What's in Bloom? Mid-March 2008

One of the best times to be in the South is in early spring, when much of the country is still socked in with snow. I love it when it is warm enough to be outside all day!

A beautiful afternoon to prune summer-flowering shrubs like buddleigh and crepe myrtle, remove the brown stems and dried flowers from last year's mums, lemon balm, and autumn joy sedum, and glory in the new spring flowers! I also made a new spring mailbox flag to go with the pansies.

Daffodils


Camellias

First Spring violet

Purple crocusFlowering Shrubs

Grape Hyacinth
Hyacinth
Red MaplePansy (slightly dirty from heavy rains)

Thanks for visiting with me!

Garden Party

Well, we did it! Got through our big outdoor party on Saturday afternoon. Although it has only rained about four times this year, it rained all day Friday and on Saturday morning. It stopped by the afternoon, but not in time for me to hang out the quilts. I only had the little pumpkin quilt hanging off the back deck rails. Charlie's assistant and her husband brought me the most beautiful orange and yellow roses. I love them!
Here is a little garden flag I made. A few years ago I won a drawing for some leaf blocks and never could quite make them into a quilt, so I used two of them to make the front and back of this little quilt. I just quilted it free motion on my Bernina, and added some Swarovski crystals. The oak leaf was made by my friend Holly Sweet.
Here is the other side of the flag. I'm not sure, but I think Margaret Slade made this unusual leaf. Editor's note: It was made by fellow Cyberbee member Tama Brooks! Thanks, Tama! It has a few red crystals that catch the sun perfectly. Don't you love the hand-dyed orange and yellow fabric? I had some in my stash that matched the leaf almost perfectly.