My roses enjoyed the rain we got this week. So did some bulbs I got from my friend and co-author on HEIRLOOM BULBS, Chris Wiesinger.  (Most people know Chris best as “The Bulb Hunter.”) Double Roman, a historic daffodil believed to be cultivated since the 1500’s in Europe, naturalize well in the Coastal South, too. They bloom early and have a divine fragrance.

Although not the fragrance, a divine bloom in MY book is the cherry blossom. My oldest daughter and her husband live in the D.C. area so we traveled up for the Cherry Blossom Festival a couple years ago. It was breathtaking! I tried to get the feel at my house with a dwarf Mexican cherry since ornamental cherry trees don’t get enough cold here to bloom properly, but there is no comparison. The blooms transform Arlington Cemetery into something ethereal. The most moving moment was seeing the change of the guard that time of year.