Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for April 2016.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, I’m pleased to report that after roaring out of the starting gates at break neck speed, Spring has slowed down a bit and returned to what I think is normal speed.
In other words, what’s blooming now ought to be blooming now.
And there is a lot blooming.
Where to begin? Shall we walk about the garden in an orderly fashion or dart from one end to the other kneeling to exclaim at a tiny bloom then jumping up to see some trees in bloom?
Let’s dart!
Without further ado, some of the many blooms here in May Dreams Gardens.
Above is a picture of some ‘Lady Jane’ tulips. I love the two tone look of them and appreciate how they return reliably from year to year. There foliage is slender and sort of melts into the foliage of other plants around them.
Next up are some flowering quince, Chaenomeles species Double Take™ ‘Orange Storm’ and peeking out behind them, the blue flowers are Muscari sp., grape hyacinth.
I like the color combination.
Oh look, there in the vegetable garden, the strawberries are starting to bloom.
Someone start making some shortcakes… well, it is a little soon for shortcakes, but it won’t be long until there are some strawberries to eat and other produce, too.
In the meantime, how about a jewel of a flower. This is Pearl Bush, Exochorda × macrantha
I should know the variety name but I don’t and it would take me a while to find the tag amongst all the plant tags I have around here. But I do know the reason they call it Pearl Bush is because the buds look like little white pearls.
Look over there, the source of that wonderful scent, Korean Spice Viburnum in bloom, Viburnum carlesii.
It has a wonderful scent. Did I mention that?
Way on the other side of the garden, there are still some Narcissus in bloom.
But one hardly notices them when nearby the trout lilies, Erythronium ‘Pagoda’, are blooming, too.
I planted these last fall and think I should get some more to plant next fall.
The serviceberries, Amelanchier sp, are in bloom.
Kids, if you want white blooming trees in the spring, plant serviceberries, not flowering pears. The flowering pears smell awful in bloom, have a weak structure and are invading our woods and forests. End of lecture.
I have some other lovely tulips in bloom. These are Tulipa sylvestris, I think.
And this is a hybrid tulip.
The hybrid tulips dot the garden here and there. There is one here, one there, one over yonder. None were planted alone but because they don’t return reliably, they end up alone. I just leave them be but don’t usually bother planting more.
The lovely Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, are still going strong in spite of some rather nasty cold weather last week.
Who doesn’t like a little puddle of Phlox subulata in the garden?
Want to go and see what’s blooming in the front garden?
The Burkwood viburnum, Viburnum x burkwoodii, is blooming.
It’s in competition with the Korean Spice Viburnum in back for Most Fragrant Bloom. I will run back and forth between them and decide later which one wins.
There is no scent on these narcissus, but I still like them.
Do you like how I matched these tulips to the emerging foliage of the spirea behind them?
I will confess the match is purely be accident.
And so we come to the final blooms in this rather long post. This is Malus ‘Gwendolyn’, which is just beginning to bloom. It will really shine this weekend.
I planted it 18 years ago and it has bloomed every spring since then.
Thank you for darting around the garden with me. There is more to see, but I’ll save some of the pictures for another day.
What’s blooming in your garden today? Why don’t you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us?
It’s easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what’s blooming in your garden, then come back here to this post and leave a comment to tell us what you have and put your link on the Mr. Linky widget to make it easy for us to visit.
We welcome everyone!
And remember, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Carol-I love all your fabulous spring blooms! We had a similar situation here on Long Island. Hyacinth bulbs were coming up in March and then we had record cold temperatures in the beginning of April. We are finally getting to where we should be and blooms are on schedule. Happy spring and as always thanks for hosting this wonderful meme!
Thank you for hosting GBBD meme!
You said the spring has slowed down, but you have quite a few blooms going on in your garden.
Especially 'Lady Jane' looks nice!! I want two tone color tulips, like yours:)
It's always time for strawberry shortcake! You have lots blooming–a beautiful spring garden. Thanks for hosting, it's always fun!
