Daffodils Fading, Irises Starting to Bloom

Emerging from Winter

It seems February went by in the garden so fast I didn't get around to posting about it. But most of what was blooming in February is still blooming in March. Since my two garden properties have limited space and I have limited time, when reporting on blooming, I will also report on what I see while out walking. Everything you see here was blooming during some part of February and /or  the first two weeks of March in either Paso Robles or Templeton, California.

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. 

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. 

Daffodils with Black Sage in February, 2015

Carnation in March, 2015

Iris in March, 2014.

Borage in February and March

Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose, March, 2015

California Poppies at Barney Schwartz Park, March, 2015

Shrubs Blooming in March

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. 

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.

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Quick Botany Lesson in the Field in Early Spring

Every year after the rains, the weeds become lush and everybody but me around here starts thinking about chemical weed abatement. That's   why I intend to give the men a quick botany lesson in the field so they can identify the real weeds. 

I prefer to pull the weeds by hand as I have time, since it provides good exercise and lots of material for the compost heap (except for poisonous plants). When the men around here see weeds, they automatically think about Round-up and mechanical sprayers. I make one concession -- the path to the garden -- since I do have to get out there and be able to get the gate open. Other than that, it's a race to see who gets to the fields first -- me or my weed abatement man or husband.


John, our weed abatement man, bless his heart, doesn't seem to know what a wildflower is -- or for that matter, an herb or flower not yet in bloom. They are all weeds to him. He has two ways to deal with what he perceives are weeds -- the sprayer and the tractor. A couple of years ago I made rock borders around my garden areas and told him to leave them alone, since he sprayed my sage that year and I made him wash it off before it was too late. He sprays first and I notice him when he's about half through. It may be a race again this year, since the tall grasses have overgrown and covered up the rock borders. When we pruned and cut branches from the fruit trees last month, I dragged the large branches to border the area where I seeded the poppies so that John would not be able to easily get the tractor through before I could notice him.

Weeds Be Wildflowers by gardening
Many more gardening aprons online at zazzle

So that left Hubby to instruct. He, at least, did appreciate the beauty of the poppy field last year, so he's willing to be dragged out to learn to tell the difference between flowers and weeds. I took him to the herb garden, almost completely overgrown, to show him what a California poppy looks like. He confessed to having sprayed some along the garden path. I showed him that Poison Hemlock, which I want him to spray, is different. I also tried to teach him the difference between wild mustard and Flanders Poppies, and what lupine looks like before it blooms.

California Poppy Plants Not Yet in Bloom, © B. Radisavljevic

Just above are California poppy plants which will bloom soon. Below is poison hemlock, which smells sickeningly sweet if you pull it, and which will get to be six feet tall if you don't.

Poison Hemlock Seedlings,  © B. Radisavljevic

Below is a Flanders Poppy, beside the black pot. It will have lovely red flowers. There is a photo of a Flanders poppy in bloom in my Memorial Day post. Below it is wild mustard, which will grow to six feet in good soil and will send its roots deep.

Flanders Poppy Seedling beside the Black Pot, © B. Radisavljevic

Young Wild Mustard,  © B. Radisavljevic

Young Lupine before Blooming, © B. Radisavljevic

To the left is lupine, growing up and getting ready to bloom. I collect seed from the poppies and lupine each year, but I also let a number of them reseed.

Herb Garden in Early Spring, © B. Radisavljevic

I am looking forward to another field of poppies this year. It should appear in the herb garden (above), in front of the two tall shrubs (butterfly bush and sage), where you can already see their green tops, and for a long way behind them. The poppies are also growing all around the patch of ground above, so it ought to be a great view from my kitchen window later on. Meanwhile, I need to work on all those weeds that are trying to swallow the herbs, irises, and daffodils. Today I also planted some Lilies of the Nile in this bed this morning, but they are too small to see. How I love spring! 

For more on important weeds you need to pull in early spring, see my more recent post on California Weeds You Need to Pull Now. 

Mystery weed and flower

I have a very common weed that grows all over my property. I have always thought it was a mustard, but the mustard along the road is blooming and this isn't. If I remember correctly, this plant gets very tall. I would like to positively identify it and find out if it's edible before it flowers. I can't remember much about it's flowers because I either pull them or our weed abatement man eliminates most of them before they bloom. In the picture, it's the one labeled "weed."

The item in the picture labeled "flower?" is new this year and growing in the herb garden where I planted a number of seeds that I didn't think sprouted last fall. Now I have several of these plants at the back of my herb garden and they are about two feet tall and very bushy. They don't look like typical weeds. I have also posted a picture of one of the larger leaves from this plant if it would help identify it. At first I thought these came from two different plants, but as I look at the leaves, they appear to be the same. Does anyone know what they are? Or do I have to wait until they bloom to find out. I believe the seeds I planted were for Blanket Flower and for another flower I can't remember now. It might have been a small, colorful variety of sunflower.

Mystery solved as of April 23. It's the red poppy (actually two different kinds of red poppy) you see in the picture above.