Spring officially arrived in the Northern Hemisphere today, but you wouldn’t know it by the weather. An insufferable heat wave landed in San Jose on Monday, with temperatures all week ranging from 89 to 92F, nearly 25 degrees above seasonal norms. I’m looking forward to cooler days starting tomorrow.
It’s hard to gauge how the garden will react long-term. The majority of our garden is native or drought-tolerant, but heat waves in March are new. We’re constantly adapting.
Gardens are a thing of beauty this time of year, and a treat for all the senses. I’m grateful for this patch of earth.
Freesias are growing along the walkway to the front deck, en masse, with others dotting the path to our garden bench and tucked here and there. One of the bulbs planted itself under the Russian sage, and now stands taller than any I’ve seen. I wish you could see it at dusk with the last of the sun streaming through. The photo doesn’t do it justice.
Sweet peas have painted the garden in gorgeous pastels, while the nasturtiums add pops of bright red, orange, and yellow. It’s always hard to thin some of the interlopers, but I needed to make room for things to come.
Mike helped me place netting and garden stakes along the curb to keep the sweet peas off the sidewalk. The vines rapid growth ads to the wafting scents in the air. Of all the flowers I’ve grown over the years, those lovely, fragrant, soft-petaled sweet peas charm passers-by. They evoke a gentle nostalgia.
When I walked up the driveway this morning, I noticed the red carnation already in bloom, with the other two plants soon to follow. I had never seen carnations, officially known as Dianthus caryophyllus, for sale at a nursery before, so these additions two seasons ago to the front garden are a delight.
I forget how spectacular this candy-cane azalea is this time of year. You have to walk around the side of the house to see it, nestled against the wall of our garage. I trim the azalea once a year after it blooms to keep it from over-taking the space. It remains healthy, but instead of a round shape, it’s wide and flat.
I gave the lemon tree a hard prune last year as it was overdue. My research indicated that the tree would skip a year before bearing fruit again, but it otherwise looks healthy.
Next week we’re having a new roof installed, so fingers crossed that the demolition of the current one goes well. They should be tossing the debris off the front of the roof into a bin in the driveway, and not sending old shingles into the garden. I might be “holding my breath” for a week.
I hope you and yours are doing well, and finding some light and joy.
Gardening Nirvana 
Oh, fires of hell! Weather like you’re having is pretty insane. Hope it normalizes soon and your cool season plants don’t fry too badly. :(
Good luck with the roofers. When we had ours done a few years ago, they kindly draped mesh tarps out past my foundation plantings so the shingles would slide down and out, away from the beds. Most people don’t want their plantings ruined!
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I burst out laughing, Eliza. Yes “fires of hell” just about covers it. That kind of heat is draining, for me and the garden. We’ve dropped into the low eighties, so still 15 degrees above normal. It’s not as brutal though as the ninties.
The roofing is under way, and they did just as you said and draped most of the plants. I’ve been picking up random roof staples and nails after hours so that they don’t end up in a car tire or a misplaced paw (cat or dog). It will be so nice when it’s done.
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It’s all looking gorgeous
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Thank you, Dawn. It’s a treat for the senses this time of year.
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You have so many flowers while mine are only just starting! I have sown some sweet peas for the first time in years – I love the blooms but somehow never got round to growing them :D
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San Jose is semi-arid with a long growing season. I didn’t fully appreciate that until I started blogging and following gardeners around the world. I’m glad you’ll have sweet peas in your garden this year, and if your garden is like mine, I let them go to seed and they sow themselves the following year.
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That is a good plan! Thank you.
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Absolutely beautiful! What a delight your spring garden is. But so very sorry about the heat. Scary! Glad the temps are forecasted to drop.
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Thank you, Laurie. I’m grateful daily for my beautiful patch of earth. The heatwave was draining.
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Your garden is gorgeous and I guess it smells lovely too. Love the sweet peas and freesias, my favorites. Think we are all going to worry about the weather no matter where we live, it is so unpredictable.
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I’m still anonymous but I always visit :)
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Thank you for visiting, today and always.
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Thank you! Sweet peas and freesias are equally fragrant and beautiful. They lift me spirits. It’s nice to hear that they are your favorites as well.
The unpredictability of the weather is unnerving. I hope we’re not too late in the race to save our planet.
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Your garden looks very lovely in spite of those appallingly high spring temperatures.
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Thank you, Tommy. Gardening brings me great pleasure. I inherited my green thumb from my dad. He was a horticulturist by trade, studying in London, later working on a tea plantation in India, and eventually immigrating to Canada where he met my mother. They had a pair of nurseries there before we were born. It was a lifetime ago.
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Your garden look amazing! Your place looks so loved and well takened cared of. A heat wave in March is scary!
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Thank you, Maria. It looks and smells wonderful this time of year, but yes, the heat is concerning. This week is cooler, but still 15 degrees hotter than it should be. They’re promising rain next week. Fingers crossed it materializes.
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Your garden looks beautiful Alys. And it must smell divine too, with Freesias, Dianthus AND sweet peas! 😁Mmmm! The Azalea is really pretty as well.
Hope the weather cools down for you and your plants, and that the roofing job goes well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too. 🤗
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Cathy, the scents are divine. I find myself lifting my nose to the air, trying to capture it all. What are your scented favorites in your garden this spring?
The roof is coming along. They may even finish today. It’s been cooler this week, but still 15 degrees above norms and dry. How about you?
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I love the scent of Hyacinths in my spring garden Alys… they are just starting to open but we need some warm weather to get the scent to carry…. it is trying to sleet and snow today though! Hope the roof is done. 😁
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I very much enjoyed this garden tour and those candy cane azaleas are so pretty! Everything is pretty!! I’d happily stroll by your home every night if I could just to see the happy beauty!
Good luck with the roof!
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And I would happily enjoy your company.
Those azaleas are really something else.
The roof is underway (the demo at least).
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Alys, hope your temperatures are more bearable now. Your flowers are such effusive bloomers, full of joy. The Freesias are captivating.
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I hope all goes well with the new roof and what wonderful pictures from your garden celebrating Spring :-)
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Thank you, Tierney! The roof is done, finished two days before our brief rain.
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I think reading your posts and forgetting to comment is a new normal for me. I get so excited seeing all your flowers and green along with the happy LFL that I forget to tell you how it just sends me off into happy land. I’m seriously distracted this month and hope to send a note soon to explain. I know you understand with your life on full speed too. I do hope the roofing went better than expected. Love and hugs, M
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