Spring Gardening on a Winter's Day

Sounds like a song...hmmm.  In order to get a jump start on the New Year's Resolution/Goal I went crazy and bought plants that probably should have been planted at least a month or more ago!  In my recent post, I commented that I would tackle the flowerbed next to the house.  Well, not so much today.  That spot, turns out, doesn't get the amount of light I thought it did.  In fact, it gets no sunlight at all.  So back to the drawing board on that flowerbed.  Perhaps in the spring we'll try some hostas or columbine.  For now it'll lay dormant.

Today was a wonderful day to be outside gardening.  It was cloudy and a little breezy.  The temperature was 70 degrees and there were no bugs to deal with!  Below is a picture movie of all the day's events. 

The Mountain Laurel you see towards the end of the clip has been in the ground for about 7 or 8 years now.  Mountain Laurels are native to Texas and are a beautiful evergreen tree.  Pat has pruned it a couple of times, but today it is breathtaking!  Toward the end of March, the bees will be buzzing around the luscious purple blooms which resemble Wisteria blossoms, but are more intense in color.  If you don't have a Mountain Laurel in your garden, I highly recommend this plant.  Because it is native to Texas, heat and drought have no effect upon it.  During the freezes of 2010, it was completely unfazed. The only drawback is it is slow to grow, but it is well worth the wait.

Regarding the Cyclamen, a local gardening show I was watching recommended planting the beauty during the winter, citing that the plant loves the cold.  But reading the tag made me wonder if I had the right variety, as it isn't very happy below 40 degrees.  Since we can still get cold around here, I opted to pot it, hoping that some plastic will protect it if it gets a little colder.  Otherwise, the gorgeous blooms should be a lovely bright spot in the dead of winter!