Daffodils, Tulips, Grape Hyacinths, Winter Hazel, Creeping Phlox, Viburnums (Mohawk and Korean Spice), Pansies, Hellebores, Azaleas (just barely starting...a few buds closest to the house), Lungworts, Virginia Bluebells, a Trillium (yea!), Hyacinths, Redbuds, Dogwoods, Daphnes, Brunnera, Bleeding Hearts, Camellias and native Columbines.
THE trillium! Hooray! I've waited years for this! There are still no signs of the other two...especially the one where the hole was dug. I do have some more to plant (never give up!) but I'll tell you about them in another post.
Virginia Bluebells (the others aren't blooming :( ....yet) (Mertensia virginica)...
Pink Impression Tulips...I show you these not because they look so great (only so-so) but because this is their fourth year to bloom! I have four groups of these and this is the best. It's not been a particularly good year for tulips here, I don't think. I did dig into one of the other PI groups :( so I suppose it can be excused for having blooming difficulties...but that doesn't excuse the others! (See what happens without labels??) All the foliage looks like it has seen better days...time for some fertilizer and hope for improvement next year.
On top is Muscari 'Valerie Finnis' (nice light blue) compared with the regular Muscari (grape hyacinths).
Native Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) have really burst into bloom (since this picture, of course).
Tulipa Bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'...the bottom picture shows inside. They will open wide to sun and have been very reliable here.
One of the two redbuds in full bloom.
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Late breaking news! (Ha) On my way to the composter (conveniently sitting on my bottom deck since it is raining cats and dogs), what did I see? The first of the regular Columbines! I almost didn't see it for the weeds, hidden under a rose bush (it's the back yard...I haven't gotten there...yet). I should tell you a bit about this little patch (of which there will be many more). They are from seeds I brought (collected) from Washington State, a nice dark blue variety. Over the years, I still get the dark blue, but now also this purple grape and a pale whitish one with usually a touch of pink...we know how Columbines like to...umm, mingle, shall we say...these are coming from their own genetic pool as there aren't any other Columbines nearby. Well...I was excited!
And look at this poor poor Bleeding Heart...the worst luck...dry shade...usually...however, today it is in luck and getting some rain (somehow):
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For more on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, see May Dreams Gardens.
I was waiting for your post because I knew that "out there" in Virginia you've got some wonderful flowers blooming, and I was not disappointed. Congratulations on the trillium. Worth the wait and even more exciting because of the wait.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in garden bloggers' bloom day!
(And I thought of you when I saw that dandelion trying to muscle out that daylily in my garden. "Gotta" take care of that soon, once the ground dries out!)
I loved hearing about your Columbines ... mine tend to get eaten or leaf miners have a field day with them.
ReplyDeleteThe Lilac wonder tulips are gorgeous...
and the Redbud makes me wish that I lived there rather than here (where I am excited because the scilla are poking through and the pond is melting!!)
You have lots of nice blooms...it looks like spring is arriving for you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely lot of blooms you have. My Canadian garden is just waking up and it will be a couple of weeks before I see anything actually blooming. Enjoy the day.
ReplyDeleteI love columbine. I wish I had a few in my garden. I think it is too hot and sunny in my plot. They like some shade, don't they?
ReplyDeleteYou're just a bit south of me, but my columbines are still hugging the ground - no sign of flowers yet.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need some trilliums. Do you have a favorite source for them?
Trillium! You have TRILLIUM!!! Yay!!! :) That's my favorite wildflower--because so much of it grew in the woods behind my house as a child. Congrats... it's worth the wait!
ReplyDeleteWow, I think you must be at least a month ahead of us here. My tulips are just starting to come up. No sign of hyacinths, columbine or trillium here yet. Trillium are one of my favorites and one of the first things I planted here. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the light blue "Valerie Finnis" before. Very pretty and makes for an unusual looking grape hyacinth!
