I have to take the time to salute some of my favorite Spring Bloomers . . . .

Yummy Daphne By Front Steps

Daphne is one of my all time favorite shrubs.  It is a fragrant, evergreen shrub with beautiful little snowball blooms.  To call it a Spring Bloomer works this year, though often it is in full bloom in February.  This year, since we had no warm days in February, it waited until March to open but still had the wonderful fragrance.  I love to place daphne by a walkway or entry so people can enjoy the fragrance, even if they have to hurry past in the cold winter!  A few words of caution about daphne . . . it is finiky.  Pick a spot and stick with it.  Daphne does not like to be moved!  And make sure the spot is not too wet – I had one by a leaky hose and it drowned after one day of children running through the sprinkler.  And, finally, don’t be surprised if it just decides to die for no reason.  It just does that sometimes.  Luckily it is a pretty fast grower so you can replace it with a small one and know that it’ll catch up in no time! 

Camellia Japonica in Full Bloom

The Camellia is another favorite of mine.  You just can’t beat the evergreen foliage, the perfect size, and the beautiful blooms.  I try to select Camellia cultivars that bloom a little later in the season . . . if camellias bloom too early, they can get bitten by the frost and you have really well formed brown blooms all over your shrub!  I really try to place plants in the landscape you can cut from to bring flowers and foliage inside . . . the camellia has excellent cut flowers, either to float a single bloom or to cut large branches of flowers.

My lilac is going to break out any day . . . I’ll upload some pictures as soon as it blooms.  The lilac is one of my favorite early spring bloomers, with wonderfully fragrant flowers that can make the whole room smell good through an open window!  Give lilac plenty of room to grow – it does not like to be pruned, prefering to bloom on 2 year wood.  If you must prune lilac, do so right after it blooms.