Wednesday, April 19, 2017

GBBD: April Beauties

I know I am really, really late to this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but with Easter weekend, tax day, and many commitments the past two weeks, I haven't had time to sit down and read blogs for awhile.  But what a difference a month makes!  In March I had a few early bulbs trying to bloom in the snow, and this month . . . well, let me show you . . .


Since the end of March there has been a steady stream of daffodils blooming.


From the standard yellow trumpet daffodils to ruffled doubles to . . .


. . . daffodils with contrasting cups to . . .


. . .  miniature daffodils.


I've forgotten the names of most, except for 'Mount Hood,' 
a white beauty that has been a vigorous multiplier.


After the rabbits and/or deer ate many of my tulips after a bad winter a few years ago, I have been planting many more daffodils than tulips.  Most of my purchases have been collections of bulbs for naturalizing, another reason I don't know the names of most of these.


But I like the variety and the longer bloom time from these collections.  


These slender narcissi in the shade garden are one of my favorites.  As you can see, there is so much more blooming right now than daffodils--hellebores are still going strong, tulips are at their peak, tiny pushkinia dot the front of the garden here and there, as well as a few early perennials.


The only disappointment this year has been the flowering crabapples.  I wait all year for that one special week in the spring when our long lane is a bower of blooms, as you can see in my header photo from last year.  But most of the crabapples didn't bloom as much as usual; perhaps one of the cold nights we had two weeks ago nipped the buds. It has happened before, so I am hoping that next year all the blooms will return.  The white flowering crab was filled with blooms, however, though the wind and rain this past weekend finished them off.  And it has been a great year for redbuds.



I was worried about the lilacs last Bloom Day, as they were budding up just as a freeze hit us, but I needn't have worried.  The old lilac was in full bloom for Easter Sunday.


Other perennials blooming right now include the Pulmonarias and the Epimedeum above.  


'Jack Frost' Brunnera, still one of my favorites.


The old-fashioned Bleeding Heart is blooming as is my newest bleeding heart added last year, Dicentra 'Gold Heart.'  The foliage on this plant is stunning!


And finally, one of the best parts of spring to me--it is Tulip Time!


Because tulips can be short-lived, every spring is a surprise since I never know what will return.  A few of my favorites that I was happy to see come up again include 'Ad Rem' above.


My "namesake" 'Rosalie' also returned.


As did the longer-lived species tulips, 'Lady Jane.'  These are multiplying as well.


The neon-bright orange tulips that I don't remember ever planting returned 
for what must be their eighth or ninth year!


And my very favorite tulip of all, 'Akebono,' is still as gorgeous as ever.


Then there are a few new varieties of tulips planted last fall including this 'Silverstream.'  It looks like a twin to 'Akebono,' doesn't it?  In fact, if I hadn't marked where I planted these last year, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.


Also new this year is a tulip I've admired on Jason's blog for several years--'Coleur Cardinal.'  They are a little shorter than most of my tulips, so I'm glad I planted them in the front where they can be seen.


'Rembrandt' is also new this year.


Every year I plant more tulips in my roadside garden, hoping for an eye-catching display for passersby, and every year the voles (or some critter) dashes my hopes.  This year was no exception, though a few bulbs escaped being devoured.  These are 'Upstar,' an experiment I tried this year for the first time.  I purchased a bag of these that were intended to be planted, bag and all.  I was pretty skeptical, but the results were better than I expected.


Only a few of the new 'Lightning Sun' survived in this area, which is a shame, because these are a vibrant orange Darwin tulip.  


As I type this, we are having another unusually warm day with temperatures nearing 80 today.  The tulips have been blooming at warp speed the last few days and won't last long in these temperatures.  It's time to get outside and enjoy them while I can!

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day every month and for being patient with latecomers like me:)

36 comments:

  1. Bellissime immagini! Amo i narcisi bianchi con il centro arancione! Sono invidioso della tua dicentra color oro! Non sono mai riuscito a trovarla qui! Complimenti!

    Un saluto :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Pontos! The gold Dicentra is a plant I am so happy I purchased; I was surprised to see any blooms on it this year.

      Delete
  2. Better late than never! I'm drooling over your daffodils and tulips. Happy spring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wrote this post in a hurry, Dorothy, but I couldn't miss April Bloom Day--daffodil and tulip time is my favorite time of year!

      Delete
  3. You have some great blooms here Rose. I don't have so many tulips but seeing yours makes me want to plant more. I feel your pain regarding your crabapples not blooming. Our Magnolia didn't bloom this year. The first year in several. The buds were there but they got frozen just before blooming. A sad thing. But there are many other things blooming. It is fun to go out every day to see what is going on. Happy GBBD.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know I love tulips, Lisa. I just wish I knew in the fall which ones aren't going to return so I could fill in those spaces. But it does provide lots of surprises every spring:) I was so disappointed in the crabapples, but there will always be next year!

