The redbuds are still blooming here, but soon to be replaced by green leaves. Despite cool days (though getting a bit warmer!) and (very) cold nights, spring is here!
My friend Jan and I went to our favorite flower/plant nursery and market to check out the plants and prices.
It was a sea of color. The brights of Gerbera daisies and zinnias. . .
. . . geraniums in red, white, salmon and fuchsia and sunshine-bright Black-Eyed Susans and sunflower starters.
Of course, there were plenty of pastels, too!
Plants for flowers, veggies and herbs filled three greenhouses and outdoors were larger bushes and trees. I loved these little purple ones blooms.
This one was a showstopper. It's called a Fairytrail Bride and it's well named.
It's actually a hydrangea, though it sure didn't look like one to me. I've rarely seen such pristine white blossoms. It measured about 18 inches wide at the center and when I tried to lift it, I couldn't!
The basket it was in was very heavy -- and it was $60. One is supposed to plant it with 4-6 hours of light. I'm not sure I have the adequate light source (either too bright or maybe not bright enough.) I'm still thinking about it.
I ended up with six strawberry plants (already in, along with my lettuce) and one lovely basil plant that is currently in the kitchen window till it warms up a bit (unless I use it all in cooking before planting time!)
We shouldn't plant here till mid-or-end of May, but I'll be putting some things in pots that can be brought in very soon!
Sharing with: Talking About It Tuesday / Share Your Style / Love Your Creativity
59 comments:
such gorgeous flowers jeanie! yep that hydrangea is an interesting specimen for sure. We are heading into winter but it is taking ages to come. Summer and autumn just keep going ...
cheers
sherry
Sue has her first pot, a hanging pot. It was also $60, but she loved it, and it was a gift.
We’re near to frost too at night. It will be 1C here tonight, so the pot should survive without bringing it in. I don’t think we should really plant for another two weeks. One day, it is going to frigid, and the next day will be 90. I’m sure that’s how it will go, but when?
Oh my gosh. Look at all those beauties. Pure paradise:)
Wow Jeanie, the flowers 💐 are beautiful.
I love flowers, I am crazy about orchids, I have some myself, hydrangeas are very beautiful. Well, all flowers are beautiful, the two of us are also flowers :)) I wish you a nice spring day ahead, the rain has stopped... Hug
That Bride hydrangea is truly gorgeous. I'm happy you've got a head start on your summer garden.
You certainly had a lovely trip there. I have enjoyed my virtual one too. I am still looking forward and hopefully will be going to ours this week. Happy week to you Jeanie.
I love all the colors! It makes me want to get them all, to make my garden look like a sea of colors too.
Love the flowers and all the colours!
Hello,
Wow, all the flowers and plants look gorgeous.
We have to wait till the end of May here, we still have very cold nights. Take care, enjoy your day!
I have put it off it has been so chilly..Next week..I usually go early to beat the crowd.That hanging basket geranium is absolutely stunning.I love happy places like that..Chaching though.Thank goodness I have lots of perennials.. and weeds:( I still need baskets and a few planters to fill however...Enjoy this season Jeanie.
I am not even looking at flowers yet as I would be too tempted to bring some home. We had frost again last night. UGH Janice
Wow! So many colors and different kinds of flowers! I hope you get many strawberries from your plants.
I had goosebumps from this post, not for being scared but for being so excited. I love visiting nurseries and flower greenhouses. So many pretty plants Jeanie. I went the other day to my local one and they didn't have quite the supply out yet. I guess the very cold nights and the chilly days everything in my area must be a bit behind. Luckily at my house it has just been above freezing enough for no frost. But I am so ready for planting. Thanks for sharing. This made me smile this morning. Hugs-Erika
Those flowers are so beautiful. We always have lots of sunflowers, big varieties and smaller varieties, pop up in our garden, and the Turk's cap and blue mistflowers die back in the cooler weather, but they always return.
...we had a frost last night!