Wow, wow, wow! What a difference a month makes. Happy Spring Carol.
Lady Jane is hands down my favorite tulip. I love its slender, gray foliage, and how it self-seeds itself wherever it pleases. Happy spring!
I love your spring flowers and adore the viburnum. Happy GBBD to all!
So many blooms in your garden, my garden is just awakening from its winter sleep. There will be more flowers next month!
There's a lot going on in your April garden, Carol. When they changed the zones, my garden became 6a, but here in the mountains blooms are much slower than yours. But I'm glad spring is proceeding at a more normal pace. Thanks for hosting! P. x
If I were you, I would claim that tulip spirea combo as something you did on purpose. Happy GBBD to you, and happy spring!
Spring is so much fun. One does tend to dart here and there through out the garden to see up close the splashes of color here and there. Happy GBBD.
Thank you for sharing your flowers. All I have are some droopy daffs after the snow hit them this past week. Just starting to see buds emerging here in SE Michigan.
Tulips are just getting going here too, Carol and next door's Magnolia is looking glorious. However, I've chosen to focus on more delicate looking subjects this month!
Happy Blooms Day everyone 🙂
Spring is spectacular! What a lot of lovely blooms.
Everything that's in bloom in your garden is still just in bud in mine. It must look lovely.
You are obviously having a lovely spring.
https://johnsviccellio.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-15-april-2016/
It's all just beautiful! I love 'Gwendolyn'…and a plant that still blossoms like that after 18 years is my kind of plant. Thanks for hosting._Janice
The difference each month is amazing! You are still ahead of us, but we are catching up! Love your combinations,they go so well together.
It's a grand time of year when so much is in bloom that we can only post a sample of the bounty. You have some fab blooms. Seems like some of our favorite color combinations happen by accident! Thanks for hosting and happy GBBD!
Love all the flowers in your spring garden. What a great competition, best Viburnum scent.
All very beautiful! I have daffs, hellabores, celandine poppies, and some short blue flowers(the name has escaped me. It's a beautiful day!
I LOOOVE the tulips! I've never had the guts to try them here in Austin, Texas, so I'll keep enjoying yours and imagine that if I did try I'd be successful! 😉 Beautiful photos, thank you so much for hosting, as always!
I'm glad the winter relapse that's affected much of the country hasn't taken out your beautiful spring blooms. How I wish I could grow tulips! Still, in southern California I can't complain – just about everything that can bloom, is blooming. Thanks for hosting GBBD, Carol!
What a lot of lovely spring blooms you have. That Malus must be stunning when in full bloom. Happy Bloom Day and thanks for hosting.
Thanks for hosting. Lovely to see your blooms
I'm so glad we darted about. Spring is best enjoyed hummingbird style!
If your flowering quince and pearl bush are just blooming, I guess I can stop checking mine every day. It will be another couple of weeks, at least.
What gorgeous April blooms Carole, thank you for hosting.
Chloris
Thanks for the tip re the Amelanchier. It was recently suggested to me when I was enquiring about a white blossoming tree to plant an ornamental pear. I shall avoid them like the plague now!
Thanks for hosting Carole.
I also live in an area which was rushing through spring and then the weather turned back to winter with snow, and temperatures in the teens (some outlying areas had temps in the single digits). Now, spring is recovering. Enjoyed all your blooms. Isn't spring a wonderful thing?
It's a lovely Spring at your Gardens. We're having a bit of Blackberry Winter, probably the last cool we will experience until a Cool Day in July, which is rare. Happy Bloom Day, Everybody!
Serviceberry is lovely to look at.
But a more appealing name??
Your garden is looking like spring has arrived. We are about two weeks ahead this year. Climate change has everything out earlier than normal. My serviceberry is done already. I love my Magnolia stellata for its early blooms.
Hello Carol from the West Coast! Your gardens are alight with color. I can imagine how cheerful it feels to walk about and find yourself admiring the view. It's been spring here in Oregon since early March, but all the best waits for April. Happy GBBD! Cheers, Jenni
You have loads more blooms than I do this time of year; mine are mostly tulips. And I TOTALLY agree about serviceberries. Not only lovely and edible, but an Indiana native!
