Adonis amurensis ‘Pleniflora’
“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. ” — The Lord of the Rings
The world is full of flowers right now and I am compelled to share what I see. The Adonis shown above is very tiny and it is one of many exquisite little flowers worthy of our attention right now.
I used to grow the Chilean Blue Crocus many years ago and have been trying regrow it for sometime. Finally it has returned to Ball Rd. courtesy of Telos Rare Bulbs.
Tecophilaea cyanocrocus var. leichtlinii
Nearby we have another unusual visitor, this time from Illahe Rare Plants. I have been trying to grow a yellow Fritillaria for years.
Fritillaria pudica
Nearby are the Jeffersonia which are expanding their clumps every year.
Jeffersonia dubia
Bloodroots are also coming into bloom right now and they are happy in the yard and woods.
Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Tennessee Form’
Nearby is a very rare Podophyllum just starting up.
Podophyllum x inexpectatum
Also in the yard we have an exceptionally nice Erythronium which reminds me of hiking in the Cascades.
Erythronium grandiflorum
Of course for us the really plentiful flowers at the beginning of April are the Erythronium americanum.
Erythronium americanum
They are so thick in the raised bed around our back porch that I couldn’t resist putting them in the woods as well. That was probably 20 years ago and while they have prospered in the woods, spreading like mad, they didn’t flower like they do in the raised bed. One thesis I’ve read about this said that they are happy to spread by runners if there are no constraints so they don’t bother with this flowering nonsense. Nonetheless we did get a flower two years ago and this year we are actually up to 6 flowers in the woods so there may be many more in the future.
Erythronium americanum in the woods
Also in the woods we have a great many Corydalis in flower at the moment, mostly ‘Beth Evans’ and ‘Purple Rain’.
Corydalis ‘Purple Rain’
We also have a large number of Ranunculus ficaria spreading in the woods.
Ranunculus ficaria ‘Randall’s White’
Of course the woods are full of Virginia Bluebells right now.
Mertensia virginica
And yesterday I saw the first Spring Beauty at the bottom of the woods.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia Virginica)
We would be remiss if I didn’t note that Daffodils are everywhere. This is their time of the year.
Daffodils on the hillside
Daffodils on the pasture trail
Narcissus ‘Chromacolor’ (this is one of my favorites)
Narcissus ‘Bridal Crown’
I should mention that the first of the Rhododendrons is now in bloom.
Rhododendron carolinianum
And just to prepare for the future we have the first leaves of a spectacular red-leaved maple coming out…
Acer palmatum ‘Shin Deshojo’