Emerging from Winter
Blooming Trees
In February, I always start looking for blooming almond trees. This blossom is on my own tree. It doesn't give me any almonds because it's old and we haven't known how to care for it properly. In the twenty years since we bought the property, it's never borne enough almonds to feed any but the squirrels. We inherited the orchard from the previous owner, but he did not care for the trees that were on the property when we bought it.
I was surprised and delighted to see today that my apricot tree was blooming in Templeton. It did not bloom last year. Must have been the rain. Three of our newer peach and nectarine trees are also in bloom, but I don't have room to picture all of them, and they are very small.
Ornamental flowering trees can be seen all over town. The pink ones seem destined to produce small
cherry-like plums, and the white ones are usually Bradford ornamental pears. You will see them all in a wall of blossoms at Barney Schwartz Park in Paso Robles. They are on the streets and in the parking lots. It seems all of Paso Robles is blooming. But the photo I want to show you of the blooming trees is this one I took on Union Road yesterday. I think they look good with horses under them.
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Flowers in Bloom
Many of my own flowers are in bloom, or have been at this time of year in past years. I will show them to you below.
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| Daffodils with Black Sage in February, 2015 |
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| Carnation in March, 2015 |
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| Iris in March, 2014. |
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| Borage in February and March |
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| Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose, March, 2015 |
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| California Poppies at Barney Schwartz Park, March, 2015 |
Shrubs Blooming in March
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| Left to Right: Rosemary, Watermelon Sage, Holly, March 13 |
Rosemary blooms almost all year, and the bees love it. It's at its best now after the rain. The watermelon sage also started blooming this month. The holly still has berries from last year, but it is also flowering and budding for next year's berries. There were so many bees on the holly flowers I could hear them buzzing. That holly plant was like a bee airport.
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| Holly with Flowers and Berries |
This is a close-up of the holly plant. You can click it or any other photo for an enlarged view to see the details.
I'm not sure what this is. It was blooming at the Caliza Winery on March 8. It is very fragrant, but the leaves didn't look quite like lilacs. If anyone knows what it is, I'd love to know. I'd like to get some.
This is another mystery plant I found at Caliza. It has leaves like a rosemary, but it doesn't smell like rosemary. Please leave a comment if you know what it is.
Also blooming in the weed family are wild mustard, vetch, filaree, and henbit. The first and the last two are edible. We will discuss them next time.
What is blooming where you are in March? Be sure and let us know where that is in your comment so we'll know what blooms where, when.
