Happy March sweet friends! Can you believe it is only twenty days and spring will officially begin? I think most of us are ready to welcome the new season with open arms! Sometimes March can bring bad weather to our Appalachian Foothills. The ever dreaded tornadoes are most prevalent in the months of March and April. I will never forget the worst snow storm in my lifetime that occurred on March 12, 1993. We had over a foot of snow at our house with drifts of four to five feet. We were without power and water for six days. I have certainly felt for our Southern neighbors who recently experienced snow, ice, and outages.
“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
Proverbs 16:24
Being it is the first Monday of the month, welcome to Monday Morning Blooms with my blogging friends. We are missing our sweet Shirley at Housepitality Designs. She is taking care of her precious ninety five year old mom who is staying with her. Shirley will be back with us as soon as she can.
I am back in my little sanctuary, Sunshine Cottage, for a little bit of gardening!
You will find the inspiring floral links for Lidy and Mary at the bottom of this post.
We had a mixed bag of weather last week…beautiful mild and sunny days and cloudy days with rain. I set up a mini garden of bulbs on the butcher block counter in the Sunshine Cottage. I love the early morning sun as it pours in the window over the counter.
As I opened the door, I was overtaken by the heavenly fragrance of the hyacinths! The hand-made rustic basket was found at an arts and crafts show a couple of years ago.
A small bird nest with faux eggs was placed within the moss in the basket. The birds have been so active around the garden over the past couple of weeks. The blue birds are visiting their boxes!
A green and white checked rug was placed on the butcher block for springtime color. Gardening gloves, another bird’s nest under a cloche, and gardening books join the spring bulbs for a mini garden vignette!
A wood box holds purple hyacinths, tulips (waiting to open) and a tropical fern. All gardens are subject to insects, but a welcome one is the ladybug. If you look closely you will see one crawling above the window sill. The miniature daffodils are almost spent, they looked wonderful when I picked them up at the grocery store, but before I could photograph they were looking sad. I started to remove them, but then I thought this is the rhythm of a garden. As one flower is spent, another is in full bloom, and others are budding and ready to bloom!
An orchid made a quick move from the kitchen to the cottage for a little more interest.
A Portmeirion “botanic garden” dinner plate adds more flowers to the garden!
I have a large collection of little jewel boxes…the blue jay seems happy to be among the moss and hyacinths!
I can’t choose a favorite spring flower, I love them all. Do you have a favorite?
You will definitely want to visit Lidy and Mary for beautiful floral inspiration. Just click on their links below.
Lidy ~ FrenchGardenHouse
Mary ~ Home Is Where The Boat Is
Thank you for your visits and gracious comments. Wishing you a wonderful week!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Imparting Grace,Life and Linda
Pam, Your Sunshine Cottage is aptly named with the sun streaming in your window and highlighting your blooms and garden books! If spring had a fragrance, it would be hyacinths! It’s my favorite early spring flower and I always look forward to picking up a pot or two to enjoy indoors and then planting them in the garden when they are spent. I love your pretty blooms in your tree bark and wood boxes paired with moss, and the addition of your jeweled bird box and bird nest is so sweet. It’s always a treat to join you for some flower therapy, especially on this rainy Monday! Happy March ♥
Thank you Mary. We have another gray and rainy day. We had high winds and torrential rain in the early hours of yesterday. I look forward to sunshine and spring!
To start with I love reading the words from Proverbs you shared. I will write that down to share with others. All of your flowers looks so lovingly displayed and cared for. I love the cloche and have saved some to my Pinterest board, Flower My World. Thank you for a pretty spring morning.
Thank you so much Ruthie for your sweet words. Wishing you a wonderful week!
How lovely your mini garden of spring bulbs are in your Sunshine Cottage. I also have been enjoying hyacinths the last few weeks. They do have a heavenly fragrance.
What a delight your jeweled box collection must be. I adore the blue jay perched on the rustic basket of hyacinths. You must show us your collection sometime.
Spring bulbs, birds nests, and gardening books enthrall me. How we could talk for hours.
I have been anticipating spring quickly but as your story about your March 12th snow in 1993 shows only the Lord knows His plans.I’m thinking we may have gotten snow that same time frame and we lost power too. I cooked pancakes on outside on our gas grill. Mike was in Germany with the army.
Have a blessed week.
Bonnie, we could talk for hours about books, gardening, the beauty of God’s creation! Hopefully we can meet up once again! I didn’t know you and Mike were apart while he served in the army!
Beautiful collections of lovely early blooms. Cant wait until we have some in our yard!