Beautiful flowers Jeanie. I love visiting flower farms, nurseries and more. Such a large variety of pretty blooms. I am ready to add some around the pool.
Lovely photos! So green up top. We have the same planting season here as you do ... so we are gearing up now. I'm headed to the nursery today, yay.
Your spring sounds much like ours.. it was 38 here when I woke up this morning. But despite our still rather cool temps things are starting to green up nicely. I love going through greenhouses but I always want to take ALL the pretty flowers home with me.
So many stunning flowers!!!! I have such a hard time at the garden center because I want to bring everything home with me. This year, I've been trying to grow a few things from seed. We'll see if my little seedlings survive and turn into anything!
The purple blooms appeal to me. I love Thai basil leaves in Thai curry. Yummy! My Thai friend grew them in her backyard, where they spread out.
Look at the variety of flowers at the nursery. The flowers are blooming wonderfully there. The purple ones are so pretty. Would love a garden filled with those. I hope your strawberry plants do well at home. Have a terrific week, Jeanie. And I also wanted to mention the new font - it's bigger and much easier to read. Thank you!
Gorgeous flowers, I never would have guessed that pretty white was a hydrangea.
When we lived in New England, we couldn't plant anything before Memorial Day. The only annual flowers that I bought were red geraniums that I planted in a hug blue glazed pot for our outside deck in Maine for the summer. That was also when all the tomatoes that I had started in my potting shed would go into the ground. Karen (Back Road Journal)
Ah, what balm for the soul! I could spend hours just looking. They have more variety than I usually find here in local greenhouses.
You will be planting soon!
So beautiful! Winter came back here - so I wait. But my 1974-strawberries made it again, yippee!!!! If Mom could only see that!
My Brother inherited the garden and... let them all mow away.
I love visiting plant nurseries too. Love hydrangeas, and those white ones are stunning, but sadly the ones Ive had never survived the relentless heat in Summer. Best of luck with your potting Jeanie.
Pretty flower pics..Spring may be here according to the calendar but it was in the 30's last night..Supposedly the last..I've had my Geraniums for three weeks now.So far so good..I'm not one to wait til Mothers Day..
What beautiful flowers -- how could you resist them? And that hydrangea? Wow! (in a lot of ways: gorgeous, for sure .. but $60?) I've promised myself that maintenance is my focus for this year, but all that color is very very tempting. And there is a nursery right on my way into town...
What a dazzingly colorful carpet of bright little faces---they're just smiling "Pick ME!!" (Well maybe not THAT, but Take me Home, at least). Isn't a trip to a garden center the next best thing to strolling a magnificent garden, with the bonus that you CAN pick out one or ninety and take them home. My Rosy Easter Hydrangea was in FULLL regalia back in early April, and has been lushly growing and glowing in her light pink pot beneath the mailbox. (And she's residence to a few jumping spiders, for her wrought-iron table is also beneath the porchlight, and I've carried out at least two to put into her welcoming boughs).
What a treat to walk those fragrant, colorful aisles with you!!
Beautiful glowers!
Beautiful flowers!
Sorry for the oops, I was trying to correct spelling when the first unfinished comment published.
So many beautiful flowers. We don't plant flowers as most attract bees and the eldest is allergic.
Jeanie do I dare tell you that our temps here in Florida are in the 90's? Yes, and yesterday it felt like 102 with the high humidity...but we love it although I get a chuckle at the snow birds who come down here and rent a convertible and drive around with the top down so they can brag to their cold friends up North. 🥰. I happen to own a convertible so I know the joy it can bring but it sits in the garage until cool mornings and evenings if I'm going to put the top down...(on the car of course! 🫣. LOL Your flower photos are so Spring worthy and I love any white flowering plant, so I was definitely attracted to the white hydrangea. We have white evening jasmine and white gardenias and the fragrance is heavenly when we are in the Secret Garden. Thanks for the colorful stroll down the flowering aisles. Have a great week my friend.
