Rebirth of Spring

Daffodils and Thalia narcissi in front.

Creeping Phlox and Thalias.

Our front yard

 

Ahh, spring! Thus far it's been a changeable one, with the usual ups and downs in temperature: one beautiful mild sunny day here and there, interspersed with drizzly or wind-blasted ones, and bloom-burning frosts. Every year I find the seasonal progression of plants and flowers as they come into bloom in my garden ever more marvelous.

Prince Alfred daffodils with Forsythia in the back yard.

A week later the daffodils in the back bed are in bloom.

Blue grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniaca) among Mt. Hood daffodils.

Same bed a few days later.

 Every day is full of surprises as I discover plants I thought had perished are sprouting, while others that were doing so well have disappeared, eaten by the usual garden pests. The daffodils and narcissi predominate at this time, along with the grape hyacinths. Sadly, my yellow magnolia 'Butterflies' was frost-burned this year--no flowers to enjoy except for the branch I cut to paint indoors.

The buds of the Kwanzan cherry in front are still a week to ten days away from opening, yet other plants are starting to show signs of life. I'd all but forgotten about the Grecian anemones I planted two autumns ago, what a charming surprise to see a few of them popping up!

Tiny purple anemones

"Pink Charm" daffodils in the back bed.

The back bed a week later.

 

Spring truly is the season of rebirth! So many more flowers to come in the next months, I can hardly wait to see what surprises my garden will bring this year!

Thalias by the driveway.

My neighbor's weeping flowering apricot tree.

Muscari at the base of  the Zelkova tree.

April Showers

The back yard in April.

 

As the garden resurrects with much-awaited April showers, the seasonal sequence of flowers continues to unfold: the Forsythia, daffodils, narcissus and other early spring bulbs, then as those are beginning to fade, the flowering trees start to display their loveliness. This week the Redbud (Cercis canadense) in my back yard has unfurled its rosy boughs and the plump buds of the double flowering quince are opening.

 

Double flowering quince

I still have the deer barriers up, so the quince can't be admired as it should be, but I don't want to take any chances until there's enough other vegetation for the deer to browse--otherwise they will pounce on my gourmet "salad bar" in favor of the more ordinary grub found in the woods.

The Kwanzan cherry tree in front has yet to fully open, only a few blossoms have opened so far, while the white dogwood, which hardly bloomed last year, is loaded with blossoms opening much earlier than usual. Last year the cherry bloomed in the first week in April, but then came two hard frosts that blighted many a tender shoot.

 

Front yard

Earlier this spring the thermometer dropped alarmingly low for two nights, just as my beautiful yellow Magnolia 'Butterflies,' whose buds had already shed their fuzzy winter coats, were starting to open. The flowers were completely ruined! Mother nature can be so treacherous at this time of the year...

 

Ajuga 'Black Scallop'

Still, life goes on in the garden... the Ajuga 'Black Scallop' planted last year is spreading nicely and starting to bloom. The tiny bells of the Carolina Silverbell (Halesia tetraptera) tree are unfolding, and the Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is in full bloom. It will be some years before the Serviceberry attains enough growth to make much a of show, but it's making progress.

Carolina Silverbell tree (Halesia tetraptera)

Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)

One of my Bergenias (AKA "Pigsqueak" in these parts) managed to survive the frost and produced flowers, while the buds on another plant just a few feet away didn't make it. Why would that be? This one was closer to the house wall, perhaps the wall retained enough heat to help the buds survive?

 

Bergenia 'Winter Glow'

The dwarf iris 'Bluebeard' has come into bloom so early that it's coinciding with the flowering of the grape hyacinths. I have several varieties of  grape hyacinths: the ones with the light blue caps are M. aucheri, the ordinary purple are M. armeniacum, and some white ones, M. armeniacum 'White Magic.'

Dwarf iris 'Bluebeard'

Grape hyacinths (Muscari aucheri and M. armeniacum)

The Fothergilla shrub is starting to open its honey-scented blossoms, and so many other shrubs planted last year are breaking dormancy now. I'm planting a number of annuals from seed this spring, as well as the usual bedding and potted plants. I'm curious to see how these new ones will enhance and fill my flower beds this year.

 

Fothergilla gardenii

 

 There's so much more to come, I can hardly wait!

Spring Surprises

White wood violets (Viola sororia albiflora).

 

The last day of March brought over an inch of much-needed rain to our area. I went out to the garden during a brief pause in the rain to find this lovely surprise--the white wood violets that have gradually been colonizing the shady places underneath my deck were covered with flowers! Soon the emerging ferns will overtake them, but by that time their flowering season will be over.

