Orchids and teddy bears in March

 I moved some of my teddy bears off the cupboard and to the top of my computer desk.  This makes my room look a bit less cluttered.  There are a few of the bears that did not get their portraits done.  It really is a comfort to have them around me in my room where I spend a lot of time.

 The Pixie cattelaya that blooms regularly.  On about March 14, I repotted the orchids and the African violets.  Pixie needed a much bigger pot.  I wanted a lighter pink color, but this is all I could find.  The pot matches the color of the blooms and is an eye catcher even when the orchid is not in bloom.

This white phalenopsis is still in bloom.  It seems to last a long long time.  Pixie is finished blooming and the yellow phal. is also.  The white phal. with yellow center now has another spray of blossoms opening.  The African violets are getting so big and looking so very healthy.  They really needed the repotting and the feeding.
In the garden I have been cleaning up the primula bed along the round stepping stones in the back garden.  I brought home three indigenous ferns from the Rock and Alpine show and sale last Saturday.  I was delighted to find a maiden hair fern, a sword fern and a licorice fern.  I transplanted them today; each with what I hope is their special requirements of soil, shade and where the moisture levels would be optimum.  I dug compost out of the old compost bin to use in the planting holes.  Also added compost to the primulas and epimediums.  This semi shaded bed has  epimediums, primulas, a hosta, a newly transplanted chocolat lilly, and hepaticas.  This is an extension of the moss garden/Japanese garden and the pond.  The moss/fern garden under the deck is coming along quite nicely.  I dug out a white hellebore that was crowding out the little white azalea.  I hope it does not grow again from any roots I might have left in the ground. This should allow a bit more moss to grow and balance the amount of the moss with the mass of plant foliage.   I transferred a couple of clumps of the hellebore's roots under the deck, where I am sure it will grow again.  

March 8th in the garden part 2

 An overview of the middle of the back garden, showing the apple tree and some of the stepping stone path.  Pat did a fine pruning job on the Apple tree two years ago.  It is now full of blossoms.  We should have a good crop of apples this year.  I have been missing the apple sauce and need to use store bought apples to make the sauce.

 /the yellow plum tree was covered in blossoms again, despite the pruning we have been doing on it.  Behind it you see the English oak tree with last year's leaves still clinging to it, and lit up by the sun.

 The double mauve primula.

 The newish drunstick primula

 This beauty is really spreading out.  Love the color.

 The yellow primula, which seems rather weak in comparison to the one above it.

 Wind Flowers.  They are slowly spreading all over the back garden.  They are easy enough to control, so I let them pop up everywhere.  Nice foliage and good color with the spring bulbs.

 The dark hellebore.  My photo of the white hellebore was terrible.  These plants spread too much for the space I have for them.  I am going to try to move them to the woodland and maybe further under the deck.

This is the woodland plants just getting started.  They are now in full bloom and looking great.  But the path is blocked by fire thorn bush trimmings that I need to clip into the bin.  And then the bin will be full again.  This bin is a silly size.  It is empty for some of the pick up days and has too much for other pick up days.  So, sometimes I have heaps of cuttings laying around.  Our other garbage can is bigger and is never anywhere near full.  We just do not have that much garbage that goes to the dump.  It would be nice if we could reverse the size of the bins... bigger green and smaller garbage.
I am into removing the invasive plants from my garden.  I found another daphne to dig out along the driveway strip.  Hope I have them all now.  Of course I will have to watch for new ones popping up.  I am not making much headway with the blue bells.  The morning glory vines do seem to be diminishing.  Next, I will get rid of the ivy.  There is ivy everywhere in the park across the street, as that area was once home to people. And, of course, everyone grew the ground cover.  I don't think I will be getting rid of the st. john's worte just yet.  The violets are blooming all over the garden now.  They ARE pretty, but guess I should keep after them too, and not let them run rampant.  The lemon balm has to be dug out too, and the one under the front plum tree has to be kept from going to seed.  I should take it all out too.  It is a mint, after all, and is tenacious.  Lovely fragrance.  Is nice to line the fish serving platter with its lemony leaves.  I dug the false lily of the valley out of my moss garden and put them way under the deck by the window.  No doubt they will continue to spread, but should make a nice ground cover in that difficult spot. And then there is the gout weed.  I clip it off in the summer when it is in bloom, but I still may need to get rid of it because I do not want it to escape from its confining space on the 5 foot strip next to the neighbors sidewalk. It looks good in the summer, though.  I imagine I could get Oregon grape to grow there, and move the camas.

March 8 in my garden

The daffodils were the stars of the show for March and the hyacinths perfumed the garden with their fragrance.  The camillia bloomed profusely and now has the last of its blossoms.  There is a nice area of arabis with a few grape hyacinths in blue for a good color combination along the driveway strip.  I liked the light on the leaves of the pink peony tree that is now in bud.  The bench in the background needs to have its level corrected.
I was to the VIRAGS rock and alpine show and sale, yesterday.  I found 3 ferns, a star flower, minor minors lettuce, a hepatica and a tiny white fawn lily.  I was talking with a gentleman who told me that his yellow fawn lillies are taking over from the white ones, and so too are mine.  So this new white fawn lily will be in a different place.  Now, all I need to do is get ride of the wretched bluebells in the woodland and every where in the garden.