Thursday, April 1, 2010

Early Fragrance in the Garden

Yesterday was a perfect spring day, even with the strong breeze.

I milked first and then just stayed outside until around 11:15.  That is always better for me.  I am definitely an early morning person.  I begin  going downhill from noon on.

I got the Cellar Bed cleaned off better and did some weed pulling.  I also took the old bale of hay from the Halloween combo and used it as a mulch edging around the west side of the bed.  I think I can now mow without string trimming the bed which is always a good thing.  The trimmer weighs ll pounds.

From Gardening 2010

The Kumson forsythia is almost in full bloom and I see I have two more starts where I layered it under a brick last year.  I will dig up the starts and plant on the north end to bring the bed more in balance.  The quince is just beginning to show white.

I stepped out the back porch door this week and was met with the most lovely smell.  If it hadn't been for Nell I might have been a lot longer trying to figure where it was coming from. She mentioned buxus koreana having fragrance. I guess mine was too young to bloom so I wasn't expecting anything until reading her post about this very good evergreen (for me), small-leafed plant. The bloom is very insignificant but the smell is not.
From Gardening 2010
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and then there is the apricot tree which is in full, glorious bloom. I have walked past this tree too many times to count but never paid any attention to the fragrance. Maybe the breezy day helped. It has a smell very similar to the buxus but not quite as good to my nose. It was also swarming with honeybees, a very good thing.
From Gardening 2010

I will be worried about late freezes now. I get a gallon or 2 apricots about every three years, but the tree is worth it just for the bees and the beauty...and the fragrance.

My last fragrant plant is the Erlicheer daffs which have finally opened. They are very fragrant but have been damaged by freeze. The leaves seem to green up long before they bloom, earlier than other daffs and have a good bit of frozen brown tips.
From Gardening 2010

I thought they were Erlicheer but I see they are called a summer-blooming bulb so now I am not so sure. They are beautiful and fragrant no matter who they are.

Happy gardening.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Glenda. I, too, am a morning person and actually feel the difference after noon. Lovely to see so much blooming there. That apricot tree is just beautiful. Today I'm seeing a spatter of daffodils opening up in the arbor garden and back by the compost piles. I like the look of that buxus. Reminds me of a Japanese holly I had at the old house. It was fragrant too.

    Enjoy the nice weather. I'm soon off to today's yard adventures. :-D

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  2. Glenda, I love the Erlicher daffs-they have some in front of our local hospital. I took a pic and a lady on the Daylily Robin who also collects daffs said she thought that was what it is. I checked online and haven't been able to find a source. I will check using your spelling and see what I come up with. tfs

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