GBBD: March 2012

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and with the plentiful rains and ever warming temperatures spring is moving full speed ahead in my garden. 
A stroll through the woodland garden reveals all the trees bursting with life. The Japanese Maples are leafing out;

as are the black lace Elderberry

Many of the native azaleas are ready to pop.

Other notable blooms in the woodland garden are trillium and hellebore.

with Heuchera providing more lively color along the woodland paths.

Back in the sunshine, the Euphorbia is heavily covered in pollinators from wasps, all varieties of bees, and masses of flies.

Even one of my dogs was quiet smitten with the Euphorbia and couldn't help but take a whiff .

The wasp are diving in headfirst to the dragon's blood stonecrop sedum.

The variegated leaves of the Wallflower 'Fragrant Star'' are grey-green bordered with creamy yellow and add year round interest in my garden. The sweet smelling, sterile blooms have an extended bloom time from late winter to summer.

The creeping phlox planted 3 years ago are starting to fill the slope of the azalea garden.

The loropetalum is cheering on spring in the front of the house with its pink fringe flowers.

In the kitchen garden the transplanted strawberries are beginning to blossom and produce fruit

The blueberry shrubs have many visiting pollinators

I was very excited when I saw this zebra swallowtail enjoying the fresh soil that fills the raised beds. I spotted the first of these butterflies in my garden in April last year (see post here) and it too had damaged wings. I never saw it again after the one sighting. I wonder if I will see this beauty again.

Rosemary is stunning at this time of year. I love the dainty blue blossoms.

And the pear trees are following the plum trees which bloomed in February.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! You can visit May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in gardens around the world.