I guess that since Lady Jane returns year after year, it must be a species tulip. The phlox looks pepperminty good enough to eat.
-Ray
This is my first year attempting tulips. I should have done a little more research before jumping in and planting some 100 bulbs, because my tulip bed became a deer smorgasbord! Maybe I'll get the deer repellent out earlier next spring… At least I have a few buds of Angelique that the deer haven't noshed.
Lady Jane looks wonderful! I never really thought of myself as a tulip person until I realized that they're not all the standard cartoon flowers many people think of as tulips. Maybe I can find some deer-resistant varieties…
Beautiful pics! Thanks for hosting!
Happy Spring! I am so happy the weather has seemed to have settled down and the gardens are starting to fill out nicely.
Rough week, but I got a post up. So good to have spring show up.
I love Viburnum carlesii and x burkwoodii. I need to find a spot for both in my garden. That fragrance! I'll take service berry over ornamental pears any day. That stench!
Quince is one of my favorites!…but is already done here 🙁 Cheers to still seeing it in the blogosphere!
I enjoyed seeing your blooms, Carol. I am so tickled that it is spring! I have a lone trout lily that has not bloomed yet. I hope it does yet.
I'd love to know what the Viburnum carlesii smells like! Sounds lovely.
I'm glad to know of a good alternate to the stinky pear blossoms. I also like the form of the serviceberry better, so it's a win-win. Happy Bloom Day!
Beautiful! I've got Lady Tulips as well today.
Lovely blooms this month. I think your yellow tulip are sylvestris as I have those too. You are just a little ahead of us here in Aberdeen, UK. Mine are just about to come out, as are my Erythroniums.
Thanks for hosting – here is my link
https://myaberdeengarden.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/gbbd-april-in-aberdeen/
I like your species tulips, Carol, I should try out some more since the squirrels seem to leave them alone more than the hybrids. Your fragrant Viburnums sound delightful, and my bluebells have not bloomed yet, and are getting very many holes in the leaves from slugs. The last apple shot has such dark pink buds, very pretty!
It seems like a mirror of our garden to read through your posting. I even notice that your strawberries show the same frost damage that ours have had. It's a great time of year!
So many beauties! I have Lady Janes and absolutely adore them – the rabbits don't eat them either! And I love, love, love trout lilies! I planted one last Fall, too, but so far no signs, sniff, sniff. Wish we had smell-o-rama so I could take a whiff of that Korean Spice!
Such a gorgeous time of year. Your photos are beautiful. I missed Garden Bloom Day last month because there was really nothing new blooming and the weather on March 15th was dismal. I wasa wimp, but I'm back this month! I took my photos yesterday but didn't get them published until this morning.
I love coming to see what's blooming in your garden each month, Carol. That quince is a winner! My garden is bursting with flowers this April, too.
Love all your spring blooms, Carol! We may be a wee bit behind you, but my little serviceberry is also blooming. I agree–one of the best choices I've made. Looks like we'd better enjoy spring while we can–with next week's forecast, summer may already be on the way!
Carol, Your spring flowers look wonderful. I have only a few scattered blooms in my Maine garden — but I'm happy to have those; last year at this time, we still had snow on the ground. -Jean
It's lovely to dart around with you! I'd like to be able to smell as well as see some of those flowers… 😉
Thanks for always hosting GBBD, it is a very big event that every garden blogger is waiting for every month, haha. It is like waiting for the salary at 15th and 30th, and i feel bad whenever i forgot to make a post for linking. AS you know we don't have winter that limits blooms, so we have them all year round.
Better late than never, as usual. Happy Spring!
Love the Lady Jane, and the other tulips, too! Also the trout lilies, so pretty! Here in the California desert, bulb season peaked in February, with the exception of a few stragglers. The calendar says spring, but the 90+ degree weather says summer. Every day is a good day in the garden!