Marching On With Bloom Day

Although we're way behind compared to last March's Bloom Day, I'm very grateful for the blooms that I do have. I was downtown at the Chronicle most of today, adding plants to the database and lamenting the sad state of our gardens with garden editor Kathy Huber. We also discussed the fact that a prime opportunity for Houston area gardeners to replace some of our dead plants is coming up on March 26th & 27th when Mercer Arboretum hosts March Mart, its biggest plant sale of the year. I have a serious case of plant lust after hearing about some of their offerings.

After spending all day writing plant descriptions, my wordsmithing muscles have been flexed about as much as they can handle, which is why this GBBD post is more of an overview than an in depth report. The collage shows a bit of what's blooming this month on my corner of Katy. (Click on it for a better view.) Here's a more complete accounting:

• ROSES: Madame Antoine Mari, Madame Alfred Carriere, Mrs. Dudley Cross, Reve D'Or, Marie Pavie', Souvenir de la Malmaison, Old Blush, Mutabilis, Gartendirektor Otto Linne, Hermosa, Louis Philippe, Cramoisi Superieur, La Marne.
  
• BULBS & IRIS: Narcissus 'Grand Soleil D'Or', Leucojum, Freesia laxa, small white Iris, Amaryllis 'La Paz' (inside)
  
• TREES: White Redbud, Sinojackia, Redbud
  
• ANNUALS: Bluebonnets, Linaria/Toadflax, Alyssum, Violas, Dianthus, Snapdragons, Kalanchoe, Larkspur, Delphinium, 21st Century mix Phlox
  
• PERENNIALS: Verbenas, Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue', Engelmann's Daisy, Spiderwort, Louisiana Phlox, Australian Violet, Salvia 'Teresa', Salvia greggii, Salvia macrophylla
  

It's going to be interesting to see what's blooming in April. I haven't even seen buds on the poppies yet, the bluebonnets are just getting started and most of the larkspur aren't big enough to start forming buds. There's a lot to look forward to, I hope!