Beautiful Iris

This is just one of many photos I took on a walk with Kathy on April 16th. I liked this photo so much I made it my desktop background!

Yes, It is Spring!

The Wisteria and Azaleas are still blooming, and the pansys have never looked better. The Native Iris are starting to bloom. The Camellias and Daffodils have finished. Chimney Swifts and Prothonotary Warbler have returned. A pair of Osprey are building a nest which can be seen from the Wedding Garden.

Azaleas Blooms

As of today I would say about 25% of our azaleas are in bloom. Easter Sunday should be nice. The wedding garden has the most blooms.  More blooms to come next week.  

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.