White wood violets

Scented Violet 'Queen Charlotte' (Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte')

The 'Queen Charlotte' violet (Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte') has been slowly recovering from being munched by deer, and is blooming. I hope she'll multiply and start spreading soon.

Many other surprises awaited me in the garden. One of the Imperial Fritillary bulbs I planted last fall has come up, a handsome plant that promises new and unusual flowers--I've never grown Fritillaries before. The second bulb planted in another bed has not sprouted, I have no idea if it's simply tardy or if something untoward has happened to it, time will tell.

Imperial Fritillary (Fritillaria imperialis rubra)

Daffodil 'Pink Charm''

Other bulbs I planted last fall are also coming up. The daffodil above, called 'Pink Charm' turns out to not be very pink after all, more of an apricot cup I'd say, although still very beautiful. But who knows? The cups may yet fade to a color closer to pink. Overall, my display of spring flowering bulbs continues to improve every year.

 

'Mount Hood' daffodils

Yellow daffodils and Forsythia in the back yard.

Front yard before the rain.

Red cottage tulips with thalia and tazetta Narcissus

My front yard is becoming more colorful with masses of narcissus in yellow and white, and a carpet of creeping phlox in two hues is starting to fill in. The white and blue florist Hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis hybrids) were up earlier, as were the charming Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa forbesii), but they are now almost done flowering for the year. The blue Siberian Squills (Scilla siberica) on the east bed bloom a little later, and are still looking good. Both of these are spreading and forming nice colonies.

 

Delft Blue hyacinth

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii)

Blue Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)

It's so exciting to find these surprises every day as I go out to my garden! The Hellebore that the deer ate back the previous winter has finally produced a couple of flowers. I'd expected the emerging leaves of the Colchicum I planted last fall to be similar to the linear grassy foliage of other crocuses, but instead they are quite large and wide, more like those from a tropical plant.

Hellebore 'Flower Girl'

Colchicum 'Waterfall' leaves

 

From the seeds I collected at the Virginia Arboretum last fall and planted in pots, two seedlings have sprouted thus far. The buckeye tree from which I collected these seeds was a hybrid called Aesculus x mutabilis, and the parents were the native Aesculus pavia and A. georgiana (sylvatica) so my seedlings could be either of the parent trees.  I'm presuming, from the look of this seedling, that it's the red buckeye (A. pavia). I wonder if some of the Franklinia and Stewartia seeds will eventually sprout too? That would really be fantastic!

Red buckeye seedling (Aesculus pavia)

Camellia ' Kumasaka' flower

The one disappointment so far has been the lovely Camellia 'Kumasaka' I bought last year--covered with large flower buds last fall, it appeared to be doing well throughout the winter. But just as the flower buds were starting to open, they became blighted and began to fall off! Either severe frost burned them or they became desiccated by the recent high winds. All I managed to salvage was this one open flower that dropped off. Such a shame, the color and form are gorgeous! I'll have to wait until next year and hope for a milder spring.

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.

The Darling Buds of May

Pink peony bud.

After two very rainy and chilly weeks the sun finally came out last week, coaxing those darling buds of May to start opening. The irises came to perfection a bit earlier than I had expected, while the roses bid their time.

The front walk.

On impulse, I bought a new pink iris to reward myself after a hard week. I'd have to expand one of the flower beds to make room for it, but that would give me room to separate and replant some of the the irises in this front bed that are getting a bit crowded.

Pink iris.

The irises in the back yard suffered from fungal leaf spots, perhaps because it's been so wet, so it seemed best to put the new iris bed behind the peonies in the front, where the drainage and air circulation are better. I waited a week for the ground to dry out, and still, a few evening showers interrupted my labors. Yesterday evening despite the heat, I finally managed to get in the new iris and separate some of the others--voila!

The new iris bed.

As I was working on the expansion, the rosebuds began to open. Ah, is there anything as lovely s a rose, except perhaps many more roses?

The red Double Knockout rose by the front walk.

My 'Etoile Violette' clematis and climbing rose 'New Dawn' have grown into a sizable array after three years--earlier in the spring I pruned the rose and trained it farther up the porch pillar. It's now grown into a graceful "S" curve and gradually come into full bloom.

Rose and Clematis last week in May.

Rose and Clematis, first week in June.

Close-up.

Other plantings are filling out nicely too, more on those in the next post. My garden keeps on growing, fuller and more lush each year. The garlic spray has kept the deer from eating my roses, at last, I can enjoy them in their glory!

Evening in the garden.