Spring Parade

Cherry tree in front yard.

The cherry tree in our front yard reached peak bloom on Easter Sunday--what a heavenly sight! Short-lived glory, after a few days the leaves grow out enough to overshadow the remaining blossoms, and the rest blow away. As the cherry blossoms fade, the dogwood flowers begin to open and the new leaves unfurl.

From the porch.

The creeping Phlox in the front yard continues to expand and cover more ground each year. As spring unfolds, the Redbud tree in back made a nice show, but the new daffodil beds underneath don't amount to much yet--it will take a couple more years before they fill out.

Back yard on April 21.

Flowering Quince

I managed to save my flowering quince from the worst of the winter depredations by fencing it off with plastic mesh, but the deer still managed to nip the ends of the branches that stuck out. There were still plenty of the charming double flowers for me to enjoy.

Carolina Silverbell Tree (Halesia tetraptera)

The Carolina Silverbell tree bloomed much earlier this year than last, though the flowers seemed smaller than last year's, and had a rosy tint. I wonder if the difference is due to poor soil nutrients or simply a normal year-to-year variation? Many trees have cycles of several years of poor to so-so flower production after one peak year of blossom. Since my tree flowered for the first time last year, perhaps this is one of those off-years.

Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides )

The bed of Grape Hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) and Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides) is looking good. The pink and white varieties planted two falls ago haven't grown as much as the blue ones planted several years earlier, I've no idea why. I usually find a number of the blue Muscari springing up in odd places across the lawn where I hadn't planted them--the squirrels like to dig them up and re-plant them at their whim--so this spring I've been digging these up and putting them back where they should be.

Iris 

Now is the regal irises' turn. The first to open in my yard was this stunning bi-color I planted in the back last fall--I forget the name of the variety--though it has only one flowering spike this year, hopefully there will be more next year. Behind it I planted a light blue iris called 'Victoria Falls' that is about to open, and in front is one curious dwarf yellow iris with a light blue beard, aptly named 'Bluebeard.' Unfortunately, it had only one flower, and I didn't get a photo of it in time--it's just closing up in this photo.

Iris bed in back yard.

Front yard.

The front bed is just starting its annual show, which may not be as spectacular this year because I divided the plants early this spring. The recommended practice is to divide them in late summer or fall--but I had so much other work to do I put it off until after the ground had frozen. The plants seem to have weathered the transplant fairly well, but they may not be as full as in other years.

Iris and the Spring Garden

Bicolor iris in colored pencil and watercolor, stage two.

How time flies when it's spring! My garden has grown so much since my last posting, that the particular bearded iris I was in the process of painting from photos came into bloom once again, and is now fading. And I'm only halfway into the painting... Here is a shot of it in my garden this year.

Bicolor iris in my garden

It's always great to be able to work from a live subject--you see so much more detail than in a photo, even a good one. The subtle changes in color of the falls and the striation near the beard, the veining... all so beautiful! Here's a recent progress shot of my painting.

Bicolor iris painting, stage three.

So much has already bloomed and leafed out, where to begin? Here are some photos of the seasonal progression, arranged more or less in sequence, to show how the plantings are developing.

Carolina Silverbell tree (Halesia caroliniana)

Close-up of the Silverbell flowers

It was exciting to see the small Carolina Silverbell (Halesia caroliniana) sapling I planted four years ago bloom for the first time in early May. Such a delightful sight--I hope to illustrate this beautiful native plant soon. It's only about four feet high right now, but should eventually reach 15 to 20 feet in height.

Front garden with iris and White Dogwood

With every passing year there is more in my garden to admire, it's hard to decide what to feature. What follows is just a sampling.

Pink Dogwood

West garden seen from the deck

The beds under and around the trees on west side of the garden continue to expand. Last fall I connected the small Witchazel and pink Dogwood trees to form a new triangular bed and have planted it with daylilies (just emerging). The Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) and the Spanish Hyacinths (Hyacinthoides) at the base of the Zelkova made a nice showing this year. You can see a few pink and white bells that I added the previous year, gaining ground.

