The Annual Miracle is Here

Magnolia 'Butterflies'

 

It's been one of the driest winters in this corner of Virginia, and March was little better until the very last day, when a series of thunderstorms hit our area, dropping nearly an inch of rain overnight. What a delightful surprise just before April Fool's! 

With the stealth rain, my garden has come alive with the annual miracle of spring! My yellow-flowered Magnolia 'Butterflies' didn't get badly frosted this year--ironic, considering there were fewer buds than any year before, due to last summer's drought. But still, it's the first spring since it was planted eight years ago that I've had the opportunity to enjoy its beautiful blossoms.

 

The front yard with Thalia narcissus and Magnolia 'Butterflies'

 

As the early 'February Gold' daffodils fade, the front yard comes alive with the blooms of Thalias, Tazettas, and Poet's Narcissus, forming thickets of white with touches of yellow. The creeping Phlox under the cherry tree is starting to revive too.

 

My front yard on April Fool's Day.

Tazetta, Thalia, and Poet's Narcissus.

The Yoshino cheries in our neighborhood are gorgeous at the moment, though with the wind today the blossoms are bound to be short-lived. It will take a couple more weeks for the Kwanzan cherry in my yard to open, although the buds are swelling and starting to show some color.

On the east side of the house several patches of blue Siberian Squill are all in bloom, and my Hellebores finally open. The Pieris beyond is also sporting its delicate blossoms.

 

Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica)

Hellebore 'True Love'

Hellebore 'Flower Girl'

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pieris japonica

 

Last fall I planted a native Jacob's Ladder plant in the woodland garden on the east of the house, and it's loaded with flower buds, the first of which are starting to open. I'd had a couple of beautiful hybrids with variegated foliage of this plant a few years ago, but those were eaten by something (deer? voles?) and died out. I think the species may prove a bit more resistant to the onslaught of the critters, but I'm keeping it under a cloche in hopes it will spread.

 

Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans)

 

My Allegheny Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier laevis) is also blooming, though my little tree hasn't made a whole lot of progress in the past years. I hope this year it will finally grow tall enough to be out of the deers' reach.

 

Allegheny Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier laevis)

The back bed  has exploded into bloom with assorted daffodils: 'Pink Charm' at one end, with 'Mount Hood' and a mixture of other varieties. The redbud tree is just starting to show some color, while the Seven Son Flower Tree leafs out. The Forsythia beyond is holding its blossoms well despite the wind.

 

The back bed with Forsythia beyond.

The back bed.

'Pink Charm' daffodils

'Pink Charm'

Yellow 'Prince Alfred' substitutes are blooming in another bed, and the Mount Hood daffodils I divided a couple of years ago are everywhere too. 

 

'Mount Hood' daffodils

'Prince Alfred' look-alike daffodils.

 

There's a nice patch of blue Muscari blooming in the front bed next to the driveway, along with charming little Anemones in a blue-and white combination, but today it's too chilly and windy for the Anemones to open (these photos are from a few days ago).

 

Blue Grape Hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) and Anemones (Anemone blanda).

Grecian windflowers (Anemone blanda)

As Mother Nature revives, the annual miracle of Spring is on full display...I can't wait to see what will come into bloom in time for April's Bloom Day!

Iris Season

Iris on front walk

I love this time of the year when the irises bloom--there isn't a more regal flower than the much hybridized bearded or German iris! This year my irises started blooming much earlier than usual, the buds were up in the last weeks of April, and the flowers began to open the first days of May.

The colorful clump of bearded irises by the front walk was planted right after we moved here, and last spring I expanded the bed, which was becoming overcrowded. Odd how this year I seem to have only one flowering spike of the white variety, but since the yellow and the purple bi-color bloom earlier than the other varieties, a few more white flowers may yet emerge. Plants are notoriously capricious that way: producing record blooms one year, then sparsely or not at all on other years.

White bearded iris.

The bed by the driveway

On the other side of the driveway there are more yellow and pink irises, and some Dutch iris. I transplanted the Dutch iris a few years ago after noticing that they weren't flowering much--the more vigorous lavender was crowding them out--and they've taken a couple of years to settle in their new locations before starting to bloom again.

Pale lavender Dutch iris.

Dutch iris in the back bed.

The old-fashioned irises from my mother's garden in Falls Church continue to grow more lush in the "Little Indians" bed in back. My sister Bea, who had grown these in her Maryland garden, gave me a few rhizomes about six years ago when I was starting to expand the bed that runs along the property line with my neighbor. Although smaller and not as showy as the current spectacular hybrids, this variety has a wonderful scent that permeates this corner of my garden.

Irises in the Little Indians bed.

The long island bed in the back yard includes a few more irises. The dwarf iris 'Bluebeard' bloomed very early, around mid-April, and is now done for the year. One of the other two varieties, 'Blatant', was attacked by a large rodent that tunneled underground and ate some of the rhizomes, and has not bloomed this spring--a real shame, but since it's a re-blooming type, I'm hoping it will recover enough to bloom in the fall. The other variety, the stunningly tall 'Victoria Falls' is particularly lovely this year.

Iris 'Victoria Falls'

The backyard island bed.

The red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' is laden with blossoms--we sighted the first hummingbird on May 1st, and the hummers have been visiting regularly since then. The double-flowering quince has been displaying blooms since early April and it's still going--the coral color complements 'Major Wheeler' beautifully.

Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) in bloom.

Newer plants in my garden are the Pagoda dogwood blooming above, and a hybrid Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium 'White Nimbus') planted two years ago which bloomed for the first time this year. The hybrid bugle ground cover (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop') planted last fall is just starting to spread among the variegated Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium 'Brise d'Anjou') planted last year, but both are growing slowly--it'll take a few more years before this bed begins to fill out.

Meadow rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium 'Nimbus White')

Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' with variegated Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium 'Brise d'Anjou')

I've grown flowering onions (Alliums) for some years now, the large-flowered purple 'Globemaster' and the yellow Allium moly. Last fall I planted another dozen Alliums 'Persian Blue' (Allium caeruleum) in one of my new beds, and the flowers are lovely, but not the deep blue color I'd hoped for. Perhaps it's the PH of the soil, but mine are a deep magenta; still, it composes beautifully with the blue-green foliage of the daffodils under the Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'.

Allium 'Globemaster'

Allium moly

Allium caeruleum.

Next up will be the roses and other late spring bloomers, can't wait to see what they'll be like this year!