Happy Easter!

Spring is here and brings with it the magic of a glorious Easter time; a promise of new beginnings and a fresh start.

Flowers are blooming everywhere,
Bird songs are in the air.
Spring is unfolding her treasures,
And wants us all to share.


Share a hug, give happiness to the people around.
Rejoice, Celebrate, and have a very

Happy Easter!

This year, Easter comes very early. Though we've had a few warm, sunny days in the first part of March, winter is back and it's freezing cold outdoors.
We still have five days till the holiday weekend and the weather forecast promises worming-up.

These pretty primrose flowers started to bloom in January. They are in a flowerpot in my balcony and they don't mind somewhat lower temperatures.

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Rose for Valentines

A rose with raindrops and two red heard, to wish you all

"Love is a symbol of eternity.  It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end."

~Author Unknown

Happy Valentine's Day! 

 

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Campanula rapunculoides-Creeping bellflower

This pretty bellflower is the Campanula rapunculoides - Creeping bellflower, member of the Harebell Family (Campanulacae).

This European wildflower occurs in lawns, roadsides, waste places, fence lines and river banks, reaching 30–100 cm (12–40 in) in height.

Campanula rapunculoides blooms from June to autumn, producing showy, bright blue-violet, drooping flowers with five deep lobes.
The flowers come in spike-like racemes on slightly curved flower stalks.

All the hanging blue bells are arranged on the same side of the slender flower stem, giving the whole inflorescence an attractive profile view. A 3-lobed stigma, white or pale purple is showing from under the corola.

Creeping bellflower produces erect, unbranched, smooth or finely hairy stems.
Its basal leaves are heart-shaped and wider, becoming shorter and narrower toward the top.

Small seed capsules will follow the flower, containing many small, shiny, light brown seeds.

Campanula rapunculoides grows in any soil, in full sun and part shade.

As beautiful as they are, wildflowers are not garden ornamentals.
Creeping bellflower is one of those extremely vigorous wildflower species that will overwhelm less vigorous garden plants.

It spreads into adjacent areas by persistent underground rhizomes and taproot-shaped tubers as well as by its numerous, tinny seed. It is a very persistent plant, nearly impossible to eradicate it by digging or pulling the roots out because any small pieces of the roots will sprout into new plants.

It can be easily controlled though, when planted in containers and deadheading before the seed capsules form.

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My orchids in full bloom

Two of my orchids are in bloom, after a long period of inactivity.
Orchids don't like our long, cold winters and rainy spring days but now, in the summer heat, they have a happy look.

I have this white Phalaenopsis for three years now.
Though it is not as vigorous as it was when I bought it, the sweet plant still rewards me with its long lasting blooms.

This time, the flower pot fell down from the window sill and the fragile, new orchid stem  broke in an instant.
A few days later, the plant brought a new side shot from the broken stem and these are the flowers after the accident:

I'm quite happy with this beautiful spray of orchid flowers, this summer.

This is my purple orchid, also in flower now.
It has beautiful purple, velvety petals with whitish markings and a very dense spray of flowers but the blooms don't last long. The flower that opened first fades away before the last bud even opens. 

Though I have this orchid for several years now, I was not able to identify this species and the proper care for it, in all these years.
If anyone happens to know how to care for this orchid species, please let me know in a comment.
I have a close-up photo of the flower in an earlier post, have a look at it for a better idea.

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Snow-in-Summer flowers-Cerastium tomentosum photos

This lovely, snow white flower is the Snow-in-Summer - Cerastium tomentosum, another member of the carnation family.

This perennial plant blooms from May into June, providing a mass of tiny, white flowers over a silver-gray foliage. There's
Snow-in-Summer grows 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) tall, though it can grow much taller if it has to compete with other flowers for sunlight.
Like all members of the genera Cerastium and Stellaria, this plant is a chick-weed, spreading very fast, maybe too fast sometimes.

These are the Snow-in-Summer flowers with five waxy petals. In the photo bellow, the similarity with the Stellaria flowers mentioned above, is obvious.

It will thrive in full sun, in normal soil and is even drought tolerant, to a certain extent.
Its spreading habit makes this plant a popular ground cover and a lovely addition to rock gardens, edgings and containers.

A spectacular show can be achieved in the landscape when planted in the company of other colorful, mat forming ground cover plants like Purple Aubrieta, pink creeping phlox and yellow Basket of Gold.

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