BACK TO GREEN SPRING GARDENS ON 3-4-24 - PART 2

 Paperbush 

(otherwise known as Edgeworthia chrysantha).  If you click on this link, it will take you my two other posts from 2022, as well as including these recent ones, which all include the Paperbush. There is information that I won't repeat.  However, you can also read about it at this link. A native to the Szechaun province in China, Edgeworthia is used to manufacture very high quality paper. I read that bit of information here.

It's the only plant of this type I have seen at the garden, or any other garden we have been to, located near the visitor center next to the parking lot. The white gazebo is in the same area.  I tried to take a photo underneath, to show you the very pretty cluster of tiny yellow flowers, but my photos didn’t work out.

“A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.”

~Terri Guillemets~

According to my plant app - Picture This - we have a Japanese apricot here.  It is also known as Chinese plum, Mume and Flowering apricot, with a botanical name of Prunus mume.  (If any of you disagree with any of my ID's please let me know.  I am still learning as I go along.)

Not a very clear one of the American Robin as there were too many brambles around, but we had interrupted his lunch which was just in front of him.  He was more interested in that than posing for a photo.

"Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity."

~John Ruskin~

The Old House

This is a plaque behind the house. I have never noticed it before.

A Cornelian Cherry Dogwood tree saying hello to the coming Spring.

The produce garden and shed nicely framed. From the Japanese Apricot to the produce garden, Gregg took all these photos.  I always enjoy what he sees through his camera lens.

I have always liked this tree.  It is an Hinoki cypress, botanical name Chamaecyparis obtusa. It is native to Japan and is a slow-growing ornamental tree.  

Lenten Rose, a slightly brighter color than the other I shared a previous post.

The snowdrops were popping up in a grassy area not too far from the house.

I put a collage together of what we saw at the garden.

No more photos for from this visit. It will be fun to go back and see what is blooming as the weather gets warmer.

WHEN DID THE FIRST FLOWER BLOOM?

I found the slab when we were on vacation at another garden years ago, but I thought it would be a nice start to share flowers I have seen at one of our local gardens recently. We tend to alternate places where we walk.  On this day we went back to Green Spring Gardens.

      The above reads:

When did the first flower bloom?  

It is still a bit of a mystery.  Fossils show they existed around 135 million years ago.  Today hundreds of thousands of different flowers have evolved.      

This is what I saw two days ago.

Lenten Rose

Johnny jump-ups

Common Hyacinth

Netted Iris

Ornamental Cabbage

Woodland Crocus

Paperbush

LAST SATURDAY WE WENT OUT FOR A WALK - PART 1

 the first one in a while.  It was gloriously sunny at Green Spring Gardens, but windy and very chilly.  We cut our walk down by half.  However, it was a good start, and enjoyable seeing what was blooming in the garden.  

The flowers were putting on a good show in front of the old house.

Good to see the Daffodils, along with the Wild pansy.  

The pansy's botanical name is Viola tricolor but is also known as Johnny jump up, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, Heartsease, Come-and-cuddle me, Love-in-idleness, Tickle-my fancy, Pansies and Three faces in a hood.   Have to say, all these names made me smile.  Its flowers are edible and can be consumed in salads, drinks or used as a garnish, though they are best eaten only in small amounts.  Important to note that for consumption, they should only be eaten if organically grown with no pesticides.

These next photos are of the Lenten Rose.

Its botanical name Helleborus orientalis.  Also known as the Christmas Rose and Helleborus.

It belongs to the buttercup family, a perennial and can be grown in the shade but preferably needs three hours of light a day. 

It has been cultivated in Germany since the mid 1800s, with varieties created in the United Kingdom shortly after.  

Between the 1920s and 1960s there was little interest in its cultivation until Helen Ballard bred new varieties.  

They bloom early in the year, hence they get their name, "Lenten rose".

Next is the Japanese apricot.  I noticed its pretty bloom growing out of the tree trunk.  There were several others on the branches.  Its botanical name is Prunus mume.  Also known as Chinese plum, Mume, Plum blossom and Flowering apricot. 

A deciduous tree which can grow from 13 to 33 feet tall, and its blooms have a strong, fragrant scent.  You will see it flowering in late winter and early spring.  They have a long life and can live up to 100 years old, but still much shorter than some trees.  There are over 400 species in the Japanese apricot family, from plum trees and almonds to pin cherry shrubs.  

“Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities in the world.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~