The pretty star of Bethlehem, that I recently posted, were soon snuffed out with cold. But still, the garden and the gardener marches on...

There are still a few pretties to see today for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in our western PA garden.

A Few White Spring Flowers...

Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, comes in a plethora of beautiful colors and patterns.

We have had some beautiful spring weather! And also some more snow. That is spring here in Pennsylvania, with its immoderate temperature swings and hour by hour changes. But then much of the interior US is like that. Only the coastal areas benefit from the moderating effect of the ocean.

And yet, we can still have beautiful flowers that hold up to these extremes and come out on the mild days. Here are a few beauties I can recommend!

January 2016 - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Creamy Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, already beginning to bloom on the warmer days this month.

Welcome to Havenwood! We have been having an extremely mild winter so far, and so we have more blooms this January than any other. Enjoy your walk around!

Our Helleborus come to Havenwood

The darkest of our Helleborus orientalis in the Spring Garden.

Weeks after seeing pretty lenten rose blooms in UK gardens, our Pennsylvania garden has finally delivered a few blooms for us as well! Perhaps they are enjoyed more because of the increased anticipation?

These are always some of the most enjoyed spring flowers in our gardens, rising out around Easter time, sun or snow. The do well in sun or shade, wet or dry soils. Also providing semi-evergreen leaves, they are a staple in my garden schemes.

An Egg Hunt and our Bunny...

Iris histrioides 'Katharine Hodgkin' in the Birch Walk

Our bulbs have been a great success so far at Havenwood this spring, even though they were covered in snow just a week before Easter. The snow melted and they made the perfect little hiding spots around the garden for colorful eggs on brown leaves... Can you find them all? ;)

Helleborus for the Spring Shade Garden

A pink Lenten Rose, Helleborus orientalis, at Gilmore Gardens this beautiful May week.

We stopped by Gilmore Gardens the other day to take a look around to see these shade garden beauties...