Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for April 2009!
Chin up, fellow gardener!
Finally, after looking down at blooms for the better part of Spring, because that’s where the early spring blooms are… way down at ground level… we can finally look up and see some trees and shrubs starting to bloom.
I think they are blooming earlier this year, and they are, but last year, I thought they were all blooming late.
For example, the crabapple, Malus ‘Guinevere’ pictured above looks like it would just need one good sunny day and it would be in full bloom. Last year, it didn’t bloom until April 24th.
This Korean Spice Viburnum, Viburnum carlesii, is already blooming back by the vegetable garden.
Yes, it smells wonderful, like a spring flower should. Last year it didn’t reach this point until April 22nd.
Elsewhere in the neighbors’ gardens, flowering pears, Pyrus calleryana, are actually finishing up their blooming. Last year, they were just getting going around bloom day.
Instead of a pear tree, I planted a serviceberry, Amelanchier sp., for spring blooms. It’s just starting to bloom now.
Last year, guess what? It didn’t bloom until around April 19th.
I also think my Carolina silverbell, Halesia carolina ‘Arnold Pink’ will bloom a few days earlier than April 23rd, which is when it bloomed last year.
All this early blooming and lack of good gardening WOO’s recently has me feeling like spring is just rushing itself a little too much, and I’d like it to slow down just a bit.
But that’s not likely to happen, just because I want it to happen, so I’ll take the blooms as they come, as fast as they come, and enjoy them as long as they are here. Too soon, these spring blooms will disappear for another year.
What else is blooming here at May Dreams Gardens?
At eye level…
Red bud (Cercis canadensis)
Red maple (Acer rubrum) (just finishing up)
Forsythia ‘Gold Tide’ (nearly done) and ‘Show Off’ (though it was kind of a dud compared to last year).
And the trees and shrubs I mentioned above.
At ground level…
Woodland violets, (Viola sp.)
Periwinkle (Vinca minor)
Species Tulips (Tulipa sp.)
Hybrid Tulips
Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis)
Hyacinth (nearly done)
Daffodils
Glory of the Snow (just a few left) (Chionodoxia sp.)
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)
Star Flowers (Ipheion uniflorum)
Striped Squill (just a few left) (Puschkinia scilloides)
Lenten Roses (Helleborus orientalis)
Pansies and violas (of course!!)
And probably a few other spring flowers that I think are probably out there, but it is too cold, overcast, and damp to spend much time looking for them.
Some weeds…
Dandelions
Chickweed
Henbit
(Notice that violets are NOT on my weed list!)
And though it isn’t quite blooming for bloom day, I can’t finish without showing off the bud of a double-flowering blood root, Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Multiplex’, a passalong plant from Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening.
Like the crabapple above, it will surely bloom when the sun comes out again. Did I mention it has been cold and cloudy these last two days?
And that’s bloom day here at May Dreams Gardens!
What’s blooming in your garden today?
We welcome everyone to join us for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day whether this is your first time or your 27th time, whether you have a garden blog or some other kind of blog.
It’s easy to join in. Just post on your own blog about what’s blooming in your garden right now, outdoors or indoors. You can include pictures, lists, common names, botanical names, whatever you’d like to do to showcase your blooms.
Then leave a comment and put your name and a link back to your bloom day post in the Mr. Linky widget below, so we know where to find your blog and can visit to see and read about your bloom day blooms.
And like last month, once you’ve added your name to the list, please come back and visit and comment on a few of the blogs listed before and after you. Bloom day is a great way to find new blogs and bloggers’ gardens! I’ll try to visit as many as I can, too.
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Hi Carol! Happy April GBBD – thanks for hosting as always. I really look forward to this day every month. Love what you’ve got growing, especially the passalong blood root – never seen that one before.
Beautiful blooms in your garden today Carol. I can’t wait to see the bloom on your Bloodroot when it opens. Happy Bloom Day!
wahoo! I am glad to be doing GBBD again! love your blooms, esp your blood root. very exotic. I am featuring wood violets for my bloom day.
