I should just call this Seven on Saturday because I can’t seem to stick with six.  

The top photo shows my Japanese magnolia’s last blooms in front of a couple of azaleas in my backyard. When this magnolia matures, she will be lovely.

Gaudy azaleas are demanding our attention these days, and I’ll gladly turn my eyes toward them. Some areas of town have breathtakingly beautiful, hundred-year-old giant indica azaleas. I’ve had mine for around three decades.

I’ve lost three azaleas in this back corner, but a few young ones will fill in over the next few years. Other shrubs are waiting their turn to show off their blooms in the summer. The white azalea is Mrs. G.G. Gerbing, and the fuchsia-colored ones are Formosas.

This is the other back corner with a huge Pride of Mobile in full bloom. Unfortunately, we had some rainy, windy weather the past few days, so it has lost many of its blossoms. I’m glad I didn’t wait until this morning to take a picture of it. The ground has turned pink with littered flowers all around the shrub.

For comparison, you see the difference in color between the Fuchsia and Pride of Mobile.

I’ve been amazed at these three small Christmas Cheer kureme azaleas. They’ve been blooming since Christmas, and I thought they’d be finished way before now. But they kept producing buds until they have been in full bloom now.  

Here’s a shot of the west side of the yard. Left to right, you see Pride in the background, the red Christmas Cheer in the middle, and a Royal Velvet camellia in the foreground on the right.

I love the richness of this late-blooming camellia. I’m a little distressed that its leaves are yellowing, so I need to fix this problem. Any suggestions from you fellow gardeners?

March promises to continue a glorious spring along the Gulf Coast.

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.  –Song of Solomon 2:11-12