Spring has Sprung in South Carolina

Last week I returned home from a week-long trip, and my garden has exploded with spring blooms and fresh green foliage on the trees. My trip was to the beach and a visit to Brookgreen Garden, more about that in another post. First let's see my favorite views in my garden.

As you come down my driveway you will see six Spirea x vanhoutei in bloom. Beyond is a mature dogwood, Cornus florida. Closer to the house is a fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus. White flowers in many forms dot the driveway.

The view from the front door might be my favorite. The weeping redbud, Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls' is just starting to leaf out with its burgundy leaves. A little closer to the door is a Loropetalum chinese 'Purple Pixie' (I got it when I went to my first Fling in Asheville!!). Planted around the loropetalum are Bletilla striata 'Big Bob' and Dianthus- maybe Firewitch?.  From left to right beyond the redbud is an unamed Japanese maple, a very large tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans, on the corner of the shed, an unknown Viburnum, a pink dogwood, a burgundy redbud, and another Japanese maple, Acer palmatum 'Butterfly'.

I was happy we got a little bit of rain, love the raindrops on the Dianthus. Their clove fragrance is wonderful!

In the lot where our bee hives are placed are a handful of Paw paws. This is not the Asimina triloba but Asimina parviflora, a small fruited Paw paw. See the tiny flowers?

In the backyard one of the native azaleas is blooming, this one is 'Admiral Semmes'. The deer have not totally eaten this one, thank goodness. 

I think this is the first time this Barrenwort has bloomed. Epimedium x rubrum. The Epimedium x vericolor 'Sulphureum' bloomed earlier in March. There is a third one in the woodland garden, somewhere, but it may not be with us any longer.

The Solomon's Seal is up and blooming. I have some native ones that appear every so often, these are not native. Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum 'Variegatum'

The Pieris japonica 'Cavatine' is doing well, at least two of the three. One had a limb fall on it, breaking a third of the shrub apart. The bumble bees love this shrub!

There are three different Serissa foetida in my garden, a double, a single, and a single with variegated leaves.  Here are two of them. It is a nice small shrub, semi-evergreen. The blooms are about the size of my thumbnail. 

Another Epimedium, Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel' is thriving in my side yard. Love those spidery blooms.

The Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia, is blooming, making the hummingbirds happy as well as the Hummingbird moths. I brought two seedlings with me from Seaford when we moved here. One is doing better than the other, though both are about ten feet tall. 

Finally, Amsonia x 'Seaford Skies' is blooming and it is before I was able to cut back last year's stems, so it will be a little messy this year. Oh well. 

This is just a portion of what was open in my garden when I came home. It has been an explosion of spring. I am enjoying every corner of the garden as more and more plants come alive. How's your garden? Are you under snow or well into spring?

©Copyright 2026 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet, The Queen of Seaford.

It's The Little Things

Spring has finally sprung here in South Carolina. Each day is an adventure in the garden. I enjoy seeing what is coming back from our harder than usual winter. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one step back as a pampered plant finally shows signs of growth and then we get another overnight freeze. I have new plants I am watching and established babies that I celebrate their reappearance. 
A new plant from last year's native plant sale- Yellowroot, Xanthorhiza simplicissima is blooming and thriving...a great reason for choosing native plants.

I love fragrant plants in the garden and this Viburnum is one that really shines! Viburnum x carlcephalum had lots of blooms this year. Last year there were five, the year before only one! The fragrance is carried on the breeze and quite lovely.

Here is a native plant in the woods that I tied a ribbon to, a Pawpaw! Asimina triloba Last year it had a few fruit on it but with the drought conditions they dried up and fell off. 

Sweet little blooms under the steps to the deck. Fringed Bleeding Heart Dicentra 'Luxuriant'- a lucky Costco buy a number of years ago. 

When we moved here eight years ago, I carried two seedlings from the Red Buckeye tree in the Learning Garden in Virginia. I planted seeds the year before we moved and the tiny trees were less than a foot tall when I planted them here. This year they are well over six feet tall and full of blooms!

Aesculus pavia

Emerging blooms

Open blooms, ready for the Hummingbirds!

Every spring I find beauty in each and every fern as it unfurls its fronds. The fern below is a Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis

I have dry shade. I have been wanting some Epimedium as they thrive in such conditions. Last spring I planted one and then this past fall I planted another. The one from a year ago is going gangbusters.

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’

Today I finally saw some growth on the second one! Boy did that take a long time! A quick photo, a bit less than perfect.

Epimedium rubrum

 Two little white blooms, similar in appearance, make me smile. One a white Muscari and the other Lily of the Valley. 

Muscari armeniacum Alba 

Convallaria majalis, Lily of the Valley

Amsonia putting on a great show this spring. I know some people aren't fond of this native grass. They call the blooms as exciting as skim milk. (Believe that is a close quote, you know who you are!) I like this plant! Amsonia x 'Seaford Skies'

Buds

Blooms!

 Little surprises in the woods make me smile. I have a number of places on the property that this native orchid pops up. Tipularia discolor, Cranefly Orchid. Easily identified by the purple underside of the leaf.

What is my best little find this spring? The native plant sale last year had Bottlebrush Buckeyes, and I bought one. I was so thrilled to find one. I planted it in what I thought was a good spot. As mentioned above, we had a dry spell this past summer. I was afraid it died. The leaves dropped off last summer and I was not optimistic.....then on one of my walks through the garden last month I checked the little stick that remained in the ground.....

It's alive!!!

Aesculus parviflora

What are some of the little things in your garden that make you smile?

©Copyright 2018 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.