The footsteps of spring

 Spring may yet to be here but this week it seems as if we can hear its footsteps. New bulb sprouts, early spring blooms, deciduous shrubs beginning to leaf out. All heralds of spring.

Here is a sampling of activity in my late winter garden. Enjoy!

Though hybrid fuchsias are common, they are nonetheless a nice early spring treat.

This sunny bed has stock in bloom but is also filled with clumps of babiana and daffodils not yet in bloom.

Calibrachoas don't always perform well the second year but this brightly colored variety from last year is off to a good start this year.

Phylica plumosa. This South African shrub has THE softest foliage and doesn't deserve the rep of being difficult to grow. Mine just soldiers on, year after year.

This 50 count Crocus Spring Beauty was super successful this year. The individual flowers weren't large but the sheer numbers have made for quite a show!

Magnolia stellata. Though not uncommon, this distinctive magnolia has fingers in place of the wide cup-shaped petals on most magnolias.

Chamaecyparis 'Gold Mops.' This new addition to my garden offers up lovely gold new growth and a domed appearance.

My well-established Chamaecyparis 'Barry's Silver' is still more blue than silver but the new spring growth will have a whiter cast.

Micromyrtis ciliata. I just love the sprays of tiny white flowers on this Australian myrtle family member.

Banksia ericifolia. The first flower on my Banksia continues to increase in girth and has acquired the rusty orange color it is known for.

Nandina 'Firepower.' This member of the heavenly bamboo genus gets a nice fiery red color in spring.

I thought this plant was Salvia africana-lutea, which is noteworthy for its unusual ginger-brown flowers. To my surprise, my specimen has sprouted bluish-purple flowers. And that must mean that it's actually Salvia africana-caerulea. Flowers still are lovely.

This raised bed I built last year now houses 5 dwarf conifers, 3 hellebores and some primroses.

Advertised as Tulip Persian Pearl, the first flower to open in this bag of 10 bulbs looks an awful lot like a Tulip saxatilis. Guess I'll see how the others turn out.

This larger flowering purple crocus is putting on quite a show.

I have previously mentioned my fondness for South African Gladiolus species. This Gladiolus nanus  variety is called Atom.

Freesias. Some of you may have noticed something odd about freesias that you've had in your garden for awhile. Though they started out as red or orange or bright yellow, one year they came up a soft butter yellow (the color you see here). That's because the hybrid crocus has reverted back to its species color. One bit of good news in this change - the species crocus tend to be even more fragrant!

Though the bright sun somewhat washed out some of the blue color in my Ipheions, this freely self naturalizing bulb has spread out to cover this entire bed.

Lotus jacobeus. This so-called Black lotus has made itself at home in its sunny bed and now blooms nearly year round. From a distance the tiny flowers do indeed look almost black.

I have a love-hate relationship with passion flower plants. They either sit there and finally die OR they go crazy and take over whole sides of buildings. It's very much the latter for this Passiflora 'Oaklandii.' It's climbed up my 25' tall apple tree and is smothering it. Since the tree's apples are inedible, I don't mind this development.

Azalea 'Avenir.' A new addition to my garden, I love its coral-red flowers.