Monthly Meme (Garden Bloggers Bloom Day)

We have passed the halfway mark in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  Today it is time for the letter M.  My theme is America the Beautiful and today I feature - well, my yard.

Each 15th of the month, there is a monthly meme that gardeners all over the world participate in:  Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  I've been participating since mid 2011 - each and every month.  Sneakily, I've been led to create an online garden journal. Look up posts on my blog tagged "Garden Bloggers Bloom Day" and you'll see.

Hosted by an Indiana blog, May Dreams Gardens, the purpose of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is for the blogger to show what is blooming in their garden - or, house or apartment.  During the winter months, it can be a challenge for those like me who live in four season zones.  And, our winters seem to last forever.

May Dream's Indiana garden is in full spring bloom.

And, in my zone 5b garden near Johnson City, New York, it is SPRING.  Finally, I can show you flowers. Actual. Outdoor. Flowers.

On April 13, my first crocus bloomed.  Today, others in my lawn will join it.

I have one Lenten Rose in bloom.  Here's a close up.

My other should start to bloom tomorrow.  Its blooms hang down, so they aren't as visible as the white one.

My kalanchoe houseplant, whose blooms took me through most of the winter, is still going strong.  It's been outdoors most of the last two weeks, finally (maybe) rid of whiteflies.  Let's hope.

My regular readers know how much I love camillas.  But, you just can't grow them where I live (not hardy enough).  Or can you? I blogged, several days ago, about purchasing a camilla in Wake Forest, North Carolina.  Later this spring, we will plant this camilla, the hardiest this nursery sells (the variety has survived to around -8 F) in an effort to grow it in upstate New York.  It is called April Rose.  This is the fourth bloom this plant has given us in the pot, so at least we will have memories if it doesn't survive our next winter. Why not dream an Impossible Dream?

Meanwhile, my houseplants have put on a spurt of flowering.

One of my African violets started to bloom yesterday. It was a surprise.

One of my Thanksgiving cactuses started to bloom again last week.

Finally, in the best news of today, although I lost one of my two Phalaenopsis, the other has two flower buds on it. 

If you want to see what is blooming all over the world, go to May Dreams Gardens, click on some pictures, and enjoy the beauty our world has to offer.

What's blooming for you?