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The calender reads one and five, that means one thing to garden bloggers, it’s bloom day again. Doesn’t time just fly by? Let us go straight to what is blooming in the Fairegarden mid February 2009.
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Above, never before seen on the blog because it has bloomed only one time since purchased in bloom in 1997 without ever being captured on film or pixels, without further ado, we now present Paphiopedilum Denehurst ‘Surprise’ x Caucus. 
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Above, seen a couple of times before, here and here, Paphiopedilum ‘Quasky #3 x Quasky #4’.
Above, rounding out the orchid portion of this month’s show is Paphiopedilum Oriental Mystique ‘Shan’ x Paph. Alma Gaevert ‘Hageys’, catchy name don’t you think? Looking back at what was in flower for February bloom day 2008, Oriental Mystique is right on schedule.
Our first snowdrop, of the five bulbs planted last fall, appears to be a double or triple or quadruple. The sweet face is propped up by a small stone. She is a little shy about being the lone member of her group with a flower open.
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Above, Crocus chrysantha is having the best year ever. We credit the creeping thymes that have spread in the knot garden quadrants to hide the bulbs from the devil digging squirrels searching for walnuts that their addled brains have forgotten exactly where they buried them last fall.
Above, white moss phlox, Phlox subulata, has been blooming nearly all year with one or two blooms. Blue and a candy stripe pink phlox are also grown here, but will open in a month or so, when the white will be a carpet under orange tulips.
Above is the first of the grocer’s primroses to bloom each year. The blue begins the primrose parade and is followed by white, pink and yellow. Later the Primula veris will take the baton into summer.
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The warmer temperatures have allowed a few of the many violas to open pristine blossoms. Not to be confused with the mid May Viola Beauty Pageant, these are just the preliminaries.
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Even though several very large Erica darleyensis were removed from the heath/heather bed, there is still a scattering of them in various areas around and about.
A freckled face hellebore shows why we are awash in these H. orientalis. Do you see how many seeds are in the center surrounded by petals? Each one of those will make a baby plant in a year. Multiply the number of seeds seen above by the hundreds, if not more of the flowers on the plants that have spread far and wide and the mind is boggled by the possibilities.
Bringing up the rear is Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’. Her charms are so overwhelming this year that she earned her own post, click here to see it.
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Many thanks to the founder of the iconic Bloom Day, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, without whose wit and wisdom we would post photos of blooms willy nilly throughout the days and months with no coordination of the effort.
Frances
Fairegarden 
I love the close ups of your plants Frances. I bet the fairies in your garden are dancing with joy in their hearts with all of these blooms to cheer them.
Hiya Frances,
You’re up early 🙂
It will take ten mins for the pictures to download on my dial-up, so I might as well start writing first. I know they will be beautiful. And plentiful, ecause of where you are.
Sigh.
Ah, they are coming through: fancy having phlox out all year. and the white heather is lovely. This is a running comment 🙂
Oh, that hamamelis Diana. Wonderful.
Lovely heather again.
I never know what exactly are petals or sepals or tepals with Hellebores.
Nice one.
You have some wonderful pictures!
I do have several witch hazels too, but ‘Diane’ is only just opening her flower buds. (My favorite is ‘Jelena’, an orange one, and my 12 year old son just bought a ‘Rubin’, who’s red seems to be even more vibrant than ‘Diane’.)
Good grief: there are reams more. I am going to make some coffee whilst they download.
I have just recently started following your posts after swearing I could not add anyone else to my subscription list. It has become so time consuming (pleasantly so) keeping up with everybody, and I really like your photography. The close ups are my favorites. The Hellebore above looks like a porcelain bowl filled with an exotic fruit. Happy GBBD!
My my, ain’t they lovely. They do take a long time to load but they’re worth all the wait. Really, you have some beautiful flowers blooming in your garden. Why did you removed those Erica – they are attractive.
Frances, a little visit to your garden is the perfect way to start my day. Thanks.
Donna
Hi Donna, thanks. What a sweet thing to say! Speaking of sweet, thanks for all those valentine themed plants!
Frances
Won – der – ful!!! I am speechless.
Loving blooms, especially those orchids. They are actually kind of showing off a bit!
Thanks for joining in so faithfully each month!
Frances, Fantastic bloom day photos, stellar even! Like another of your commenters I am practically speechless;-) A really lovely post! Btw, I have a velvety viola that want to join your pageant! Have a great day! gail
Your pictures are always wonderful and I learn so much from you. I agree your crocuses are stunning! And the other plants too:)
Frances, I thought I was the only one rendered speechless by your photos. But reading the others’ comments….well, your amazing photography has that effect on us. All your blooms, especially the orchids…very, very beautiful. Happy GBBD.
