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| Front yard two days after Easter. |
The 15th of the month is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel at May Dreams Garden.
It was 23 degrees on Easter Sunday, and frost was visible on the grassy areas. The Kwanzan cherry tree in front was not fully open yet, though it was trying! After a few more days of warmer temperatures it's fully open now. The daffodils, narcissus, and creeping phlox are putting on a show. This is probably the best my front yard looks the entire the year.
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| Thalias, Tazetta and Poet's Narcissi with cottage tulips. |
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| Creeping phlox with Thalias. |
The spring flowering bulbs really help, considering the limited room in the front. The back yard is also starting to come into bloom, with the daffodils 'Pink Perfection' and others under the redbud tree. Our native redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) are all blooming, lovely clouds of purple-pinks peeking out from under the eaves of the woods.
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| 'Pink Charm' daffodils |
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| Redbud tree in the back yard, early morning. |
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| View of the back yard in the evening. |
My 'Texas White' redbud tree put forth a few blooms, but it hasn't grown enough yet to be much a display. It needs a few more years of growth to reach the size of the lovely specimen I saw at Blandy Farm last week.
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| 'Texas white' redbud. |
The bed with the "Mount Hood' daffodils that I expanded is not as full as in other years, as would be expected after dividing the bulbs last autumn, but in another year or two, they'll be spectacular.
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| 'Mount Hood' daffodils with grape hyacinths. |
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| 'Mount Hood' daffodils and grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) |
The double flowering quince is lovely this year, but it's putting out underground runners and sprouting everywhere in its vicinity--I'll have to dig those out, I don't want my shrub to spread any farther.
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| Double flowering quince |
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| Blue star flower (Ipheion) |
I found a few blue starflowers blooming--I'd forgotten these after the deer decimated them a couple of years back, these four seem to be the only survivors. My Carolina Silverbell tree continues to grow, it's now taller than I am, with the flowers as charming as ever. This is a hard-to-find item at nurseries, I feel very lucky to have been able to obtain this specimen some eight years ago. Being native to the eastern US, I wonder why it isn't more frequently planted?
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| Carolina Silverbell tree (Halesia tetraptera) |
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| Carolina Silverbell flowers |
The Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) I planted three years ago is blooming, but it will be a few more years before it makes much of a display. The Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) planted at the same time is much farther ahead in terms of size, but then the deer have left this one alone, while I had to put a barrier around the Serviceberry to keep the deer away from it. Once the Serviceberry gets a bit larger, I hope to dispense with the barrier. A good growing summer season would help!
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| Serviceberry flowers. |
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| Pagoda dogwood in bud. |
I almost forgot to show you my Lewisia 'Little Peach'--this tiny plant is a native of the California mountains that has lovely small flowers. I keep this plant in a pot, as it needs very well-draining soil.
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| Lewisia longipetala 'Little Peach' |
This is just the beginning of the spring season, more flowers are yet to come in the months ahead--I can't wait for the Merry Month of May!
