Spring Awakening...

So after a week of teasing us (felt more like a month!) with her tightly closed buds, this little beauty finally announced "I'm here!" All is forgiven as I happily greet her! Primroses and johnny jump-ups are also greeting us with their bright blooms. I'm warning you now..there are more macro shots coming as I'm having lots of fun with my new camera :)

Happy First Day of Spring!

The last day of winter loudly bid goodbye with this spectacular sunset! I had to celebrate her beauty and give her honor for being the very first photo taken from my new camera! Finally, close-ups and far away will be as clear as...well, I guess we'll see...this is going to be fun!!! There's even a special setting for sunsets...

Yippee...a sign of life in my garden! While everyone's hellebores have been blooming their hearts out (Frances!), mine is a late bloomer. I'm guessing it's due to be divided last fall. And, it's my first "macro" shot...so cool!

Excited as I am about my hellebores, Best in Bloom Today has to be this gardenia. She is loaded with blooms and perfumes the dining room ever so sweetly.

A sunny forecast for the weekend, and, like most of you, I'll be itching to get some dirt under my fingernails...Happy Spring everyone!

And the Winners...

The judging area of the flower show is always fun to tour. Some entries just make you scratch your head and say "huh?" and others truly spectacular! SO....here are some of the winners that caught my eye. I loved this amaryllis pot crammed with blooms!

This clematis vine was in a shallow 8" pot.

This strange looking flower is called "Amorphophallus". It exuded a strong unpleasant odor...okay, it was just plain stinky! And look, they've put it next to a citrus tree...very sneaky!

A miniature daphne..so fragrant!

I loved this begonia

Cool berries on this standard

From the "Alpine" entries...I'm hoping to make some hypertufas this year just for this purpose.

This was one of the entries I didn't "get". What's so special about this little cyclamen? It's in a 6" green plastic pot, very ordinary red blooms...the kind you can pick up at the local A & P....

or this entry (other than being odd)...but win first place they did!

What is this "brainy" looking thing......why, a succulent, of course!

A lot of blogs recently on hellebores so I was really excited to see these up close and in person. Loved this double one!

For more on the Philadelphia Flower Show, visit Patsi http://pseewald.com/ and OldRoses http://aphotographersgarden.blogspot.com/ for their beautiful photos. Thanks for coming along for the tour.  Hope you enjoyed...

Orchids...

...just orchids.

These were just a handful of orchids out of hundreds that were on display at the Philadelphia Flower Show. I guess you can tell I'm attracted to the rich colored ones!

Bella Italia!

That was the theme this year for the Philadelphia Flower Show. One, if not the, largest indoor shows in the world covering 10 acres. I'm sure they broke sales record this year as I've never seen it as crowded! Italian gardens feature a more formal structure. Most of the displays included statues, formal hedges and, of course, fountains galore. I "OOHed" and "AAHed" each one more than the last. And talk about colors! Rich and vibrant, a feast for the eyes and soul. My photos, unfortunately, are a little blurry and dark (gotta get a new camera!), but hopefully, you'll enjoy them anyway, so...let's go!

Notice the orb of pink blooms in the back... Here it is...you can imagine the scale of this arrangement as the crowds gather below.

This was my favorite fountain..loved those dark tulips

This pink wisteria tree drew alot of admirers

So for those of us who've dreamt of visiting gardens of Italy, this field trip was almost as good as the real thing. I'll do another post of the competition area soon. Ciao, Bella Italia!