Chapel Hill Gardener

…musings of a home gardener in Chapel Hill, North Carolina…

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

After an unusually warm December, followed by a January with three weekends in a row of snow, my first daffodil started blooming today in my Chapel Hill North Carolina zone 7B garden. Spring is coming!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

I think somebunny loves the Carex Everillo in my Chapel Hill garden as much as I do (see untouched on the left versus someone’s dinner last night on the right). At least it will grow back from its haircut!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

My camellia and daphne have had flower buds for over a month. No flowers. My hellebores have been sending up buds and new growth. No flowers. So what is my first bloom of 2022 in my Chapel Hill garden? The underdog Iris unguicularis (Algerian Iris), which had no buds last week!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

I’m loving the fall color in my zone 7B Chapel Hill North Carolina right now. The trees are gorgeous! Even some of my workhorse plants, like this shade-loving variegated Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum), is decked out in a bright new fall outfit.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

My absolute favorite herb can't-imagine-baked-potatoes-without is garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). If you've only had "regular" chives with their onion flavor - you are missing out! Here they are currently blooming in my Chapel Hill NC zone 7B garden.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Usually I don't notice the liriope (monkey grass) in my garden, it's just a filler. Mine at least have gold-edged leaves. But this time of year in my Chapel Hill NC zone 7B garden, it explodes with lavender blooms, and reminds me we all have our part to sing in the chorus.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Loving the cooler temperatures again today in what has been steamy zone 7B Chapel Hill NC. Glad despite how dry it has been that this magnolia in my backyard is still putting on a show with huge beautiful blooms.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Today was my first daylily bloom of the year in my Chapel Hill NC zone 7B garden. I think daylilies are overused by some, and that they are underappreciated by others. This one is nestled in front of a beautyberry bush, and was a passalong from another gardener.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

I love spring time plant and flower shopping! Thank you ⁦@lafarmbakery⁩ @GardenersSupply⁩ and ⁦@LoganTrd⁩ for a wonderful day in sunny NC, and for blooms to remember it!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

My first #daffodil started blooming in my zone 7B Chapel Hill NC garden this year on March 1. That’s compared to Feb 4 in 2020. Someone was sleeping in this year - but #spring has finally started in my yard!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Saw my first daffodil of 2021 in the yard of one of my Chapel Hill neighbors a few days ago. Spring is coming! #Goodbye2020 #SpringinNC

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Today’s butterfly in my Chapel Hill NC zone 7B is a red admiral. So glad to be seeing more butterflies recently!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Today’s butterfly sighting in my Chapel Hill NC garden (zone 7B) is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on tall verbena. My garden is usually full of these butterflies, but this is the first I’ve seen this year. So glad the butterflies have finally returned!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

There have been a dearth of butterflies in my Chapel Hill, NC (zone 7B) garden this year, despite my many pollinator-friendly/butterfly-host plants. So I was very happy to see this American Lady butterfly enjoying my agastache this morning - my first 2020 butterfly.

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

My first daffodil started blooming in my zone 7B Chapel Hill garden this year on February 4. That’s over a week earlier than last year. And I had neighbors who had blooms in late January. An early spring!

[Winston-Salem Journal @JournalNow]

N.C. Botanical Gardens provide quiet winter pleasures https://t.co/Id1ABK9hQW

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Blooms abound today in springtime Chapel Hill NC (zone 7B).

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

I may be walking and leaving footprints in the yellow pollen that is coating everything, but it sure is beautiful this week in Chapel Hill, North Carolina!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

I’m actually not a fan of the color orange. That said, even I have to admit that these brilliant orange tulips jump out against the blue-purple pansies underneath. They are so bright - it is like looking at the sun!

[Chapel Hill Gardener @chgardener]

Euphorbia wulfenii how I love thee! Your evergreen foliage enchants, and your bright chartreuse flower heads in early spring cause me to swoon. They perfectly echo the yellow of the nearby daffodils and make me weak in the knees. ❤️