Last night it was 25F (-4C) and I was worried about my blooming nectarine tree. Thankfully it is espalier trained against the chicken coop and is basically two dimensional, so I was able to staple an old blanket over it against the wall to protect the flowers overnight. 🌱 Before <-> After

Hello and a warm welcome to #GardensHour! We blinked and March is almost over! What have been your highlights this past month? Do you have any progress pics to share? What was new for you in March? What are you pleased to leave behind this time of year? What will you miss?

🌱"...with some Fava Beans and a nice Chianti."🍷 Please insert your favorite menu item before the "with".😅 Vicia faba 'Vroma' started about 2 weeks ago while ground was still frozen solid, goal here is to get them producing before intense heat 🔥 which can cause buds to abort. Fabaceae - of course!😎

🌱💕🎼🎶 STAND BY ME. A rebloom stalk of Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) 'Dancing Queen' (Penning Breeding, 1999) has decided that a towering H. ❤️🦁 'Red Lion' (M. van Waveren & Zonen, 1958) should be her emotional support animal - as after all, what are friends for?😎 Amaryllidaceae

Sakura is nearing full bloom in Nara Park #奈良公園 🌱 #gardening #photography #practice

Hedge life 🌱 #HotStickSaturday #Moss #Lichen #GreenSat #ColorADay #EastCoastKin #MacroPhotography

The four #sixonsaturday from March. Three months in 2026 flew by! #dailyflowers 🌱 #flowerreport #bloomscrolling

🌱😷 Mostly staying off of social media while under the influence of OTC cold medicine - kind of like truth serum & you just never know what I might say!😅 Crocus vernus 'Pickwick' (W.J. Elderling, Date Unknown) says "Good plan, or..."😅 Iridaceae

🌱YIKES!!! 😱 To all & @growhighlow.bsky.social Just realized I conflated Claytonia perfoliata (Miner's Lettuce) with Valerianella locusta (Corn Salad or Mache) - so in addition to confessing my Botanical sins I must grow both as a delicious penance!🥗 My sincere apologies 🙏 for propagating confusion!

Miner's lettuce is looking good, time for some salads! 🌱

🌱Remember all in US Daylight Time, though we've already made the change, British Summer Time doesn't start until the end of the month - so #GardensHour starts an hour earlier than usual. @gardenshour.bsky.social

It’s almost time for #GardensHour There was a suggestion last week for a theme on pots and planters. Bought, built, large, small, quirky… Remember, this doesn’t need to be this past week or month, you can show us ideas from your archives. Join in if you wish. See you at 9pm UK time.

Spring bulbs in flower today. Narcissus ‘Rip van Winkle, Fritillaria michailovskyi, Tulip homilis ‘Tete a tete’, & Narcissus tarzeta ‘paper white’.

🌱UPDATE - WE HAVE AN ID! 🙏Thanks to Sue Emanovsky on FB Bulborum - Muscari azureum (which I have never planted). I've lived in the home & gardened the property for 39 years, there is no M. azureum (known) growing nearby, so will chalk it up to PBS - #PlantedBySquirrel!🐿😅

🌱💛 #SundayYellow & #SevenOnSunday in a single post.😎 Asparagaceae experts, please check out 1st pic of what resembles a peloric Muscari or heretofore unheard of (I checked) intergeneric between Muscari & Puschkinia.🔎 Thoughts? Not Hyacinthella, the only one, & I did not plant.

I think my onion seedlings have really picked up and are looking good since I gave them a haircut and kicked them out of the house, sometimes a bit of tough love can be beneficial, right? #UKGardening #AllotmentLife 🌱

Our new team member has finally arrived and we’re getting to grips with what they’re capable of 🌱🇬🇧 #herbs #flowers

🌱Pulled the latest batch of overwintered Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) up from the basement and suddenly the dining room seems very small.😅 'Red Lion' ❤️🦁 (pics 1 & 3) says if you love me you'll deal with it! And I do, so I will.😎 Amaryllidaceae

🌱Get out there, vote, and be heard - your voice matters!

🌱💙As if torrential rain & hail were their only challenges - let's hear it for plant antifreeze proteins!💪 29°F/-2°C now, heading down to 9°F/-13°C tonight - we'll see how they hold up on the other side!🤞 Iridodyctium (Iris) histrioides 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' - Iridaceae.