What a great list of things blooming in your garden. We are still looking down, but spring is finally starting to happen here. Thanks for hosting and I’m off to see what’s blooming elsewhere!
Another Bloodroot! Mine is a single, however. I would LOVE a double for Wildflower Way, but I was thrilled to find the single in the woods last spring.
You’ve got beautiful blooming shrubs, Carol! Some of the things you have blooming are not yet at that stage here.
I wish the rain would quit, don’t you? Thanks for hosting Bloom Day again!
I’ll bet that Bloodroot is going to be just amazing — take another picture of it when it opens, would you? And the trees in bloom are just wonderful — bare and yet beautiful with their little blooms. Happy GBBD – thanks for sharing.
Don’t you just love the new Serviceberry leaves?
You have a lot blooming in your garden. The viburnum is lovely.
I am so glad you started this meme — it was a great idea.
I, like you, do not put violet on the weed list 🙂 Maybe the keep-your-eye-on-it list, but never the weed list, LOL!
Nothing like Bloom Day to get you back into good spirits. After all the snowing, freezing, raining, YUCKing, it’s nice to have a reason to get outside and see some blooms! Thanks!
Happy GBBD, Carol! I just love this time of year. Seeing all the blooms in everyone’s gardens is such a delight! Too bad we can’t smell through the computer! Happy gardening, and once again, thanks for hosting GBBD!
Bring on Spring! Happy GBBD everyone!
Wow, Carol – you’re at least two weeks ahead of us here in chilly, soggy southeastern PA. It was nice to get a peek at what we still have to look forward to. Happy Bloom Day!
Your garden sounds colourful and fragrant Carol. It’s pouring down with rain here, so I am going to spend half an hour or so, wandering round other folk’s gardens instead of mine. Many thanks for enabling me to do this 🙂
Happy April Carol! Looking up at the trees around here at the moment yields lots of magnificent Magnolia. Sadly there isn’t one in my garden, but my neighbour’s is peeping over the fence!
Have a good Blooms Day everyone 🙂
Hi Carol – your garden seems to be about 2 weeks behind mine here in the UK. Hang on in there everything will be flowering its socks off soon.
I put my bloom day scans up for Easter. Lots of nice little ephemerals this time of year. http://www.remarc.com/craig/?p=629
It was a thrill seeing the photo of your blood root…beautiful in every way. We had them in our backyard until a few years ago when there was some major landscaping done and then they never returned. It’s so much fun visiting all the gardens, thanks to you.
Hi Carol, your blooms are looking fabulous, that crabapple will be spectacular! You are catching up to us here in TN very fast, amazing how that happens. It has been cool here also. And like you, the violets are being left in place, the blooming now really adds pizzazz to the bulb show. Happy April!
Frances
Thank you for hosting GBBD. Spring is here in Tidewater, but is being slow to mature. Things are a little behind last year. I beg your pardon, but I must disagree about the violets – they are near the top of my weed list. I have pictures of them in my post. Thanks again!
Betwixt and Between
Good GBBD to you Carol. Your garden is awakening. Such a pretty tree. Your list is impressive too.
Wow, everything is so springy there! My similar viburnum has buds about to open but not the wonderful flowers yet that yours does.
Happy Bloom Day to you Carol! Thank you for hosting this most amazing experience. I love the bloodroot and how it unfolds to a beautiful flower! gail
Carol, simply gorgeous! I wish I could share my bright sun with you and you could share the blooms. Nothing is blooming in Maine, but I got some good bloom action in NYC. Late spring there too. I’ve also reviewed People of the Book in my post. It always feels like visiting home, seeing all these familiar names. Thanks for hosting!
Hi Carol,
I think your garden is ahead of ours here in Pennsylvania 6b. The redbud may open it’s blooms when the sun comes out again. I don’t see anything yet.
My bloodroot looks about like yours. The tulip buds are showing color but none are open.
