The wheel has turned the 30-day circle again, bringing us to another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, when Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, asks us to show off what's blooming in our gardens. To put it bluntly, this spring has been really lousy, with snow and cold. But crummy weather can't hold back the tide of sturdy spring bloomers. Despite all that, things are further along this year than last April (see here and here).All the late winter/earliest spring flowers from last month are gone, but the promise of buds from last month has been fulfilled. To save loading time, I've put together a slide show. I've tried to include more shots of the plants in the garden, and not just closeups.
All the plants are growing outside except for the potted Pelargonium that managed to survive the winter in the house. It will again spend the summer outside. (That's my secret to houseplant survival: leave them outside as long as possible.) Happy Bloom Day!
Update: the clouds finally cleared, so here is a collage of things open in the sun. 
Clockwise from top left, Forsythia with Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa, Erythronium dens canis 'Purple King,' Erythronium albidum, and Anemone nemorosa.(3:06 p.m., 4/15/09: the Magnolia flowers have just opened.)
35 comments:
Mr M Daughter: you are one talented plantswoman. I adore your collection of early spring beauties. I can't even pronounce some of them, and have never grown erthro...Purple King, but know that I am now on the search for those lovelies to add to my garden. One very nice slide show for GBBD!
Lovely slideshow ... I'm checking daily for my Bloodroot!
Very nice slide show with beautiful blooms!
MMD, One native plant enthusiast to another...your spring beauties are fantastic! Each photo was better then the last! I actually viewed them from last to first!
The trout lily, the thalictrom, Hellebores, Blood Root...delicious looking and beautifully photographed! Happy April Bloom Day! gail
Hey, that's a really spiffy idea, MMD! Your 'Purple King' erythronium is amazingly gorgeous, both in leaf and in bloom. Thanks for sharing your show.
That was so beautiful. Is the one Hellebore called 'Red Mountain' because it is so tall?
Hi MMD, wowee kazowee! Your ephermerals are magnificent! The photos ain't half bad either! :-) The pulsatilla and geum caught my attention though, they look related with the hairy buds. My local nursery has the pulsatilla, I keep thinkin about it but don't know much about its needs. And I wanted to tell you that the lilies that were allowed to form seed heads are pushing up gigantic stalks again, so it seems the seed formation did not sap the strength, but we shall see when it is bloom time. Hope the same is true for your Black Dragon. :-)
Frances
What a lovely slideshow of beautiful blooms today MMD!
Great idea with the slide show. Lovely shots- I just love spring! Happy GBBD to you.
MA - thanks! Maybe I should have called the Erythroniums by their common names, Dogtooth Violet & Trout Lily.
Joey - it's good that you are checking every day, as those Sanguinaria can surprise you. They seem to sprout overnight.
Dee - I never really thought about the Hellebore's name. They don't seem much taller than the 'Pink Lady Strain.'
Frances - the Pulsatilla & the Geum have similar seedheads, so I think they must be related. None of my 'Black Dragon Strain' Lilies have sprouted yet, which is just as well, as somebody bit off a 'Black Beauty' Lily shoot that had been sprayed with repellant. It must have tasted bad, as it appears to have been spit out.
Well, my local squirrels tried tasting my white Erythroniums this year, but I don't even have pink ones -- need to add that to the list. Thanks for sharing...
I enjoyed the slide show, MMD, and particularly seeing the flowers set in the larger landscape of your garden. Sometimes I imagine an unfamiliar flower as much larger than it is when I've only seen close-ups. All your spring ephemerals are so pretty and delicate, but I think I'm especially fond of the Erythronium with its unusual foliage.
Weren't you lucky to be outside precisely at 3:06 PM?:)
I love the slide show! Everything's looking great, and those Erythroniums are fabulous! They're going on the list of must-haves!
I like the slide show, that is a nice way to show off your blooms.
Lovely as always. Maybe I need to get some erythroniums. I wonder how they'd do in my rather heavy Ozarks soil.
Lovely!!
I enjoyed your slide show and the Easter Parade post. I love your hellebores! I saw a Silver Lace Hellebore at the hardware store when I went there for dog food this evening. I decided to look it up before buying it, and now, I'm wishing I would have gotten it. The flowers aren't my favorite of the ones I've seen, but the foliage was pretty. The price was half of what I paid for my Party Dress Improved, too.