Frances, Those photos are all so beautiful, as always. You may think I am nuts, but it looks like the orchids are smiling. They are gorgeous and seem to be ‘happy’. Happy Bloom Day.
Janet
Diane is more beautiful every time you post her! Gorgeous photos, Frances. The close-ups really show the detail of all these blooms. So much blooming in your garden already; we’re still weeks away up North.
Just stunning blooms today Frances. You got some wonderful closeups. I love the Hellebore with her purple freckles. Happy GBBD!
I love those orchids, but my favorite as always are the crocuses. I’ve never gotten them to grow in my garden since the squirrels always dig them up. Maybe I should plant them under by creeping thyme?
Frances, I am impressed! You truly have a February garden! Beautiful pics and soooo much color. Lucky you!
Honestly Frances, you should put a rated XXX at the top of your posts! Your photos are so sexy, you need to prepare us! Absolutely gorgeous!
I’m on dial up too Frances ~ I always skip right to the comments and amuse myself by reading those while your beautiful photos download! and you do have some beauties today. Did you take the orchids out for photography purposes? There can be no way it’s warm enough for them to be living outdoors this time of year, can there?? How exciting to have Paphiopedilum Denehurst ‘Surprise’ x Caucus bloom for only the second time. I love it ~ I bet you are beyond thrilled. Of course, I like it when you post about your orchids, I am a “wannabe” orchid grower. All the orchids pictured look like ‘Lady Slippers’ to me (that we grew up finding in the woods near our home on the East Coast)?? Now to the outdoor bulbs/plants ~ that hellebore photo is spectacular. You knocked yourself out with that one. I MUST try adding them again. I always love crocus, because they are first to bloom here so how could you not like them? Sounds like you’re on to something by planting them with the thyme. The frilly snowdrop is quite charming too. I wish there was something blooming outside in my zone but by next month, there will be. I’ll just live vicariously thru you all in the warmer zones until then. 🙂 Great GBBD post Frances. Can’t wait to see those primula veris!!
I love the photos. It’s been a very long time since I last visited and although I can’t be sure (memory blockage) it looks like you’ve redesigned the blog to post larger images. I’ve got to love ya for that since it’s the photos that really hook me.
I’ve had a hard time remembering all the places I visited last winter. It was great to see you left a comment for Ratty – it rang my bell and I came right over.
They’re all simply stunning, Frances, as we’ve come to expect from a vist to Fairegarden. Thank you so much for sharing these images. But you could have posted only that first orchid and still made my day. I wish we could get a winter-hardy version of that glorious chartreuse!
-Nan
What a wonderful variety of flowers you’ve got going on down there! I can’t wait until I get some flowers to bloom up here. My lawn patches that were showing through just a few days ago are covered with snow once again. I guess it’s kind of fun to look at animal prints in the snow, but your blooms are much better.
Your closeup photos always pack a whallop. I love opening your blog knowing there is going to be something big and dramatic. The speckled Hellebore was a treat to see up close. I have some double snowdrops and they definitely are sweet. Great GBBD post!
Beautiful blooms, Frances. I think I may have started drooling a little as I viewed the orchid photos. Your crocus are delightful!
Frances, your close-ups are simply marvellous! I’ve been looking at your photos again and again, and they are incredible.
Katarina
Frances, as always you have gorgeous photos of gorgeous plants. And as always, I am in awe, in particular, of your heathers! But guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat? I got unexpected money, enough to buy two shrubs, the witch hazel ‘Diane’ (I was going to go for “Arnold’s promise’ but was convinced otherwise with your lovely photos of Diane) and chokeberry (the one native to my area is Aronia arbutifolia). Yippee!!!! Now I just have to wait for spring. (After all the snow melted here, we got two more inches overnight Fri-Sat. But the trees look so nice!)
Oh, I’m speachless! How wonderful pictures you’re showing today… / gittan
You have lots blooming! Your orchids are gorgeous and the crocus are so pretty! Why don’t I ever remember to plant crocus?
Frances:
Simply stunning! The orchids make my heart quiver! I love the snowdrop…. please follow up with her progress…. imagine a triple or quad…. sound like I’m chanelling my figure skating days! Spectacular! I am green with envy… we’re expecting another 10-15cm of snow by the end of next week! I suppose I could sculpt something out of snow! I adore ‘Diane’ but don’t have the room. I planted a Corylopsis spicata, and can see the swelling of buds… keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for walking us through your pre-springtime garden!
Your solution for thwarting the rotten squirrels from digging up the Crocuses is great. Maybe I should plant some Thyme. Your Hellebore is very pretty. I can’t wait for mine to start blooming.
Lovely! I am on the hunt for hellebores.
Fabulous photos, Frances!
The orchids almost look other worldly.