Thanks for hosting GBBD. I can’t wait to read through all the other entries. I’ve met a lot of gardening friends that way. 🙂
You’re ahead of us in Chicago as well, Carol. Nice to see your April blooms.
I planted a Korean Spice viburnum last year and it’s just now budding up. I put it right by the patio so I could smell its sweet fragrance when I sit under the pergola.
Hi Carol,
Nice to seeing so many beautiful flowers blooming, Happy bloom day.
I posted GBBD too.
Cathy
Good morning, Carol! Like you, I have been lamenting the lack of good gardening WOO’s the past week. But it looks like spring blooms will come, whether we’re out there or not. My trees are later than yours, as is my GBBD post–I’ll try to have it up shortly. Thanks for hosting!
It is very sad. The only thing blooming in my garden right now is my hellebore. My daffodil and my forsythia are in bud, but wouldn’t come out for GBBD. I think they are shy.
Spring has sprung in Indiana, and next month will be your favorite! Reason to celebrate indeed.
My post will be up later this afternoon, Carol.
This is my second GBBD and I love seeing what is in bloom elsewhere … thanks Carol. It looks like you are ahead of us in southern CT. Most of our bloom is still at ground level, but I have noticed some magnolia ready to burst. Forsythia, both the common yellow and Abeliophyllum – white forsythia – is blooming. Your post on pansies convinced me I need to follow my own tradition again this year and plant some. I’ve been holding off to try to save some money, but it’s just not worth it not having happy pansy blooms in sight from my office window (maybe that’s why I’ve been is such a pissy mood for the last 2 weeks). You have also inspired me to try something similar to GBBD – but focused on gardening mistakes. I think it would be interesting, educational, and fun to share each other’s gardening oops (GOOPs) – more on my blog, http://joenesgarden.wordpress.com. Thanks again for the inspiration.
Good morning Carol, Happy Bloom Day! Spring seems to be getting a slow start in my garden this year. Lots of stuff is sprouting, but the chilly air is slowing growth. The serviceberry buds look like they’re just waiting for a few more degrees and a little sunshine before they’re ready to pop.
Peas, lettuce, spinach, and radishes are up in the veggie garden, but the tiny sprouts are growing very slowly in our chilly temps.
I enjoyed reading about what’s blooming high and low in your yard and neighborhood. I hope you get some better WOOs soon. I had one for weeding yesterday. I used to plant by the moon phases, but don’t take the time to do so anymore. Everything seems to grow OK.
Take care!
Happy Bloom Day! I look forward to this every month now! Clearly, I need more flowering trees. Most of my blooms are still at ground level, with the exception of the azaleas.
I was hoping my delphinium would have opened, but, alas, it has not. Have a great day!
Carol, I couldn’t believe how much is blooming this April. I guess the early warm weather helped. My GBBD post is now up.
Jan
Always Growing
Wow your viburnum is way ahead of ours! It’s probably due to the frost pocket hole we sit in. Very nice blooms Carol! I wish our crabapple had bloomed but maybe next year.
Carol, I see we have a lot of plants in common on this Bloom Day. No Bloodroot here, sadly. Must fix that!
Even with the crazy weather we have had, I agree things seem a little earlier this year. Glad I am not the only one that posted a couple of buds.
There is nothing more wonderful than the sweet smelling blossom of apple and other fruit trees in the spring garden. How I miss them but I still have memories of our garden in Montreal and the wonderful blossom in England. Thanks for jogging my memory.
I love the sense of anticipation I get from looking at everyone’s beautiful pictures of their gardens each month. The mention of your korean spice viburnum reminded me that mine should be in bloom soon, it’s one of my favorite shrubs and I am always so happy when it blooms.
There’s not much blooming here at the moment; hopefully the second half of April will be better than the first!
Thank you for hosting GBBD. I’m a new blogger and am so happy to get to participate.
Your flowers are beautiful.