      Delete
  4. It is so good to see this post Rose.
    Your flowers are gorgeous, what lovely, lovely photographs you've shared here.

    Take care and enjoy the last days of April ...
    I still don't know where January, February and March went - they zoomed past!

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan, I agree winter seemed to fly by. I just hope April goes more slowly--this is my favorite time of year in the garden.

      Delete
  5. What gorgeous tulips! I have pretty much given up on planting more tulips, as the deer eat most of mine to the ground. Thankfully there's always daffodils!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand your problem, Indie. We usually don't have any problems with deer, and the rabbits seem to be deterred by our dogs. But the one year they ate so many of my tulips--I think they were starving that winter--I just wanted to cry:(

      Delete
  6. Rose what a gorgeous flowers your garden is bringing you. The leaves of the Dicentra are stunning. Never seen it before. I wish you a beautiful rest of April.
    Have a wonderful day.
    Rosehugs Marijke

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marijke. My tulip display isn't anything like your gorgeous tulip fields, however:) The Dicentra really is a beauty--the gold foliage just glows in the garden. And I was so surprised to see it had a few blooms already this year.

      Delete
  7. What a wealth of blooms you have! Even in a "bad" year, your crabapple drive is pretty spectacular.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Linda. I do hope the pink and red crabapples do better next year, though.

      Delete
  8. I agree with Linda, the crabapple trees look great. You really have a lot of blooms in the garden too. Gorgeous, Rose.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything seems to be blooming early this year, Donna. It makes me wonder what May will bring.

      Delete
  9. The trees!!! So pretty at your place this spring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sherlock Gardener! Spring is my favorite time of year.

      Delete
  10. Your Daffodils, Tulips and Lilacs are all so beautiful Rose, and the Crabapple trees are lovely as well. Your April gardens look so full of life and color! Happy spring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really has been a beautiful spring, Lee. Happy Spring to you, too!

      Delete
  11. Hi Rose: Wow, you had/have tons of plants blooming! Sorry for the delay: I thought I had commented on this post, but I guess it was a comment on Facebook. The Lilacs, Epimediums, and Tulips are just starting to bloom here. It's been a nice spring--not too cold, but not too hot too fast. Hold those blooms! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After a very warm week, the temps have turned cooler again this weekend, so I'm hoping the tulip show will last a while longer, Beth. That's the only downside to tulips--they don't last nearly long enough for me!

      Delete
  12. What a nice garden, Rose! I love tulips as well and your 'Rosalie' and double yellow one is stunning. I think crab-apples are well, will bloom next season, and your old lilac is very fresh so I might smell its fragrance.
    Happy Earth day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The old lilac smells heavenly, Nadezda; too bad I can't transmit that fragrance somehow on my computer:)

      Delete
  13. Nice to visit your beautiful garden !! Your tulips are just fabulous, Rose !!
    Happy Sunday !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ela! Tulips are my favorite spring flowers, so I always look forward to this time of year.

      Delete
  14. Love the tulips just as you do. I had just done a blog called tulip mania so I decided to not have any tulips in my GBFD on April 15th. You can see tulips here https://glebehouse.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/tulip-mania/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Excellent photographs, especially the Daffodils! I hope you are enjoying 'Couleur Cardinal' - thanks for the link. I love 'Akebono'. So far our year in tulips has been a little disappointing, but the Daffodils and Crabapples help make up for that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jason, the 'Couleur Cardinal' is beautiful. My tulips did pretty well this year, although there were some no-shows. That just means more bulbs to order this fall:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Replies
    1. Thanks, Glenna! This is my favorite time of year.

      Delete
  18. Who'd have thought there were so many types of daffodils?!

    And the blossom on the trees still looks lovely to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, Liz. Till I started gardening several years ago, I thought all daffodils were yellow:)

      Delete
  19. What a lovely collection of daffodils and tulips you have! Over here they are all gone and now it's time for the summer flowers. It has been unusually cold so the roses are holding on to the buds but the first few flowers are here. I also have 'Coleur Cardinal.' I planted them in 5 large containers together with 'Ronaldo', 'Prominence' and 'Gavota' - and it turned out to be a nice combination :-)
    Enjoy your beautiful spring garden!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for stopping by, Helene. The tulips are pretty well done here now as well. That's the only drawback to them--when it turns warm, they don't last very long. I don't have as much luck planting in containers, but that sounds like a pretty combination of tulip varieties.

      Delete

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear from you, so please leave a comment. I'll try to reply here, but I'll definitely return the visit.