Spring is almost here 🙂
Karrita
Hi Frances – what a lovely selection you have this month 🙂
I particularly like your idea about using the thyme to ‘hide’ your crocuses from the squirrels. Very neat indeed and yet another use for that most valuable of herbs 🙂
Just beautiful Frances! Your flowers look so unique the way you have photoed them.
Wow, I’m impressed that you kept an orchid that never bloomed once in 11 years! That proves that gardeners have incredible patience. Love that maroon-speckled hellebore, I’ve seen it on a few posts today and think I need to get one or a few. Hooray for signs of spring! And for your witch hazel – mine is still in glorious bloom too, it has given me so much joy this winter.
So many lovely winter blooms! Your orchids aren’t really blooming outdoors are they? Was that just a camera trick? They remind me so much of jack-in-the-pulpit, I’m assuming they are from the same family.
I have only one word to describe those photos: PHENOMENAL! I can’t believe how beautiful those all came out.
Brenda
Hi Frances, I just commented on all your pictures; and what happened poor me forgot to put my name and whoosh it went into cyberspace to float around in the blue telling the stars and the moon how enchanting your garden is. Well, this time short and sweet, your flowers are wonderful!.
All the flowers are awesome, but the snowdrop is my favourite of all–simple, complex, fragrant and happy. I can smell it from here. Happy Bloom Day indeed!
Francis, I know I have said this before, I just love your photography.
Frances — Those photos and blooms are stunning. The orchids are so impressive, I am just in awe that you can grow them and get them to bloom and then take such amazing pictures of them to share with us. Thanks – and Happy Bloom Day~
Very nice! Those macro shots look great. This fall I have to get some crocuses. We used to have a few then we moved and they got left behind. You can tell spring is knocking on the door!
Ah, the Crocus chrysantha is lovely. Diane is too!
these blooms are so exquisite. wonderful shots. i love the crocuses too. some of those amazing flowers look more like little monsters.so interesting.
Well we certainly couldn’t have posting photos of blooms willy nilly throughout the days and months with no coordination of the effort. That would be terrible. Ha ha.
My that is some fancy Snowdrop you have and you grow orchids better than I ever did in Hawaii. Of course I tended to just toss them in some corner and forget them.
I spied all kinds baby hellebores when I was cleaning the old foliage at client #1’s and thought, maybe I should move those some where.
I need to send you my orchid so you can make it bloom!
Gah! I feel like such a hack whenever I come here and see your AMAZING pictures! LOL. Your orchids are so pretty. Seems like the nomenclature on that first one is pretty accurate-‘Surprise’! That close-up of your Quasky makes it look like it is laughing. The Oriental Mystique does a classy impression of a kiwi. Love them all!
Beath taking vclose ups Frances, you are a true pro. Did you get a new camera? xoxo Tyra
Those orchids are x-rated with their lusty blooms and slick appearance. You are the Georgia O’Keefe of photography!
What beautiful pictures, thanks so much for sharing. And here I was so excited about my solo quince blooming. 🙂 Looks like I’d better get busy and plant more bulbs!
Your closeups are fantastic. I can’t say which of all of them I like best! I’m surprised at how many lovely things you have blooming now. Although I guess I shouldn’t be. Interesting about the crocus staying put because of your creeping thyme. Good idea about how to stop those little devil squirrels. Question about your orchids – do you fertilize them and if so, how often? And all year or just part of the year?
Great post as usual Frances!
Wow…! I’m (almost) speechless! Nice, nice… 🙂
From the exotic orchids to the diminutive violas, Your February blooms are lovely to see, Frances. Oh for a Helleborus that would sew so many seeds! Oh for any Helleborus at all that would bloom! I’m waiting to see if mine will make it through the winter. It’s a tiny plany and covered with mulch at the moment.
Frances, I am agog (is the the right word? LOL) Those orchids are jaw droppingly beautiful. Ditto for the snowdrop. Simply stunning.
Frances,
If I were a bee, I’d climb inside all of those beautiful blooms!
Talk about close encounters! Those are great photos.
Cameron
A lovely and wonder filled bloom day at your house Frances. I’ve seen some orchids I never saw before. Gotta love bloom day.~~Dee
Beautiful, beautiful blooms Frances! The orchids are stunning, and the hellebore is fantastic. Everything is beautiful. You witch hazel lovers are about to push me over the edge! They are pricey, but so beautiful.
Lot of BIG STUFF goin’ on, Frances … enjoy!
I think I like your sweet snowdrop best of all, Frances! They are such a gentle flower. What lovely photos, as always.
I just saw your response and wanted to clarify. My orchid is not growing in the ground-it is tropical here, and I do have a fairly green thumb, but things aren’t quite that paradise-y in my yard! It is in a pot and I was busy moving it around the yard trying to find a good backdrop for it and preparing to lie down on the sidewalk in my robe when the sprinklers came on! LOL.