Grow Your Brain

What do you know? Everything? Well, I do not and always look forward to learning something new. This is the perfect time of year to grab a talk at a local garden center, botanical garden or anywhere else in between.

The Buffalo Botanical Gardens has a list of upcoming classes on their website - www.buffalogardens.com

Garden Walk Buffalo also has a list of upcoming happenings on their website - www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com

Urban Roots Community Garden Center has a workshop this weekend on square foot gardening - www.urbanroots.org

Go out and learn something new!

Goodmorning Heat!

I took my dogs for a walk this morning at 5:30.  Now, the sun was not out so there weren't newly blooming plants for me to discover.  However, the high temperatures were already up and in action.  69 degrees at that time of day was quite unexpected with 75 the high.  Yowza!

Incase you haven't noticed, there are more and more things in bloom every day.  Over the weekend I  spotted Forsythia, Magnolia stellata and Cornus mas in bloom.

Lenten Rose

Helleborus or Lenten Rose (aka Christmas Rose), is another late winter/early spring blooming perennial.  The flowers come in shades of white, rose and even dark purple/black.  They prefers a shadey spot and most varieties are 18" & under.

Pieris, a recent find blooming in the garden, has creamy white flowers.  Pieris japonica or Japanese Pieris, is a medium sized, evergreen shrub.  It prefers part to full shade and comes with options: variegated leaves, flower colors and sizes.

Keep the plants coming!

I have two dogs, both lab mixes, that are 5 years old.  When they are not chasing squirrels up trees, we enjoy walks around town.  For them it is an energy release, for me it is a plant scavenger hunt.  Today on our walk I saw a beautiful bed of hundreds of Crocus in bloom.  On the side of a building I noticed a little patch of Narcissus in flower.  The best find on the walk was when I came across Iris cristata in bloom. What a treat!

Welcome Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring!

I always referred to the first day of spring as the spring equinox, that is what I remember learning in school anyway. Well, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, it is called the Vernal Equinox and takes place at 1:32 PM, EDT today. This time signifies the moment that the Sun passes directly over the Earth's equator. Vernal means some variation of spring, youth, young, etc. Equinox means equal night, day and night are about equal in length all over the world.

Enjoy your fun fact for the day!

Let the Sunshine!

Can't beat these fantastic temperatures. Time to clean up the mess that winter left us. It is amazing the amount of branches, garbage and other surprises you find melted under the snow. Especially if you have dogs like I do!

I noticed these little guys when I was out in my brother's yard the other day. Now, he looked out of place all by himself, but planted en mass is another story. Eranthis hyemalis, also known as Winter Aconite, has small, yellow, buttercup flowers. This is a short one, growing no more than 6" from a bulb.

The Snow Has Melted! (or just about)

Sometimes the winters here in Buffalo feel like they last until summer. How wonderful it is to see little things popping out of the ground. Winter is on its way out! I have spotted little Galanthus nivalis, or Snowdrops, in bloom. This is a small plant that grows from a bulb with small white flowers.

Not commonly viewed, but just as much enjoyed, is a shrub that I spotted in flower. Hamamelis or Witchhazel is a woody shrub or small tree. Lovely, yellow flowers are a nice sight in this late winter/early spring time of year.