Saturday, February 23, 2008

Spring Has Nearly Sprung

Barring one gray, sprinkly day its been sunshine for the past two weeks. Not always warm - it went down to -2c a few days there - but warm enough to wake up sleeping plants. The mimosa and almond trees around town are in full bloom, as are Laurent's allergies, and the plants on the balcony are starting to bud.
Almond tree in bloom
The almond tree just below our balcony is in flower at the moment. Since our car is parked underneath it we have to clean the blossoms off every morning - well beats snow right?

Chamomille tree
Our friend Betty Jean gave us the chamomille tree when she was leaving for Damascus. Its starting to bud and already there is a hint of the lovely scent that we enjoy when its warm enough to sit out and have our dinner on the balcony.

Day lily starting to grow
This day lily (another gift from BJ) really didn't have much of a rest - it was still blooming at the end of October. And I noticed a tendril of ivy has hitched a ride in the pot and is doing just fine.

Sedum in bloomShoots are starting to appear
The sedum is starting to bloom and send off new tiny purple leaves. I forget the name of the plant in the second picture but last summer it was a mass of purple-pink bell flowers. I had worried that it was dead but new shoots reassure me it will be blooming again this summer. Sadly I'm not so sure about my lovely scarlett hibiscus.

Balcony plants
Cyclamen is a much favoured winter plant here. These two have been blooming on the balcony all winter. It has been strange to look out on January 1st and see green leaves and bright coloured flowers.


23 febbraio - San Polycarpo

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will trade blossoms for snow any day! It is -1C today and the sun is shining!
DF

Sling said...

WOO HOO!..Spring is beginning to peek out in O-Town as well.
Nice pix willym. :)

sageweb said...

My winter lasted two days. It was rough. those are nice pics. Are you like a mensa? How can one person know so much...opera, food, rome, now you can name off plants...and all the other stuff you educate us with..how can one persons brain have so much information? Okay off to play tic tac toe.

more cowbell said...

I love the tree vantage point! very nice! I'm so ready for spring, I can't even begin to tell you how ready I am for spring.

Willym said...

DF: Yeah just think in a week or two you and Henry will have the motorcycles out and be hitting the road every weekend. And winter will be a distant memory.

Sling: Thanks.

Sageweb: Well thank you I'm actually a bit embarrassed. Mensa - I don't think so - hell I couldn't even check coats for that group. I'm just a high school dropout who had a father who believed that reading was important and sowed the seeds of so many interests and when he died a mother who encouraged me to follow them. And fortunately I worked for an airline which let me see some of the rest of our world. And I challenge you to a game of tic tac toe when we meet - bet you'll beat the pants off me - eww that's not a pretty sight. ;-)

Doralong said...

I wish spring would hurry up.. I'm getting bloody well tired of waiting! I need some green and some warm in a terrible way..

Tony Adams said...

I'm guessing that the plant whose name you have forgotten is a Petrea. Possibly a Petrea Volibilis. A lovely thing. Attracts hummingbirds.

Willym said...

Doralong: From what I hear from folks back home it been a horrible winter. Hope that damned groundhog was right.

Father Tony: Thanks. I'll check it out I have a feeling you might be right. It has a lovely scent.