Week 15- February 22- 26 days until Spring

Slowly the days roll along. The calendar clicks to another day, another week. March is around the corner, despite the visual reality of another few inches of snow.
One of my garden dreams is an interactive online map of springtime moving relentlessly north. It would be a daffodil map, even though in the advanced stages, you could add a crocus map or a lilac map. You would have a map of the entire country with dots for places where daffodils were blooming. People would report the locations and everyone could see the progress of springtime, coming closer.
Surely there is some computer person out there who can help me with this idea. I would probably be satisfied with someone just taking my idea and making it happen. So let me hear from you if you know this stuff and think you could help. Let us get this up and running for next year.

But this is this year and we are nearing the end of the contest. You have selected the second entry into the Superbowl of flower contests to be held in two weeks on March 8.
In this last week’s contest you picked the Purple Siberian Iris. The waterlily was close. In a way that is good. A waterlily has won the contest the last two years and it is time for some other flower.
Here were the votes:


Waterlily 19 +4.5=23.5 (yes, someone split their vote) for 32.2%
Purple Iris 21+7=28 for 38.6%
Orange Poppy 12+.5= 12.5 for 17.1%
Blue crocus 7+1=8 for 11.0%
Total 60+13=73

The Iris moves on where it will meet the Monsella tulip plus the winner of the next two weeks.


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This week’s pictures I suspect will present an even more of a challenge. I myself do not yet know which one I will pick.

The first picture is the pink orchid cactus. If you do not know orchid cacti, you should. They really are quite wonderful, particularly for the shade gardeners. I use them as a companion plant to hosta. Actually they hang right over them. Well, I could go on, but this week is about the pictures, not the stories.











This next picture is the yellow Iceland poppy, an annual, as far as I am concerned. I grow them from seed and put them out in May. The heat kills them. But boy are they nice.










This third picture is a white fall crocus. This picture was taken on October 18. What a way to extend the season. If you have this to look forward to you can never shut your garden down in September.













Finally there is Shirley, the tulip. Click on the picture. Look at it close-up. What a wonderful little bit of color.










Vote away.
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For your bonus enjoyment this week I have pumpkins. They have had a hard winter, hanging around in the snow and cold. But as they age they do provide winter interest.











































In a week February will be over.
Philip