The main place that used to sell plants around here has sadly closed. I've been picking up plants when I can and figuring out the best way to arrange them in the space available! I don't think I have it quite right yet...
All the flowers bring a smile to my face. :)
Garden centres are the happiest places! I love all of those flowers.
This is a wonderful garden center. I would love those white flowers in my yard.
I dare not go to a plant nursery right now. I will not be able to resist. The one you went to looks lovely. The first photo is beautiful. I do love redbuds. Enjoy gardening!!
-Soma
Plant sales are such a temptation. Everything looks so beautiful. I just can walk away with something to put in a pot on my patio. I used to have similar hydrangeas in my garden at my house. I do miss them.
I have friends who are keen gardeners and love nothing better than spending time in nurseries looking at all the beauty there. Our new home has beautiful flower gardens, thanks to our friend who creates them. I hope to learn from her since I don't know anything about flowers, really. She's going to keep doing the flowers and Bill and I will grow some veg and we'll all share :-) I hope some of your basil makes it into the ground, but if you use it before then, you can always get more!
I have no doubt that any day now Miriam will coax me into our annual visit to the garden centre where my credit card will be beaten into submission!
P.S. the black Swan studying:
Made by Nightcafé!
I got this from fellow blogger Nicole :-)
Gorgeous!! I'm so impatient with plants as well... I've been eyeing the catalogs since Jan :)!!
Oh what beautiful pots of colour!! I have heard rumours that all of those pretty flowers that I planted for the house sale have been bulldozed and it makes me sad - looking forward to planting a few things come our Spring.
I do enjoy visiting garden centres and seeing the beautiful plants and flowers.
Such beautiful flowers on your post today Jeanie ...lovely to see.
All the best Jan
What beautiful flowers. I love strolling through garden centers.
the garden spots and markets are a popular place this time of year!! talk about a sea of color, wow!! we will be planting soon!!
Your flower market trip sounds delightful, Jeanie 🌸
I can just imagine the sea of flowers lighting up the place.
That Bride hydrangea is really beautiful.
Stunning photos as always!
White flower loving me can't believe that hydrangea; I've never seen such a thing! I can't believe that spread of color at the flower market generally, to be honest. I've never seen anything like that. Of course, the last time I went to such a place -- even a normal plant shop -- might have been a couple of decades ago. Now that I've got the bird feeders down (an anti-rat measure) I'm planning for at least a couple of hanging baskets, so my day is coming!
Lots of beautiful plants to choose from for your garden. I can feel your anticipation. Happy gardening.
I just love this time of the year when all the flowers area available in full bloom. So pretty. I'm getting back to Philadelphia a little earlier this season and hope to be able to get flowers and herbs for my deck.
Jeanie, I love visiting nurseries and flower farms. Looks like you have a lot of plants to choose from. Our spring has been crazy. It was 45 degrees here this morning! Everything we have planted is slow because of our unseasonably cool nights. I will be complaining when we start experiencing 90 + days with high humidities!
I love going to the garden shops. Those flowers are just gorgeous.
Visiting today from Talking About It Tuesday.
Spring is looking GOOD!! It seems the world wakes up in Spring. We traveled to Pittsburgh this past weekend and the mornings and evenings were still quite cool too.
This post made me so happy!!! All the flowers! I think Wyatt and I are going today to the garden center after school. I need to get some strawberries and flowers. :)
What a beautiful garden center, Jeanie! I'd get in so much trouble here. 😂. May your chosen purchases flourish!
That white-flowered plant is gorgeous! It's tricky to find a spot that gets the right amount of sun, though. The boys + Phil got me handing baskets for our front porch. It gets so much INTENSE sun that we end up getting petunias every year since they can handle the sun. The weather has been dicey here but we've managed to avoid freezing weather - but just barely. Yesterday the highs were in the upper 40s. Last Saturday it was 85! When I was a kid, we would always swim in the lake on Memorial Day weekend - I can't imagine swimming this coming weekend with how cold our spring has been! Burr!!!
Beautiful pictures.
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