Thank you Linda. Wishing you a lovely week!
Such beautiful spring flowers! I can smell the hyacinths from here!
Thanks so much Penny!
I love hyacinths too, such sweet fragrance. Mine are still just peeking up leaves, no flowers yet.
Thank you Carole.
It looks like Spring has arrived in the Sunshine Cottage. Your spring flowers look so beautiful in the wooden box and bark container. It is put together so beautifully. We had spring temperatures a few days last week but rain again this morning. You have inspired me to make my own spring vignette. I love the hyacinths so much. Along with daffodils and tulips, they speak Spring to me. Have a very blessed week.
Thank you Dianne for your sweet comments. Be sure to get hyacinths, their fragrance says spring!
This is my first visit to your site…Your display is wonderful!
My favorite spring floral visitor is the grape hyacinth
They may not be as impressive as other bulbs that I also love such as tulips and daffodils but they are so fragrant and return “with friends and family” every year. Plants six this year you can expect extras next year!
I also love that I can transplant them to indoor arrangements to enjoy their charm up close and return then later to the outdoors without harm. Thank you for sharing your creative design!
Welcome Patricia. I am so thrilled that you visited and do hope you will come back often. I also love the grape hyacinth. Thank you for your warm comments!
I love all Spring flowers but my favorite is the Daffodil. What a pretty arrangement you have in your sweet cottage. Just looking at the posts of yours and your friends cheers me. Thank you.
Thanks Nancy. I am so glad we brought a little cheer. Wishing you a blessed week!
This is all so beautiful but especially love the wooden and log containers for the hyacinths. I think one of the first things I will get when I go to a store soon will be bulb gardens. I’m longing for those colors of spring in the house!
Thank you Jeanie. Have a lovely week!
I think this display is one of my favorites. I love Sunshine Cottage!
Thank you for your sweet comment, Ellen. Wishing you a lovely week!
Good morning, Pam! This is such a lovely display to welcome March. Your vignette is so beautiful with all of the variety of pretty spring flowers. They go perfectly in the Sunshine Cottage. I hope you have a most blessed day, my dear friend!
Thanks so much Shannon. Wishing you a love week sweet friend!
Your Sunshine Cottage is really taking center stage this month with its display of fresh spring blooms, Pam! My favorite spring color combinations are yellow and purple, and hyacinths and daffodils make me overjoyed with spring vibes. They are just wonderful! Squirrels seem to always have their way with tulips in my landscape, but I still love their look, especially when en masse. I’m sure you’ll find spots for all these plants in your garden after the flowers are spent. What a way to wake up to March! We are having flooding and mudslides throughout our region today. It’s a little scary, and I would covet your prayers for family in harm’s way. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Rita. I will be praying for your family and all those in harm’s way.
I was awake most of last night with storms that blew through. The winds were strong and the rain was torrential. We have flooding possibilities in our city, we do have a river that runs through. We are on very high ground, but our yard is mush because of so much rain.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Pam, what a beautiful spot to celebrate the coming of spring! Your bulbs are just glorious, what a happy arrangements. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and orchids, each a treasure in their own right. What a joyful sight to welcome you into your sweet Sunshine Cottage, Your wood containers are perfect for the beauty, and your darling bird box fits right in. It’s always a blessing to join you on our Monday Morning Blooms! xo Lidy
Thank you Lidy. It is a dark and rainy Tuesday, but I know spring is coming. Wishing you a lovely day!
Pam, Your Sunshine Cottage is a wonderful breath of spring! Your rustic basket is beautiful with the colorful hyacinth, moss and pretty bluebird. The wooden box is filled with such fragrant beauty also. Your setting is truly a picture and so calming. Love it! Truly beautiful! We had storms and approximately 3″ of rain yesterday. Fortunately, no tornadoes but flooding is happening. Our yard is a soggy mess with fallen limbs spread about from all the snow last week and the rain this week. Thankfully though it can be cleaned up when it dries out. So many others are far worse off and we’re praying for their recovery. Have a wonderful week! Clara ❤️
Thank you dear Clara. Your area has had some tough weather over the past few weeks. We had storms on Sunday night, but not tornadoes, high winds and torrential rain. I think we could all use a week of sun and drying conditions. Have a wonderful Tuesday ♥️
Oh Pam you have captured Spring in the Sunshine cottage! I love the green and white rug, the texture and colors really looks wonderful with your Spring blooms! Tulips are my favorite Spring flower, but of course I love them all…I remember that snowstorm, yikes I don’t want to experience that again! Have a wonderful week.
