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When the periwinkle in our yard starts to put on a show, we can be fairly confident that Spring has arrived. We may still have a few days of cold weather ahead, but these beautiful flowers mean better days are coming.
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The poinsettia has long been associated with Christmas — we have a red poinsettia like the one above on a coffee table in our living room.
I think I knew there were many varieties of poinsettias, but I didn’t realize that there were so many different colors until Betsy and I visited the Conservatory at Biltmore when we were there for the Christmas at Biltmore event. There were plants of different colors, such as this yellow-green poinsettia which was one of the first we saw as we entered the Conservatory. There were poinsettias of different hues and shades through out the building.
But I think I was most impressed with the multi-colored poinsettias that we saw. This red and white beauty was definitely eye-catching.
Some plants were more subdued than others, but still very pretty. I did like this point and white poinsettia very much.
It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, although these yellow and red plants that we saw near the end of our visit to the Conservatory definitely caught my eye.
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My Beautiful Bride and I have season passes to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and we try to visit the estate several times a year. Although we have gone into the house several times, we usually go to visit the conservatory and the gardens.
The Walled Garden is the centerpiece of the gardens at Biltmore. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, as were all the gardens at Biltmore. Frederick Law Olmsted is often considered America’s foremost landscape architect.
The Walled Garden is usually the second area we visit (after the Conservatory) on each trip to Biltmore. This post show a typical Spring visit to the Walled Garden. All these photos were taken in April, 2013.
The Walled Garden features a seasonal rotation of blossoms. A long arbor covered with grape vines runs down the center of the garden.
Openings in the arbor provide a pretty frame for the tulips.
Over 50,000 tulips (and 14,000) daffodils are planted in the garden each Spring, making a beautiful display.
I was fortunate to find another type of beauty in a different section of the garden.
To see these and other images from our visit, click HERE.
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I realize that I’m a little late in paying homage to the beauty of Spring around our house since the Cumberland Plateau is now experiencing summer-like temperatures. But Spring is a beautiful season and we love seeing the yard come alive with color.
Crocus are the first Spring blossoms to make an appearance. Since crocus are also a favorite menu item for the critters around here we don’t have many left, but the ones we do have are always welcome.
Daffodils come next, and since the critters don’t like them very much we have quite a few different varieties showing off in our flower beds.
The white Mount Hood daffodil is a favorite, and is always beautiful.
We’re never quite sure what to expect with tulips. Every critter in the area seems to love to snack on them. But we have had several flowers bloom, some with unusual shapes but beautiful colors.
Others have a more traditional shape, but are just as beautiful.
Sometimes the interior of a tulip blossom is as pretty as the exterior.
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I admit it: I’m tired of the cold, I’m tired of gray skies and I’m tired of rain. I want to see blue skies and some color in the ground. I want to see scenes like these.
I wish I could say these beauties were from our yard, but they’re not. One thing My Beautiful Bride and I try to do each Spring is get to Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, to enjoy the spring flowers in the Walled Garden. These pictures are from a visit we made a couple of years ago.
I love the way they plant their flowers — everything looks just right when they are all in bloom.
And as pretty as the blossoms are up close, the entire garden is a thing of beauty when seen at a distance from an overlook on the grounds.
All I can say is . . . COME ON SPRING!!!
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The other day I was working in the yard when ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ came on my iPod. Now I don’t know much about yellow roses in Texas, but I have some experience with yellow day lilies in Tennessee, so I thought I would share a few of them with you.
The beauty above is Buttered Popcorn. It is one deepest, richest yellow I’ve seen on any plant. One of the nice things about Buttered Popcorn is that it re-blooms throughout the season.
Carolyn Criswell is a bright yellow day lily that we’ve enjoyed for enjoyed for several years. It is not a re-bloomer.
Lemon Vista is a pale yellow day lily. It is also a re-bloomer.
I may be cheating just a little with Star Struck since it has some orange in its blossoms. Star Struck has one of the largest blossoms on our day lilies, and it, too, is re-bloomer.
Savannah Debutante has beautiful double blossoms. This is a relatively new addition to our yard.
We have some other day lilies with other shades of yellow in them. Perhaps, if ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ comes up on my iPod again, I will share some of these with you.
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We had very strange weather here on the Cumberland Plateau in late winter and early spring. February was unusually warm, while April was much colder than normal. As a result we were kept wondering about how well our plants and flowers would do, But once we got into May the irises started putting on a show. The iris above is Mother Earth. I really like these colors.
Cable car is another iris we’ve enjoyed for several years. I like the unusual colors of this iris.
Eugenia King is a relatively new iris in our yard. But she still puts on a nice display.
I had to include My Beautiful Bride’s favorite iris, although I think she likes it as much for the name as anything else. This is Tennessee Vol, and is a must-have iris for any die-hard University of Tennessee fan.
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I know the song title is “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips”, but we have many more daffodils than tulips since the critters around here like to munch on our tulip bulbs.
We got most of our daffodils through collections, so we don’t know the names of them,
but we do enjoy the variety of colors and shapes.
Some of the daffodils have trumpets with different colors.
We got these daffodils from my dad when we first moved to the Glade. i don’t know the proper name for these, but we call them Dad Adams daffodils.
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I’m not sure day lilies are the biblical lilies of the field, but they certainly are beautiful and worthy of consideration. We have several varieties in our yard, most of them rebloomers that we can enjoy twice a year. Day lilies are way to grow and don’t require much maintenance, which is a nice bonus.
Carolyn Criswell (the photo above) is a bright, beautiful day lily that always looks cheerful.
I dearly love Betsy, but I must admit that I enjoy seeing Lady Lucille whenever she puts in an appearance in our yard.
I seriously doubt that Christmas Wishes would bloom in our yard in December, but it certainly looks festive this time of the year.
Pure and Simple may not be ‘fancy’, but it is definitely pretty. The large blossoms of this day lily are always a welcome sight.
I almost feel that I cheated when I got this picture of our Bright Sunset day lily. I actually took this photo in the morning light. I’m not aware of a ‘Bright Sunrise’ day lily.
We have other beautiful day lilies in our yard, but I hope you enjoyed this sample. It’s been a beautiful Spring in the Glade.
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I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Betsy and I love flowers and we enjoy having them in our yard. But what type of flower works best for us? Betsy loves tulips, but so do the chipmunks that live around us. Roses are beautiful, but they take a lot of work. We both like lilies, but so do chipmunks and deer. As you can see, finding the perfect flower to grow here in the is not easy.
We have had success with iris however, and this year they have been putting on quite a show. The iris above is Eugenia King.
Bountiful Harvest is one of Betsy’s favorite irises. She really likes the colors of this one.
Cantina is one of my favorites. I love the purple color with the steaks of blue in the falls.
Eggnog has a vibrant color, but I almost always get thirsty when I see this iris.
I really think Goodnight Kiss is a beautiful iris, but I really like the goodnight kisses of my Beautiful Bride much better.
Senior Moments 