The Garden in February

This time of year there usually isn’t much to see in the garden. Lately we’ve been pounded with rain shower after rain shower. We’ve had so much rain that the Duck River south of us in Columbia is about to crest at 45 ft. which is more than it did in the historic floods we had in 2010. There’s not much to be done outside in this kind of weather other than observe the garden and see what it is doing.

Spring flowers have started their blooming and we’re still in February. I’m used to seeing daffodils, winter jasmine, and hyacinths begin to bloom but for other plants like our fruit trees it’s very early. I’m definitely concerned that the blooms will suffer damage from a freeze between now and warmer weather. That’s just one of the challenges of gardening in Tennessee.

Here are a few photos from around the garden. Please excuse the dreary look of the landscape, that’s just how it is when you haven’t seen the sun in a while!

February 2019 Around the Garden

The white flowered tree is one of two plum trees we have. The pink flowers are on a peach tree. Both peaches and plums bloom prolifically but require a spray cycle to insure edible fruit. I usually have borers that get the fruit and if it isn’t them then the raccoons get the rest.

Having the daffodils in bloom is like having a little bit of sunshine on the ground. Around here in Tennessee they are often called buttercups.

These tiny daffodils are ‘Jonquil’ daffodils. They have smaller flowers and bunch into tight clumps.

The only way to take a photo of a hellebore flower is to get underneath one! The flowers are very cool. All the white flowered hellebores came from seed. The purple one I purchased at the Nashville Lawn and Garden show one year (which is coming up again this week for 2019). I interplant my hostas with hellebores to confuse the deer. The deer don’t like hellebores and never bother them so it helps to protect the hostas.

This sad little hyacinth looks like it was stepped on recently which probably happened when we had our roof redone. Despite it’s injury it will still spread its fragrance around the yard once it is fully in bloom.

The blueberry bushes are starting to bud and so are the other plants and trees in the yard. In our area I’ve seen sandcherry and other prunus trees also in bloom. It’s very early but you can’t control the weather. One of these days the ground will dry up and we’ll get a chance to get back into the garden!

How is your garden looking so far this year?