Old Blush climber is always our signal of impending color. Kind of like the drum roll before the dramatic jump into Spring.
Lady Banks, white and yellow in our parking lot. Looking like a blanket of snow.
Archduke Charles planted in front of the sales office.
Byzantine (Gladiolus byzantinus) is the wispy fuschia in the center of today's photo. We plant the bulbs in the fall for their spring debut. Lucky for you we do have some planted in one gallon containers for sale!
The rose buds are beginning to fatten for the beginning of our spring retail season. In the mean time there are many things showing color in other parts of our sleepy winter gardens. Take a walk outside, look around your own landscape and see what is beginning to bloom.
Bletilla striata, Chinese Ground Orchid. I noticed our one gallon plants had all sprouted and are showing the beginning of their bloom spikes. Exotic, miniature orchid-like lavender flowers, 6 to 30 per clump on this hardy, easy to grow orchid. Naturalizes. Excellent in containers too. 
Chinese Ground Orchid growing under the climbing roses. Some web sites say these terrestrial orchids need plenty of moisture. This is not our experience in this location of the Antique Rose Emporium as this area receives no regular waterings.
Received a few of these recently. If word gets out they will all be gone.
Alyssum (center photo) in white and purple. A spendid annual to use in a sunny spot this spring but move it back to the shade if you want it to last through the heat of our summers.
Meyer Lemon (left photo) blooms now will provide fruit this fall. (Click on any of the photos in this blog to see a larger view.)
