Four years ago on February 15, 2007, May Dreams Carol invited us to post for
the first-ever Garden Bloggers Bloom Day . The only flowers I could find were a few blossoms on the Carolina Jessamine and Coral Honeysuckle, a few yellow daffodil buds and 'Grand Primo' narcissus, some pansies, barely developed buds of Texas Mountain Laurel and a salmon geranium on the windowsill. Wouldn't you think there would now be more, rather than less?
The Carolina Jessamine/
Gelsemium sempervirens began to flower 2 weeks ago -then was badly hit by the recent cold spell. Most of the plant looks like this
A few of the interior vines were more protected and look like this - my guess is that the buds that are browned will fall off but the yellow ones will open.
I planted hyacinths near the yellow daffodils and very warm 80º F weather in early February spurred them to show buds. The temperature dropped rapidly from the 70's to the 20's -not that unusual here - but then it stayed below freezing for several days and dipped to 14º F, which is
not usual.
The stems of the daffodils had broken but a few heads seemed OK -so as our GBBD Inspiration
Elizabeth Lawrence might have done, I cut the stems and took them inside, hoping they'll open in a vase of water.
For the first time since 2005 the flowers on these Narcissus 'Grand Primo' won't open.
The containers of pansies look much same as they did
10 days ago, but the Coral Honeysuckle lost not only flower buds but most of its leaves. And that 'Fantasia Salmon' geranium in flower for the first GBBD? I bought that plant on sale back in February 2006! I was quite pleased when it lived through the first winter, never expecting to someday look in the window and see a 5-year old plant still in bloom.
That's it, May Dreams Carol! Maybe you'll get a better GBBD next month.
The bloggers with the inside bulbs have the flowers this time.
Posts
Instead of disappearing, they've made flowers for 4 of the 5 springs they've been planted here. And although the small trumpets don't look pink right away, look what happens after the flower has been open for a day! {click to expand the photo and look into the heart}
Even a Coral narcissus is Pink enough to make me glad I took that $2 chance.
We turned that parched and ugly strip into a native-and adapted bed, taking out most of the liriope, adding penstemon, rosemary, Blackfoot Daisies, a tiny Texas Mountain Laurel, lantana, Gulf Muhly grass, Skullcap & Silver-leaved germander. Here it is in September 2009:
They didn't do much last year but today I counted 18 daffodils in bloom with a few buds coming along... more daffodils than I've seen at a single time in a dozen years. 
A few of the interior vines were more protected and look like this - my guess is that the buds that are browned will fall off but the yellow ones will open.
The stems of the daffodils had broken but a few heads seemed OK -so as our GBBD Inspiration Elizabeth Lawrence might have done, I cut the stems and took them inside, hoping they'll open in a vase of water. 
That's it, May Dreams Carol! Maybe you'll get a better GBBD next month. The bloggers with the inside bulbs have the flowers this time.