As for early blooms, the only ones I’ve noticed coming early in my Houston-area garden are my gardenias.
I finally did it! I made the Bloom Day posting date. 🙂 I guess April 15th has it advantages on remembering the day!
Carol,
Nearly May……..
But April isn’t too shabby.
My “Glorious April” bloomday post is here Violets are good! Desirable in fact.
In spite of what Les does with them 🙂
Thanks for the 15th.
joco
I love the “chin’s up” season! And it’s so interesting to see your plants. Happy Bloom Day, Linda
Lovely as usual! Sometimes I think the buds are as interesting as the blooms.
Just about everything you list either hasn’t even emerged yet (bleeding heart, my double bloodroots) or is just getting started (hyacinths, chionodoxa). I’m further behind than Nan, I’m sure. But my little blue hepatica is totally amazing. This is the first year it’s bloomed and the color is astounding.
Our Korean Spice are still tightly budded. The crabbys are still crabby and tight. My apricot IS open. And now, to prepare my Bloom Day post.
Oh, snow here today.
Thanks for hosting this fun day! I also have several things on the verge of blooming, it’s amazing what a day or two of sun can do! It looks like you have lots blooming there. Isn’t it nice when you have so much in bloom you can’t fit all the pictures, when just a few months ago we were searching for one!
Geez, where did this last month go? All that time and still no blooms. At least I’ve got my pussy willow. It’s so nice to get out and see all of the cheerful colors. Next bloom day I’ll have something blooming for sure!
Yay! I love April Bloom Day—I finally have something to show! My post is up. Happy Bloom Day, all 🙂
“It’s too cold overcast, and damp to spend much time looking at them.” You said it. I was shivering this am as I took some GBBD pix.
Alright! Double flowering bloodroot. That looks like a plant worth having. I already love the normal species Bloodroots that are right next to our trout lillies. And we’ve toyed with adding a Viburnum carlesii this year to go with our carlcephalum. They both have wonderful fragrance…
I was so happy to finally have something blooming outdoors – and join gardeners like you. My weeds aren’t blooming yet, but I’ll have to catalog them soon. That’s a great idea. They certainly start earlier than culivated plants.
It exciting to see so many blooms from so many gardens as spring ramps up!
Although things are earlier this year than last year, they are still later than usual. I’m still waiting for my double Sanguinaria to make an appearance. The singles will probably all be done by the time the doubles bloom. They are worth the wait.
I’m so excited that you have serviceberry and Koreanspice and crabapples blooming or about to bloom. I’m getting a little frustrated about the pace of blooming here, and I know that if you have things blooming, they’re sure to start here soon.
My garden is still a little sparse, but spring is definitely here!
I am loving that Bloodroot! I want one. I am supposing that I cannot have those in Central Texas….
wouldn’t you figure- I mention how dry it’s been in my post, and then this morning it rains!
Love the Korean Spice Viburnum! Happy GBBD and thanks for hosting.
Hi Carol,
I’ve been a long time follower of your Bloom Days, and I do like to see all the other people’s gardens, though I don’t leave comments very often. I thought I’d give it a try myself, so I’ve added a link.
Living in what could be termed a sort of eternal spring of the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s actually refreshing to see the seasons pass so strongly in other areas of the country!
Holy moly, this is a very popular topic! I haven’t heard of blogger’s blooms day before – I like it. It would be rather embarassing if I put my photos up, we didn’t plant much in the way of spring colour in the autumn, we had intended to move house, but that didn’t happen. I think there are 3 things out there in bloom and 2 others done at the lottie. I’ll take part next time x
Wow, it must be spring, look at all the flowers! Like you, I do not consider violas to be weeds, they are welcome almost anywhere they choose to volunteer in my garden.
Oh, how I’m loving this GBBD business. It creates a delightful place to stop and look.