ReplyDeleteHi Carol: You're very kind. April has just been a wacky month for us all, so far, it seems. I am excited about the trillium, but I would have preferred not to have such a long wait...impatient person that I am!
ReplyDeleteThose dandelions are quite clever about inserting themselves. Good luck...and I always appreciate a thought...lol! This year, I have the most vigorous foxglove seedlings (of all of them, I think) growing on/in/with a daylily. Now, I ask you, with all the other spots it could tuck itself into...why there?? Right now, it looks like...daylily, daylily, daylily (you get the picture)...foxglove, daylily, daylily, etc.
Hey Kate: I usually have terrible leaf miners, too...it's just too early for them right now...once, I had this beautiful long yellow columbine (raised from a mix)...it was so nice...then the leaf miners got it and so I cut it down (like "they" say)...and it did NOT put up new growth...that was it! Now, I think I mostly endure them, those awful leaf miners...isn't there some predator or something for them??
How exciting that the big thaw is happening! It won't be long now and we'll all be exclaiming over yours!
Hi Leslie: Nice to see you! I think spring is here, but I say that with my fingers crossed! One never knows...
Hi Crafty Gardener: I know it must be hard to wait (I am not a patient person)...soon, though, we will all be, hopefully, talking about everyone's blooms!
Hi Christa: I think you're right. Mine are mostly in areas where they get some...except, now that I think about it, those purple/blue ones! Although, maybe the rose bushes and the house (let's not forget the weeds, too) provide enough for them there (it's facing west, so who knows)...but, all the others get some shade.
Hi Entangled: This year I ordered some from ebay. They're potted up (until I get a spot ready for them...lol) and a couple have broken through. That was my first experience with them there, so the jury's out. Mostly, I buy in packages (oh no) and have mixed luck...which probably, maybe, explains the great wait. I suspect if you knew someone with nice patches that would give you a start, they'd probably do so much better. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone like that! I dream of those patches, though... Oh yeah, I also found some ON SALE at the Great Big Greenhouse in Richmond last month! They look to be doing fine as they sit in the pot ghetto...(If I actually...and I will..get them all planted, I should, hopefully,...one day...have some nice variety!)
P.S. Entangled, I just thought of this. Homestead Gardens did have them in packages (don't know if they still do) with all the bulbs...I'll have to check your blog to see if that is more near you.
Hi BS_G: Thank you for sharing my excitement! Lol! It's been a long wait. A neighbor down the street told me the first year, they're a no show...the second year, leaves...the third year, blooms. Well, that's her story and it works for her (NOT for me!). I was pretty discouraged until I visited Sissinghurst and saw these glorious patches of trilliums (also in Dublin, now that I think of it)...and I want that! Someone there told me (or I read...who knows) that it can take up to seven years! Good thing I didn't know that! Still, I keep trying them...
Oh my, Apple! I will so look forward to seeing yours! Hang in there and we will all come over to see your beauties!
Hi lostroses: They are cute! I first saw them all potted up and they stood out. It would help if I planted them on the edge where they could be seen better...of course, when I planted them, they were on the edge...lol!
Thank you all for the comments and for coming over!
Gotta Garden, I'm so glad Carol thought up Bloom Day - what a bounty of flowers you have there.... and to my surprise, you've planted something besides daffodils ;-]
ReplyDeleteAnd so many of them are my Illinois favorites, like Mertensia and columbine.
Do you ever do the Henry Mitchell thing and turn over the bleeding heart flower to see the tiny lady in the bath? If I were in your garden I couldn't resist doing it.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
GG, what an impressive list, almost as long as mine.(not really) :-D We have a lot of plants in common I see, which is fun as we live so far apart.
ReplyDeleteMy columbines are in flower too, not surprising as we are having a sort of heathwave over here. Everything is between 4 and 6 weeks earlier than usual. But I'm not complaining!
BTW love that creeping phlox, very pretty!