Spring Flowers....

I miss the flowers that we would normally see about now in this part of the country. After that record setting cold snap here a few weeks ago, everything out in my yard is dead or dying. The poor azaleas are brown, and we'll have to cut back the bushes to save them. The weeping cherry was flowering a beautiful pink before the weather turned. The liriope has turned brown, but it may be coming back to life, as it's quite hard to kill that stuff. My cottage roses are even affected and while they aren't too bad, if I don't see some blooms open in the next week or so, I'm going to prune them as well. The laceleaf maple that was vibrant red is now orange brown, and wilted. I've driven around the neighborhood and all of these miniature trees look like this. But the saddest sight to see has to be my 4 crape myrtle trees. The were pushing forth light green foliage and looking healthy and fresh in the springtime. Now their leaves are shriveled up and brown, hanging limply from twigs that seem to also be drying out. I'm concerned about them, and not sure if I should cut them back, or leave them be. I've read advice to wait a few weeks and new growth should begin to show. I guess I'll wait a couple more weeks and see what happens....so sad. The only thing that looks bright and vibrant in my front yard are my yellow and purple pansies. They didn't seem to be bothered by the cold at all. They stand out amongst all the dreary damaged plants as if cheerfully saying, "We may be small, but that cold didn't bother us a bit!" Notice the sad looking laceleaf maple behind them.

So, I guess this spring is done as far as blooming, and it will be a season of waiting and watching to see what recovers. Since I missed a prolonged bloom time, it has gotten me thinking about container plants. I need a good shot of colorful blooms, so I'm posting some pretty petal pictures for you. I also have a great website that has helped me with my container planting. It shows you a picture of the planted flower container, and then shows you a diagram of each plant and where to plant it. I still use this to get ideas on how to make an outdoor planting arrangement look good. :-)

http://www.fernlea.com/samples/containers/container1.htm

Aren't these flowers gorgeous? I love the old buckets they are arranged in.

Those would look lovely in a few rooms in my house.

The blue and white flowers in the window box are stunning! Can you tell what types of flowers I prefer? All these are beautiful, makes me want to hang some window boxes... eventually.

I think the yellow flowers are coreopsis, or some sort of daisy. I'm not sure and my big book of flowers is not with me at the moment to lo0k them up.