Blue, pink and white Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)

Front bed by the garage

The creeping Phlox in the bed by the garage is spreading, and the purple heads of the Globemaster Alliums by the roses make for some nice color combinations. The 'Coral Charm' Peony produced more blooms this year than last, but as we got hit with a few 90-degree days, they were so short-lived, I hardly had a chance to photograph them.

'Coral Charm' Peony

During the past week the weather changed dramatically--very stormy, with close to six inches of rain--I've never seen my garden as soggy as this, the soil is positively boggy in places. Hopefully, the welcomed rains will bring on a great burst of bloom shortly. Here's what other parts of the garden look like at the moment.

Irises in the Little Indians bed.

Japanese maples in the east garden.

Coreopsis with Blue Salvia and Catmint on the west side.

The backyard island beds continue to expand. The addition of a birdbath motivated me to add some new perennials, and some annuals will be interspersed soon. The red Honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' is climbing up the trellis and its blooms should attract some hummingbirds.

Backyard island bed.

Backyard from the deck.

Clematis and Sweet William in island bed.

The strange hangings on the Kousa Dogwood 'Rosy Teacups' beyond, are garden pots hung to weigh down its branches--a strange trick to re-shape the tree, I admit, but the branches need to be opened up for a better display. I'll end with this shot of the salad bowl growing on the deck.

My Spring Garden

Dawn and Dusk.

This year my spring garden has been more floriferous than ever. My climbing 'New Dawn' rose and clematis 'Etoile Violette' on the porch are looking even fuller than last year! Other plantings that were just getting established last year are starting to come into their own, like this old-fashioned iris my mother used to grow in her garden. It may not be as showy as the newer varieties, but its wonderful perfume, which many of the other varieties lack, more than makes up for it.

Old-fashioned iris

With such warm weather during the winter the grape hyacinths bloomed early, although the new batch I planted last fall (a mixture of several varieties) didn't bloom until late April, along with the Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides). The new pink dogwood in the background complemented the soft blues beautifully.

Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) with pink dogwood

The rhododendron planted on our first spring here (I've forgotten the variety, probably 'Yaku Princess') finally put out a few blossoms this year, though the leaves sustained a lot of winter damage. I hope that now that it's getting more shade it will continue to improve. In this alkaline soil, it's hard to grow acid-loving plants such as azaleas and rhododrendrons.

Rhododendron 'Yaku Princess'

The 'Admiral Semmes' azalea planted last year didn't put out much bloom his year, it will need more time to get going. I had expected the flowers to be yellow, but the soft peach color is as lovely as the fragrance (It's a cross between the southern Azalea austrinum and Exbury hybrids).

'Admiral Semmes' azalea

Clematis

I had ordered a metal arbor structure for the clematis that my sister Bea gave me last year but
I've been having trouble assembling it, so the poor vine is just leaning against a couple of bamboo stakes at the moment. Lovely flowers, though I can't remember the exact variety-- it looks like it might be 'Nellie Moser'.

The east bed

The Japanese maples on the east side of the house are growing nicely. Recently I put in two new native trees--a sourwood (Oxydenrum arboreum) to shade the Carolina Silverbell (Halesia caroliniana) partly visible on the left in this photo, and a honey locust in the back yard. The trees came bare-root and the recent rainy spell has helped the locust to start budding out, but the sourwood appears to be dead--I may have to call the nursery where it was bought to replace it.

Irises and Double Knockout rose

The front walk.

The irises in the front didn't perform as well this year--perhaps they need to be given a bit more room to spread? But the general tapestry by the front walk is finally starting to look as I had envisioned. The expansion and consolidation of the backyard beds continues, with two new shrubs: a Fothergilla gardenii and a Blue Mist shrub (Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Longwood Blue').

Today, I have quite a number of annuals and a couple of perennials to plant, so I'm off to toil in the garden. Happy springtime, dear friends!