April 2026 Bloom Day

White-haired Leatherleaf flower (Clematis albicoma)

 

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, the 15th of the month is the day when we share what's blooming in our gardens, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog. Welcome to my Zone 6B Virginia garden!

The month of April started out normally, but has been unseasonably hot and dry, with a killing frost just as the new flower buds and leaves of many plants were emerging, causing a lot of damage in my garden. My cherished Carolina Silverbell tree was budding out when its tiny bells were blasted by the frost. Ditto for the yellow Magnolia 'Butterflies' and  'Viridis' Japanese maple, so sad! That's two years in a row that we've had such killing frosts.

Thus it was a lovely surprise to see  the flowers of my White-haired Leatherleaf flower (Clematis albicoma) pop up in the front garden. The plant seems to be doing well in its half-buried pot in the flower bed. This native plant is found in the wild in only a few counties in Virginia and West Virginia.

The Kwanzan cherry is about finished blooming, and so are the daffodils and Poet's Narcissi but the creeping Phlox seems to be spreading nicely--from just three plants of different colors that I put in some years ago, its is re-seeding itself all over under the tree. 

 

My front yard yesterday

 

The Jacob's Ladder in the east woodland garden is also finishing its flush of spring bloom, while the Foamflower (Tiarella) is starting its display.

 

Jacob's Ladder with one Mayapple.

Foamflower (Tiarella 'Sugar 'n Spice')

 

My Hellebores are looking blowsy and a bit faded in the heat, and a few spikes of Ajuga 'Black Scallop' are showing under the Japanese maple tree 'Bloodgood'.

 

Hellebore 'True Love'

Ajuga 'Black Scallop' 

 

The daffodils and Narcissi in the back bed are about done flowering, as is the Redbud tree. The double-flowering Quince is coming into its own.

 

My back yard from the deck 

Flowering Quince with juniper 'Anna's Ball'

The possum-haw Viburnums (I have two) blooming way in back have reached a respectable height, out of the deer's reach. Yesterday a dear friend came over with her power saw and we cut down out a patch of Japanese bush honeysuckle from this corner of the woods in back. This invasive plant was threatening to choke out the patch of native witch-hazels growing back there. With those now gone, nature's balance can be restored.

 

  

Possum-haw viburnum (Viburnum nudum)

 

The irises and peonies are starting to develop buds, but not ready to open yet--a week or two more for those.

 

A friend gave me this lovely arrangement of Pansies and Candytuft to decorate my back deck, and I had also bought more Pansies for another pot. The deer eat these mercilessly, so growing them in pots is the only way for me to enjoy them.

 

  

 

Pansies and Iberis arrangement

More Pansies

 

I have a few blooms indoors, African violets and such, but I've posted photos of these for several months, so I'll spare everyone here. With such a dry spell, I'm having to water my garden a lot just to try to keep everything alive, if not flourishing. Thanks for visiting!

 

 

Enchanting April

My front yard yesterday evening.

 

My front yard today, Easter Sunday.

April is when my front yard looks its best. This year my Kwanzan cherry blossoms are just starting to open, but aren't fully unfurled yet. I expect the morning rain will speed them along. The Thalia and Poet's Narcissi exude their lovely scents, and the creeping Phlox keeps on spreading, sometimes in the most unlikely places, like under the barberry 'Admiration' which is just leafing out.

 

Creeping Phlox peeks out under the barberry 'Admiration'

 

 

The east woodland garden is getting ready for its annual display, with the Carolina Silverbell tree and the Pagoda Dogwood buds swelling, but it's not quite there yet. A Rhododendron and a Jacob's ladder under the Japanese maples are also getting ready for the show. I'll photograph those when they bloom.

The backyard looks lovely with the redbud tree in full bloom, and lots of Narcissi and Daffodils along the length of the bed. Narcissus and daffodils are the one plant family that deer do not eat, as they're poisonous, so these plantings are free to multiply.

Not so with the flowering Quince, which needs to be protected by a barrier or the deer would eat every bud! They nibble away at my spring bulbs: Glory-of-the-snow, Muscari and Spanish bluebells, but leave the Scillas and irises alone.

 

My back yard from the deck.

The back bed with Daffodils and Narcissi

Double flowering quince

Back yard from ground level, with double flowering Quince in front.

  

Closer to the ground, several of the dwarf iris 'Bluebeard' have opened up. Next to them, a couple of  'Prince Alfred' daffodils bloom with some Grecian windflowers (Anemone blanda).

  

Dwarf iris 'Bluebeard'

'Prince Alfred' daffodils and purple Grecian windflowers

The Fothergilla is blooming, with its honey scented-flowers, and clumps of Thalia Narcissi and Mount Hood daffodils dot the beds. 

Speaking of beds, I've spent most of the week cleaning and weeding them, pruning branches and old stems, fertilizing and mulching. The more I plant, the more work there is to do! My plan to eliminate more of the lawn dictates it.

At  times I wish I had the money to hire one or two reliable helpers, but I can't afford it. Besides, the old adage that "if you want something done right, it's best to do it yourself" applies.

 

 

Fothergilla in bloom

Clump of Thalia Narcissi

The west yard looking towards the back.

 

This is just the beginning of the flowering season--so many more flowers to look forward to during the enchanting month of April!