Rhododendron carolinianum
All the usual suspects are in bloom now for this April Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. Daffodils everywhere, first azaleas, dogwoods, peonies opening up, and spring bulbs of every sort. I’ll focus on some of the things that catch my attention on a morning walk.
It’s hard not to notice the Kwansan double-flowered Cherry when you walk out the back door.
Kwanzan Cherry in first bloom
In the backyard the Epimediums are special right now. There are two in particular that came as mother’s day gifts from Garden Visions years ago and are now quite substantial in size.
Epimedium x rubrum ‘Sweetheart’
Epimedium x rubrum ‘Sweetheart’
Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Lilac Seedling’
Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Lilac Seedling’
Another Epimedium that I like a lot is the Wushanense variety with its red leaves and white flowers.
Epimedium wushanense ‘Sandy Claws’
There are also several instances of Erythronium cultivars that add to the explosion of Trout lilies that surround the deck.
Erythronium californicum ‘White Beauty’
There are several spots where we have lovely clumps of star flowers
Ipheion uniflorum ‘Tessa’
In addition to the Peonies that are imitating being in flower because of the falling quince flowers, there are other Peonies almost in flower.
Peony with imitation red flowers
Paeonia caucasica
The first of the Arisaema and Podophyllum are poking through the ground.
Flower buds on Podophyllum delavayii
Especially nice was to see a return of the very rare Podophyllum x inexpectatum which I thought we had lost to animals.
Podophyllum x inexpectatum
The Camellias continue to dominate the flowering landscape
Red/white camellia
So many camellias
A new addition is the Loropetalum (marginally hardy for our area)
Loropetalum newly added to herb bed
I should not forget the Adonis vernalis which wraps up our Adonis flowering
Adonis vernalis
And the Iris tuberosa which has a nice flowering this year
Iris tuberosa
One of my favorite small troughs features a very nice dwarf Daphne
Daphne in one of the small troughs
Daphne detail
If we go back to the alpine bed the reliable Armeria is nearing peak bloom growing out of tufa rock
Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’
And back in the forest there are many daffodils and the first of the Jack-in-a-Pulpit
Narcissus ‘Chromacolor’ in the woods
First jack-in-a-pulpit in the woods
In the greenhouse it is Spring in South Africa
Tritoma crocata
Ferraria divaricata
It’s also worth mentioning that because we made an early start on the season in the basement this year we have been eating green salads for the last 6 weeks and the plants are even happier now that they can come outside.
Salad greens brought from the basement
We’ve also put the first tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in the garden
Tomatoes from basement
There are flowers on the fruit trees, strawberries, and blueberries. Life is good…
Flowers on the blueberries