Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2008

Hey! We've got blooms! Outside! And even better is the fact that we will have blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day from now until Thanksgiving. Yay!

The little Tête à Tête daffodils are in their prime right now. To get an idea of the small size of them, the plant in the background is a small sedum.

I bought some more Tête à Têtes and planted them here and there so I'd have more color for the bridal shower that's being held here this weekend. Besides, spring is the time when I wish I'd planted more bulbs in the fall, and you can better see where they can effectively be placed. So I wait until they're done blooming in the stores and are marked down drastically, then pick them up. That way I can plant them where they need to go for more blooms the next year!


The 'Festival Blue' hyacinths are in much better shape than they were last year, when they got zapped by a late spring freeze. And I love to bury my nose in them and inhale their wonderful fragrance.

I don't remember which daffodils these are, but they're big.


Yesterday, I had an adorable six-year-old patient (who was an identical twin) and we got to talking about flowers because daffodils were blooming right outside the window. I asked her if she had any flowers blooming at her house. She promptly informed me that yes, she did, and they were the grape ones that looked like if you held them up and wiggled them, they would sound like jingle bells. I will always remember Ellie when I look at a Muscari from now on.

Striped Squill (Puschkinia libanotica), in front of Campanula 'Kelly's Gold.' I've got this Squill in lots of different places and it's even come up randomly in the yard, as has some Chionodoxa. I love that.

I planted several different types of crocus last fall and this tiny one is Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl'. It's cute, but really insignificant, unless you have a few thousand of them in a drift, which I don't.


I really like this smaller crocus because of its vibrant colors. It's Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor', a species-type crocus.




























The Hellebores are putting on a show right now. I don't have much foliage after cutting back the winter kill, but the blooms are pretty.

The white one is 'Ivory Prince' and the spotted one is 'Pine Knot' strain. I'm not sure what the plum-colored one is. I lost my 'Pacific Frost', a variegated-leaf cultivar, over the winter.










The 'Rip Van Winkle' Narcissus are usually much later, but one of them was in a hurry for spring, just as we were!














The Vinca minor is just beginning to present with little purple flowers. It grows rampant and wild in the woods and along river banks here and soon will be awash with color. This is one of those plants that's nearly impossible to kill. But guess what? I've killed it. Lots of it.



The Chionodoxa looks as if it were coated with a glaze, but it's just wet from a rain.


It's always delightful to have a surprise or two, and here's one in my garden. It's a hyacinth and I have no idea what cultivar it is. I have never planted a salmon-colored one. It's beautiful, and I wish I knew what it was because I'd like to have more of them!

That ugly thing that I don't like and I keep threatening to dig up and move to some hidden area of the property (Narcissus 'Replete') is very nearly in bloom. I'll spare you the visuals on that one.

So with that, spring is definitely in bloom here and the gardening season is off and running! Smiles all around!