Happy GBBD, and thanks for your comment on my post. I delete lots of pics, and am tickled when they turn out well. Your pasque flowers looked pretty from the angle you took their photo, I was having problems with the yellow flowers that day, though.
I have two kinds of hepaticas and haven't seen either one yet, pout. I love all spring blooms, uh huh uh huh. (That song *is* annoying, but I do love some disco--Donna Summer, Sister Sledge, & Gloria Gaynor all rule!)
Glad I came late - got to see the Purple King Trout Lily and enjoyed the Easter Parade post, too!
Good luck with protecting the Black Dragon lily shoots - that trumpet was among my favorites.
Happy Bloom Day, MMD!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
PS The stamens on my mystery clematis seem to be more strongly colored in person that either the online photos of 'Henryi' or the fading images of the flower in my old IL gardens. Henry is usually described as pure white. My Mystery Miss may have fooled around a bit, as she looks not quite pure.
MMD, I ejoyed seeing your blooms in their 'setting'. All your blloms look so lovely. I checked back to last April 15, and we are just about the same. Darn! But I know the next few nice days will make such a difference. Happy bloom day. :)
Love the slide show and all contained within. Had a good chuckle over your objection to Lillium plasticum. I understand. Fragrance is important.
What a snazzy post, MMD! It looks so good over there... I know you're having fun! :-)
The great thing about GBBD is it's making us all better at documenting progress in the garden. I love reading people comparing where we are this April to Aprils past. Sorry that this one isn't as good for you as earlier years. Hope that the lateness of spring this year will mean it's all the more glorious when it arrives.
I especially like your native flowers, although all are lovely! Excellent photography too.
Guess what I just found??? Round-lobed hepatica in bloom! Very very very small blooms, and tiny foliage, but there it was--out of nowhere! (I swear I looked for it yesterday.) No sign of the sharp-leafed, not even foliage.
Okay, all you talented slideshow makers....you're impressing, delighting and dazzling me, and also intimidating me just a wee bit. Seriously though, I love all the blissful flowers, and love this presentation. Happy Bloom day, indeed!
Beautiful. I think you've inspired all of us to plant more of these in our gardens. The Erythroniums are incredible. I especially love the foliage on the 'Purple King.'
Hi MMD,
You sure have a lot of color going on right now and are way ahead of us. I just discovered some of our Alpine Blue Columbines coming up yesterday (and a couple of others), but it will be a while. Got our first daffodil blooms too and the crocus are still popping up all over, but nothing like the variety you have!
You convinced me I have to get Pulsatilla going in our garden ... I've been thinking about that and now I've got to have it!
Just gorgeous MMD! It's amazing how many April blooms you have, and such a wonderful variety.
You have lots of things I've considered but wondered how well they'd do in the maple roots. Seeing them blooming happily in your dry shade is most encouraging!
MacGardens - sorry about your white Erythroniums. The stupid squirrels chomped off half a bloom of my pink ones. Grumble, grumble.
Rose - I'm glad you appreciated the landscape shots. They aren't as satisfying artistically as closeups. (I need to be a better designer for that.)
RamblonRose - I hope you can find the white Erythroniums. The pink ones are available thru mailorder at McClure & Zimmerman.
HMH - I would think the Erythroniums would do well on clay, as they are native around here, which is mostly clay.
Sue - I know the frustration of seeing something cool, not buying it, researching it, finding out it's great & then kicking myself for not buying it.
Monica - I'm so glad at least one of your Hepaticas has made an appearance.
Jodi - slideshows are so easy to make. The hard part is having enough flowers for a slideshow. ;^D
IVG - I think I lost my Aquilegia alpina. Pulsatilla is such a neat plant. I like to feel the buds. (Does that sound perverted?)
GG - the plants have to be tough to survive under a Cottonwood. I say give them a try. Maples can't be much worse.
I like the slide show. Cool idea. And I love the ephemerals of course!
Lovely anemonellas.
Lovely slide show, I particularly enjoyed seeing the varieties of Thalictrum and Erythronium.
K
Those Anemonellas are calling to me. I'm sure they won't grow here but it's a nice fantasy ...
I'm sighing with delight over your emphemerals - all so dainty and delicate. You've reminded me to go up to the woods and look for trout lilies and hepatica.
The slide show is a clever way to show your beautiful photos.
What a gorgeous garden you have, MMD!
Happy Bloom Day! ( and you thought you were late!) :)
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