🌱🥳Well this should be fun, as if Chicagoland hasn't been battered enough this week. 61°F/16°C now, but will struggle to reach a high of 26°F/-3°C tomorrow dropping down to 10°F/-12°C. Back to Spring by Friday, everything that just got shoved back inside can go out once again.😅

🌱💙The first few Iridodyctium (Iris) histrioides 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' (Origin Unknown; 🏆AGM, 1977) were pounded to the ground by recent Chicagoland storms, but fresh blooms today.💪 Lady Beatrix (Taylour) Stanley was a British Botanical Illustrator & Horticulturist. Iridaceae

Narcissus 'Rip Van Winkle' 🌱 #Bloomscrolling #SundayYellow #Flowers

🌱❤️🤍 MAKES A STATEMENT! Though I grow beautiful smaller flowered & species derived Hippeastrum (Amaryllis), there's nothing quite like H. 'Samba' (Penning Breeding B.V., 2007) to make jaws drop and eyes pop! 👀 Often blooms again in Summer outdoors. Amaryllidaceae

🌱💜💛 Today's Crocus tommasinianus. Yes the species is somewhat weedy & reseeds everywhere - but such welcome Winter color! Often thinner in mowed turf but individuals can really bulk up if seed lands in a less disturbed bed. Lots of pleasing variation in seedlings.😎 Iridaceae

🌱🤍💛 Though a bit of a stretch for #SundayYellow, Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) 'Lemon Star' (N. L. van Geest, 2000) SLIGHTLY touches the yellow side for Hippeastrum, especially if you squint.😅 Not loud like some, but a quiet beauty & prolific, with sequential stalks over a long period. Amaryllidaceae

Hello and welcome to #GardensHour! It’s MARCH, and with that brings a change in season. What’s happening for you in the month ahead in your garden? What are you most looking forward to? What’s new for you at this time year?

🌱Of course I was stuck in traffic during our overachieving the forecast high today, rose to at least 70°F/21°C. Enjoy the drop to 29°F/-2°C & weekend snow showers, we're not out of the woods yet.☃️ Galanthus elwesii & G. nivalis will be fine, full of Plant Antifreeze Proteins! 💪

🌱44 Seedlings from 55 Seeds - in this batch of collected OPs from 'Cannova® Bronze Peach' (showing about 50% bronze seedlings). Sown February 13 after I scarified on 80 grit sandpaper, now day 14. I fished out 11 ungerminated seeds & re-sanded, we'll see if they pop.🤞Cannaceae

🌱VISITORS BEWARE, you may be sitting with company!😅 During seed starting season, from basement to 3-Season room on up, no space is safe. These Pelargonium (Geranium) 'Maverick Orange' F1 were pulled off basement heat mats this morning (germinated in 3 days) for a Sun bath.🌞 Geraniaceae

🌱Yikes - for the first time in a long time forgot the 🌱 for #GardensHour - sorry about that @GardensHour.bsky.social!

Hello and welcome to #GardensHour! After the longest January on record, February has flown by for me! Let’s celebrate your gardens this past month - what were your highlights? Plus, it’s Q&A week - lookout 👀 for the thread coming soon…

🌱🌹Who can resist a Mini Rose named 'Gigi'?😃 Especially at $8.99 with 4 plants in a 4" pot. Once home, I unpotted, pulled all 4 apart & repotted ahead of in-ground planting later. Parade® 'Gigi'™ was bred by Mogens Nyegaard Olesen, & introduced by Poulsen in 2011. 💕Rosaceae

🌱Pretty Cannas in a Row! Scarified each on sandpaper, now day 8 after sowing, 31 of 55 seeds have emerged. Will leave on the heat mat a day or two more then they'll yield the space to others. Also tried a batch of 25 using boiling water 2 days ago - TY Hillborn Plants for the tip!🙏

🚀🌱WE HAVE LIFTOFF! Canna seed scarified on the 11th and sown on the 13th is now up after 5 days - about a dozen of the 55 seeds I planted are showing noses above ground. After all are up will cycle them off the heat mat, as other sowings await.😎

🌱WHAT??? #NationalCabbageDay is nearly over and it's slipped right by me - how can I live with myself??? 😱 Is it always on #MardiGras? I thought it was that OTHER holiday!🍀 Well the only thing I can do now is celebrate Cabbages past - so here we go! Brassicaceae - of course!

