Photo of the Day - Ornamental Kale

Here in zone 5 (5B or even 6A) this ornamental kale returned for a second year, becoming quite monstrous. We had heavy snow cover here in Michigan most of the winter, but I have never seen this kind of regrowth before. I am always pleased to see these kinds of anomalies in the garden. It keeps things interesting!

A second kale also returned (bottom right), out of the three that had been planted the previous fall here in client P's front yard, but remained more modest in size.

Photo of the Day - Pink Hibiscus Hedge

On a street near where I live my eye caught a whole lot of pink blooms today. I turned my car around to take a photo. It was a whole hedge of hibiscus. Wow.

Photo of the Day - Asiatic Lily after the rain

Photo of the Day - Juneberry aka Serviceberry or Amelanchier

Lupine in the Church Garden

Planted in May of 2013, the three lupine plants in the church garden came into their full glory in early June this year. Like over-sized exclamation points, they demand notice. Blooming simultaneously with the iris, they dominated the small annuals, planted the previous week and struggling to establish in the hot sun. The spectacular flowers of the lupines (or lupins) are not to be ignored, but sadly, they soon fade like most perennials. Their foliage usually remains interesting. I hope they survive the heat of summer in this sunny location and return another day.

The Perfect Pink Peony

Photo of the Day - Lupine

Photo of the Day - Branch of Coralburst Crabapple

Amaryllis Blooms for Hubby's Birthday

Okay. I'm actually getting bored with this photographing this amaryllis. I applied some Picassa magic--to hide the exercise bike in the background! However, this is the second stalk, and it also developed 4 flowers, this one opening a few weeks later, about the time of the husband's birthday. He could care less, but this bloom is a little hard to ignore on the dining room table. But 8 spectacular blooms this year! I am a proud mama.

Photo of the Day - Amaryllis Blooms for our Anniversary

So excited that the amaryllis has once again bloomed, this time with 4 blooms and a side shoot yet to open. It usually blooms for me at Easter (rather than Christmas) but Easter is late this year.

March Blooms in Michigan Found Only Indoors

My poinsettias are still holding up. But they represent WINTER.

 This week the sun was out and the massive Michigan snows are beginning to melt. I broke down and purchased a pot of tete-a-tete daffodils. For the first time in months it felt like winter's back had finally been broken.

The mini daffodils I planted last fall at the front of the church garden are buried under mounds of cold snow. Who knows when they will emerge this year?

It will take weeks to melt the near record snows of this winter, but a few sunny days near 30 degrees bring hope that March will indeed end with lambs and bunnies romping through green grass and daffodils.

In the parking lot of the store with the daffodils I found this Michigan snow mountain:

Snow mountain with footprints and melting edges