P x
I’m sorry it’s been so cold and cloudy there. We had that weather on Easter Sunday, but now we’re having the best weather ever. All of your blooms are lovely, and I liked the “chin up gardener” bit. So true, in so many ways.~~Dee
Finally a second chance to join in on the fun. I started marigolds in the house. They’re still in the house and have started blooming.
Thanks for a chance to show off the babies.
I’m so glad you posted a picture of your Korean Spice viburnum! Now I know what that wonderful shrub that lives under my bedroom window is. It came with the house, fully grown, and I have never really gotten it satisfactorily identified. And it smells SO GOOD!
Your garden is beautiful, like always. My post is finally up.
Since our snow still hasn’t melted, the only thing blooming here is indoors. On my blog today, the middle photo is one of the blooms on my Easter cactus. Enjoy!
I would like to add Viburnum carlesii to my garden too, but where…
Have you tasted the berries? I hear they’re snack-worthy.
Totally love the Mr. Linky widget, btw; don’t think I’ve mentioned it before.
Oh good for you, planting serviceberry instead of callery pears. Let’s start a campaign to promote a lovely native flowering tree.
As for the WOO, I thought I had it all lined up for a productive spring season and then I broke my kneecap. The doctor has benched me for 8 weeks in prime planting and weeding time!
Thanks for hosting. I love bloodroot, but it doesn’t bloom until May in my zone.
Hi Carol,
I am the 100th on Mr Linkey! which I thought was quite cool.
I enjoyed the way you divided your list into heights, it made me realize that I may be in need of a few more things at eye level 🙂
I really like Amelanchier – such a pretty thing, both in blossom and the leaf and bark texture
I wish the internet had smelly vision – I would love to have the scent of your Viburnum carlesii wafting through my computer.
K
Finally! Will peruse the list for glorious blooms. Thanks Carol!
PS I think your Korean Spice viburnum might be the twin of my mystery shrub, come to think of it! Thanks to your post, I went out and looked at it and I think it’s a match!
You’re at least a couple of weeks ahead of us here in upstate NY, Carol.
We could actually use some rain here. The ground seemed a little dry to me yesterday when I was out working in the garden.
I hope my crab apple has as many blooms as yours, when it gets to that point. It bloomed quite sparsely last year.
I’d love to smell your pretty Viburnum.
Your lawn is so green in the background of the
Amelanchier. Our isn’t ready to mow yet.
Happy Bloom Day, Carol, and thanks for hosing!
I mean ‘hosting’ 🙂
Just started garden blogging and today was my first bloom day. What a great idea – thanks!
hey you zombies, get off my lawn!
Hi Carol! It FINALLY feels like Spring has arrived in Wisconsin, and we have a few blooms to show for it. Hooray!
Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago next month!
Carol, your selection of flowering trees and shrubs is first rate – silverbell and serviceberry and viburnums that bloom instead of croak.
I would have bought ‘Guenivere’ the crabapple just for her name.
My GBBD post is up at the Transplantable Rose with the Latin names over on Annie’s Addendum.
Thank you for inviting us!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
It sounds like spring is squarely in your corner of the world now Carol. I do wish I had a crabapple like yours. I’ve been eye-ing the last one at the nursery, hmm… Thanks once again for hosting!
I was having a hard time today with botanical names also. I was hoping to post all the blooming weeds but maybe another time – Here on the Central Coast of CA, my Douglas iris is just starting to bloom finally – I posted – then I walked up the lane and saw so many locally native iris in full bloom palest lavender color with thin darker veins, so lovely. I’m plotting to propagate!
What a lovely idea Carol! Your garden is too! Happy Spring!
If you can have redbuds you’d think you could have Texas mountain laurels. In my mind the two just go together. But then in my world paperwhites bloom with the roses–so I guess plant associations depend entirely on where you garden.
I’m looking forward to more tulip reports as my tulips are finished now.
April is the big month at Zanthan Gardens. I’ve been doing my best to enjoy it while I can before summer is upon us. We had a little rain in March and that helped a lot.
