Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms—Two-toned Daffodils, Pluot "Dapple Dandy," Ceanothus "Ray Hartman" 2017

In the past couple of weeks, spring has sprung around here. On February 16, the pluot "Dapple Dandy" started to bloom. With heavy rains it went into a state of suspended animation shortly afterward, but it's in full bloom now. I'm hoping the rain won't have reduced the crop. The fruit is delicious, and rain during bloom can cause poor fruit set. February 19 brought the first blossoms on the two-toned daffodils in the front garden. The ceanothus "Ray Hartman" began blooming the following day, on March 20.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms—Pink Flowering Plum, Golden Currant, "Dapple Dandy" Pluot

I belatedly report on some of the plants that have recently started blooming in the garden. February 5 brought the first blooms this year on the pink flowering plum behind the house (Prunus blireana) on the golden currant bush (Ribes aureum). The pluot "Dapple Dandy" (top) began blooming on February 11 this year.

"Dapple Dandy" bloomed on February 5, 15, 4, 2, 23, and 3 in 2009 to 2014, so a first bloom date of February 11 is neither early nor late.

The plum has bloomed on February 17, 11, 2, and 15 in past years, so February 5 is on the early side but within the normal range.

The golden currant has bloomed as early as February 10 (in 2011) and as late as March 5 (2013), so a first bloom date of February 5 is somewhat earlier than usual.