🌱Now that's more like it - suburban Chicagoland can finally join the Snowdrop party with these Galanthus elwesii. This is the first group to fully pop here, with more to come. Current lunch hour temp 63°F/17°C - with brilliant blue skies & a gusty breeze.🌞 Amaryllidaceae.

🌱💛One more with backlighting for #SundayYellow. Mr. Sun 🌞 decided to come out and with temps above 60°F/16°C after 3 weeks below 0°F/-18°C and as low as -14°F/-26°C, reason enough to celebrate! 🥳😎

🌱💛BRIGHT! Miniature Columnea 'Apollo' (Magne Haualand, 1979) got off to a slow start in 2025, but popping welcome color today. Have always loved Columneas but most are so BIG & cascading, this little tyke fits on top of the microwave. A new favorite Gesneriad & #SundayYellow pregame.😎 Gesneriaceae

Jardiniers à vos conseils 👋🌱🙏🏼Nectarinier nain planté en racines nues à l’automne. Il est en cours de floraison 🫣… mais pas de butineurs. J’ôte les fleurs pour qu’il racine bien ou je les laisse ???

🌱SANDING CANNA SEED - is it really necessary? Depends if you want to wait 3 months for some to pop & lose 1st year bloom. Uniform germination in 6 to 10 days over bottom heat after filing, bloom in 80-110 days. So it's work, but worth it. Used Coarse 80 Grit paper.😎 Cannaceae

🌱🚀SURPRISING FIRST! Delphinium x belladonna 'Bellamosum' an atypical 1st out of the gate, but after dry freezing & bottom heat, germinated in 5 days - now day 10. This hexaploid nothospecies is a result of crosses between D. grandiflorum (pic 3) & D. elatum (pic 1). Ranunculaceae

🌱😃THERE'S Waldo! Or rather Hippeastrum 'Christmas Gift' (Kwekerij De Oudendam B.V., 1991; OR a different cv by same name, by Ludwig & Sons, 1959). True, though all 3 were labeled Christmas Gift, & got 2 NOID doubles, still not sure the single is named correctly. But will still enjoy their beauty!😎

Exactly! Wild groundhogs are still hibernating. "Greta" and two of her five babies peeking out from my storage building in May.

💕🌱ANNUAL PSA - LEAVE THEM T. F. ALONE!!! There should be no yanking little furry people out of holes today! Young Marmota monax (Groundhog, aka Woodchuck) just chillaxin' on my front stoop on a nice Summer day - AS IT SHOULD BE.😎 Sciuridae - Squirrel Family

🌱💛A touch of #SundayYellow from Streptocarpus (aka Saintpaulia, AfricanViolet) 'Golden Eye' (Sydney Sorano/Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses, 1992). Though not the yellowest & depth of color is variable, has remained a popular standout. Beautiful multicolored foliage.🥳😃 Gesneriaceae

🌱Bit of a #FlowersOnFriday rerun, let's see if I can come up with more.😅 17°F/-9°C outdoors so #FlowerHunting atm is indoors. Pereskia grandifolia (🌸Rose Cactus) continues to cycle intermittent bloom even in the house - continuous bloom once back outside. In pics 1 & 3 the next round.🥳 Cactaceae

Snowdrops 🌱 #FlowersOnFriday #FloralFriday #Bloomscrolling #ColorADay #EastCoastKin

Favorite hybridizers: Grace Sturtevant, America's First Lady of #Irises. 'Taj Mahal' from 1920 is one of the first tall whites to come along. It took hybridizers many years to develop height in white and yellow irises and this one debuted to rave reviews. 🌱

For #FlowersOnFriday some rather bedraggled indoor alstroemerias and mums...I'm ON STRIKE today, no online commerce at all still iced in and expecting winter storm Gianni to roar in with bitterly cold temperatures. My goal is to survive January without breaking any bones. Some WICKED ICE OUT THERE!