I have been gardening in the lowcountry of South Carolina over 25 years and this is the longest and coldest winter I have every seen here. Spring blooms are running 2-3 weeks late. For years I have been telling visitors that our peak Azalea bloom is around the last weekend of March but here it is a few days away and the azaleas are not even showing color. We have a few azaleas called Early Lavender which normally bloom around the first week of March and they have just started to bloom. The Camellias and Daffodils are still blooming. I now predict peak azalea bloom will be the second week of April. The Redbuds have started to bloom but the Lady Banks Roses and Wisteria are still in bud. The Parula warbler did return last week right on time and the Prothonotary Warblers are due back any day now. The Yellow Rumped Warblers(Butter Butts) and the White Throated Sparrows are still thick in the gardens but they may leave soon. The Bluebirds have busy visiting nest boxes and will soon getting down to business.
