Something new - Balmy weather in March

It was quite a day here in the upper midwest.  The high was near 80 and while dinner was cooking the Phactor was sitting on his patio at 7:15 pm nursing a margarita in the dwindling twilight and mid-70s temperatures.  This was definitely something new, for March, with the exception of that one year March 14th was spent in Ft. Lauderdale Florida because the Phactors had friends whose car could dependably cover the distance to Florida, and because Uncle Jim the judge offered to let us sponge lodging off him.  While his political and career advice left much to be desired, this was many, many years ago, he is generous to relatives and very big hearted.  Lots of plants develop very quickly at this temperature.  Hate to see the apple buds swelling so quickly.  Bloodroot popped up and flowered overnight, new plantings, rescues from sprawling development.  Our Abeliophyllum has never looked better, a cloud of pink-white flowers.  If you don't have one in you garden, do think of getting one.  But it was a delightful evening, an attractive sunset, so no complaints, except maybe needing a sarong-clad young woman to deal with the empty margarita glass, a regular tropical fantasy.  The Phactor needs a pinch; this is still March!

Garden flowering log: Report for March 2010

Mar 1: witchhazel “Diane”
Mar 9: witchhazel “Arnold’s Promise”, early crocus, snowdrops
Mar 14: late crocus, filbert
Mar 18: hellebores (hybrids & H. niger)
Mar 22: squill (thousands and thousands of them)
Mar 23: early daffodils, dwarf & standard; lungwort
Mar 28: Japanese pachysandra, spicebush
Mar 29: cornelian cherry (Cornus mas)
Mar 30: dwarf forsythia (Abeliophyllum)
Mar 31: Forsythia, periwinkle, tulip ‘kaufmanniana”
Not too bad for March, but the first 5 days of April have already equaled the total for all of March, so perhaps keeping a flowering log could get a bit out of hand, but you have to wander around your garden with a cocktail anyways, so you might as well take note of what’s in flower. So stay posted and in just 25 more days, we'll see what flowered in the Phactor's garden during April.