I was supposed to take a break from blogging this week so I could work on my thesis. I just could NOT miss bloom day. Thanks.
Carol, thanks so much for hosting! I loved the idea of just listing some of the flowers, it made me feel a bit less intimidated…Happy bloom day!
I really like your comment of finally being able to look up to see flowers. That’s a sure sign that spring is getting going. Enjoy your gorgeous blooms–you’ve got a lot of wonderful things to look at, whether you look up or down.
I finally have a real showing for GBBD. Thanks so much for hosting. Now, I must check you everyone else’s blooms.
As always, thank you for hosting. It is so great to see spring everywhere.
It looks like spring has sprung for you. Beautiful post!
Hi Carol,
It’s interesting you noted your blooms are coming early this year. They are really bursting out on those pretty shrubs and serviceberry tree.
Down here everything is a little slow … I guess due to the ‘out of character’ freezes we had in January. It sort of threw everything out of sync.
Thanks for letting us all join in.
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel
Thank you, Carol, for all you do.
Carolyn at Mud Fence Garden
Not a bloom in sight! :<) You may have seen an entry my husband wrote on the serviceberry, but if not and you'd like to do so:
http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2008/05/serviceberry.html
I posted my blooms yesterday, then promptly forgot to come and share it! I remembered this morning:-)Yesterday was just one of those days…
Happy GBBD, Carol.
It’s been a busy spring for me — had to file an extension on my taxes — but I didn’t want to miss Bloom Day. So, finally a day late, my GBBD post is up.
Love that blood root! Hope you get a warm, sunny day soon. Looking forward to visiting your May Bloom Day.
Hi Carol – oh I am so late for the party! I’m still waiting for my amelanchier to bloom – maybe tomorrow and then maybe I’ll do a GBBD post from home. Meanwhile here are Blithewold’s blooms a day late. Our Korean spice bush is still so tightly budded… Thanks as always for hosting!
Carol, it’s exciting to see your garden waking up from hibernation! Thanks for hosting, as always. Also, I made a mistake on Mr. Linky, so please remove #127; I added my correct link on #132.
Wow, 132 links to bloom day posts! Good job!
I wasn’t going to take part in this but I’ve changed my mind. We have little to show but I think I’ll share anyway.
I am a little late to the game this time around, but I couldn’t not share my first strawberry!
Carol, that blood root is so adorable!
Your Dicentra is already blooming?! Ours is barely pushing up out of the dirt. Thanks for another great Bloom Day chance to see what’s going on in everyone’s garden!
Woohoo! I get to be comment 100!
Thank you all for joining in for bloom day once again. I’ve enjoyed the posts I’ve visited so far, and am going to try to visit as many as I can in the days ahead. Spring is “springing” all over! Thanks for making it brighter by sharing your blooms with us!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Whew … only 2 days behind and I’m # 138 — holy cow!
I love seeing your garden, because whatever you have in bloom means it’s right around the corner for me .. well if 2 weeks is around the corner… 😉
Oh my, Carol, I just can’t believe how much bigger the blooming posts get each month 😀
Thanks, to you, for hosting once again! Love the blossoms on your trees. Happy April ’09 Bloom Day 😀
I love the spice viburnum. We don’t have one, but there is one at Duke Gardens, close by, and I go by it over and over again when it’s in bloom.
Thank you for hosting!
So sorry to be joining the bloom day so late, but I was out of town. Love being a part of such a fun way to connect with other gardeners…thank you for hosting this!!
Oh my gosh, I completely lost track of time! I was outside today, taking pictures, and wondering when the 15th would be. Today is already 18th April! Eeks! And it’s just too nice today to be sitting in front of my computer sorting through photos. So it’s going to be a late Bloomday post from me, later this evening. I’ll leave my name in the linkies then. And maybe another comment. It’s SUNNY outside, can’t be wasting that!
I just posted my blooms – very late – and am the 144th person to post! Wow. That is alot of blooms!
Happy Late Bloom Day!