Daffodil Love

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Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (17 of 38)

Daffodil Love or A Taste of Spring

We have been enjoying a brief break in winter here in California. Sunshine and warm temps have come to give us a brief taste of Spring.
This is not unusual for mid February.  We typically see 2 weeks of what I call False Spring then we get hit once more with winter weather.
Though the garden around my house is just scruffy dirt still I knew I could take a jaunt 20 minutes down the road and find some flowers blooming.
Ironstone Winery keeps barrels and barrels of bulbs in their greenhouses and they rotate them out to line their walkways and entrance.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (28 of 38)They have other cool weather bloomers filling the barrels too, like pansies and ornamental cabbage.  The Paper Whites you see at the back left of this photo were so fragrant they overshadowed the few Hyacinths that were blooming.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (5 of 38)When I hopped out of my truck with camera in hand the temp gauge read 72 degrees.
Sigh….. perfect for moseying along.
It was a quiet day, not many tourists about, in fact I did not really see another soul until I was done.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (7 of 38)The birds were singing and chattering, you knew they were enjoying the warmth of the day.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (9 of 38)I don’t grow many daffodils in my garden as late snows crush them every year.
So I just enjoy coming to Ironstone and take in the varieties they pack into these barrels every year.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (16 of 38)These are not their real showstoppers, those will come out soon.
Then they will bring out the Tulips.
Barrels and barrels of tulips.

Here is a close up of the fragrant Paper Whites.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (19 of 38)
This one is different, such a short cup on it.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (4 of 38)Sometimes I am amazed at so many different color and styles of Daffodils.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (14 of 38)This next one is called Amber Gates.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (22 of 38)Don’t you just love the fluffy doubles.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (29 of 38)Mr. Kitty kept me company along the way.
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (37 of 38)I looked to see if they were selling any of their half barrels but not today.  I need to get some more but have yet to hit it right here.  They offer them by the front doors from time to time and they are less expensive to buy directly from the winery than at garden centers.
Oh well, it gives me a good excuse to make frequent trips by to see what may be newly blooming.
Happy Fake Spring!
Ironstone Flowers Feb 10, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com (27 of 38)signaturePamela_thumb.png

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15 Comments

  1. I am so glad you are enjoying it. I love my garden. That azalea woodland garden sounds wonderful. We have another month or so before the Dogwoods bloom here at home. Ironstone is a 20 minute drive for me straight down the mountain. They are a couple months ahead of us as far as gardening goes. It is so nice to be able to make a short drive to start enjoying all that is blooming.

  2. I live in SW Virginia and our daffodils have finished blooming, the candytuff is in full bloom and beautiful. I planted azaleas in my woodland gardens 27 years ago and they are beginning to bloom as are the dogwoods. What a beautiful world we share.

    Your site is a joy for me, thank you soooo much!

    Peggy

  3. Ironstone looks like a beautiful place! Where is it located? I love the cream daffodils with the apricot colored middle. All so pretty!

  4. Thank You so much for sharing, being upstate central New York area iI still have snow where the sun does not reach. I love daffodils they are so cute, but one of my favorites are Pansies cute little faces. By the time our flowers bloom the towns peoples flowers have bloom and are dying. we have a very short season and a yard of rocks mostly. It is nice to see flowers. I am hoping to get a raised small flower bed for a few flowers on the south side of my home. I do get tons of Daylilies and some Honey suckle by our stairs coming down into the yard. We have 75′ to over 100′ pine trees in our front yard and across the street that block most of the sun until mid summer and all of it mid winter in our front yard. Any hardy small plants can you think of that grow fast like from mid june through early sept.
    Thank You

  5. I hadn’t heard of Hawera daffodils either. They look very cute. I think I will look for bulbs in the fall.

  6. I haven’t heard of those, I will have to go look them up! The barrels work extremely well for people with sad soil and/or need their garden to be higher off the ground for whatever reason. 🙂

  7. The barrel planters work really well.
    What a beautiful range of daffodils too – I must admit that Hawera daffodils are my favourites though!

  8. I have trouble painting daffodils too. Mine just seem too flat for some reason. I will keep at it until I figure out what in the world I am doing wrong. 🙂 I love daffs too, they just make Spring.

  9. Yes, all of California needs more rain and we shall get some. (positive thoughts!) Sounds like I need to head down your way, my kind of temps!

  10. I don’t have a certain time of year I find the barrels, you just have to keep on checking. I heard Chatom has some whole barrels available, you will just need someone to cut them in half for you. If I spot some at another winery I will let you know.

  11. Though the weather has been warm here my garden is still just grubby dirt. Today I did notice some tulip tips popping up but they will soon be buried again. We can get the majority of our snow in March and April and since we need it desperately to break the 4 year drought here in California I won’t complain when they are covered with white once again. But I do know warm temps and beautiful sunshine will soon be here and I can really enjoy my garden again. I love wine (or whiskey) barrels for planters and want to get more for certain areas around here. Just have to hit the wineries just right.

  12. Anne Marie says:

    Here in the UK we have had a very mild (if wet) winter. The garden is very confused. All sorts of flowers are popping up thinking Spring has come. The other week we had a flurry of snow for two days with daffodils poking through. Very pretty. I adore daffodils. They are so cheerful. We have them the whole way down the driveway and they are so welcoming. I try painting them every spring but as soon as I put paint on the paper, I spoil what was a passable sketch!!!

  13. Love the photos of the daffodils. Our weather (near Palm Springs) has been April like. 90’s a couple days last week. Crossing our fingers for cooler and rain to return. My daffodils are as confused as many other plants because of this. They didn’t bloom last year either. Thanks again for the lovely photos.

  14. Hello,

    Beautiful photos.

    Since I live near Murphy’s (small world), I’d love to have more info. on the winery selling wine barrels, I.e. what time of year they tend to go on sale.

    Teri F.

  15. I live my whiskey barrels for flowers. I currently have 5 that I will be using once our weather breaks. It’s in the negative digits here 🙁 but our local grocery store had daffodils that could be purchased. I can’t wait for spring and enjoyed your photos today!

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