Jenna
Thank you Jenna. Spring flowers make me happy!
So sweet Pam. Green is my favorite color. Used to be pink then yellow. But to be honest the color green that Spring brings has become my most favorite color. I guess it’s because we have such a long Winter. Hope your area escapes those storms that come this time of year.
Thank you Alice. I love seeing all the green return after winter!
Pam, what a treat to be inside the Sunshine Cottage, sunshine streaming in, and those gorgeous blooming bulbs. I can smell the hyacinths! My garden is a wasteland after our historic winter weather, so I’ve bought potted bulbs to enjoy about here in the house and a few containers out on the terrace. Beautiful post!
Thank you Sarah. I do hope your garden returns to its beauty!
Wow, Pam. Those photos are worthy of House & Garden magazine. Absolutely lovely! (You’ve got a knack for decorating/staging, that’s for sure!)
Nancy, your comments are so sweet. Have a lovely Tuesday!
Amazing! How breathtaking your mini Garden is! Best wishes!
Thanks Maristella. Wishing you a wonderful week!
Pam, your mini-garden is beautiful and I can only imagine how lovely it smells. Enjoy those gorgeous flowers – I know I am from afar. Have a lovely day!
Thank you for your sweet comments, Kim. The cottage does smell heavenly. Wishing you a beautiful Tuesday!
Good morning, Pam. Your cottage is bursting with spring – makes me smile. I love the little nest under the cloche on the Spode plates. I would love to sit with you in your sweet retreat and enjoy your company and hear all about your garden. Enjoy your week, my friend.
Thank you Sandra. It would be so wonderful to sit down and visit. We would have much to talk about!
Beautiful mini garden. Sunshine Cottage is always so bright and cheery. Love seeing the pretty blooms on a sunny day. With spring around the corner, I think we are all ready. The cloche is so sweet with the little bird’s nest. Happy week ahead Pam.
Your spring post brought back memories of our years in New England and how much I looked forward to that beautiful season after so many months of cold and snow. Your mini garden is lovely and I do remember the heavenly fragrance of the hyacinths even in the open air.
How lovely! Ooh I’d like to walk in and smell the hyacinths! Your vignette is wonderful, love the combo of flowers you chose! I can’t decide which is my favorite, I think they all are!
I was concerned that maybe Shirley’s health was the cause of her absence, so was relieved to find that she is caring for her mother. I know how much work that requires and trust the Lord will bless and give her strength. Your beautiful arrangement/vignette in Sunshine Cottage is just gorgeous. I, too, noticed how beautiful the sunlight streams through that window. Sunliight like that always makes me think of my dear Mom. Her birthday was the other day, and I am missing her extra right now. God bless you!
Thinking of you. Life is never the same without our moms. Thank you Cheryl and may God bless you!
Hi,Pam…Please,if you could,pray for my father…Thank you very much.
Yes, I will be praying. Sending hugs
Just got off of a few busy days of a full plate, but could not miss thanking you for the restful visit
to sunshine cottage… you brought Springtime into our lives and provided a place of respite,
bless you. The TN sun is shining strong and i imagine we are all ready to bid farewell to a difficult Winter and to store our concerns away with the Winter wardrobe and cold remedies.
Upward and onward…..
Thanks so much, Mary.
What a delightful Spring display Pam! As we have entered our autumn with a drop in temperature, it’s lovely to see some Spring colors 😀
Bless you sweet friend,
Jennifer
Thanks so much, Jennifer. I love spring, but autumn is my favorite season! Blessing you my friend!
Love, love, love your mini Spring Garden in the Cottage. I am loving the many different textures in the planters..the wood, the bark, the moss…all so beautiful together…I know what you mean about the daffodils .. that happened to me; however, I love that you left the wilted ones on the stems showing us how beautiful even the spent blossoms can be! Pam, it must be so lovely to spend time in that sweet Sunshine Cottage and to adorn it with Spring flowers just fills the room with more sunshine and the fragrance has to be incredible. I am hoping my hyacinths pop up this Spring…my hubby planted some for me prior to us moving in. I know the Ground Hog predicted more weeks of Winter, but I think Mother Nature is going to over ride it and give us an earlier Spring. Have a wonderful week Pam!!
Thank you for your sweet comments. Miss you my friend!
This is such a lovely way to bring spring indoors. Your photos are so bright that is making me itch to get my fingers on the ground (instead of the snow we have) and get going with gardening. 🙂
Thanks so much, Angie. Hopefully spring will arrive soon and the snow will be gone!