Welcome to Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day for April 2021.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, we’ll begin with my obsession of spring — the violas, pansies, and violets. This particular pansy is a ‘Frizzle Sizzle’ which is my new favorite variety. I love the ruffles, the distinctive markings, the faces!
And yes, I am one of “those gardeners” who lets the wild violets go wild in her garden.
Is that all the Viola sp.?
No, that’s not all!
At the local greenhouse I discovered Viola ‘Etain’, which is supposed to be a perennial in my hardiness zone.
I’ve also purchased Viola ‘Porcelain Paint’ but it isn’t flowering yet. (I found it on the wholesale grower’s website when I was obsessively looking for more perennial pansies, and the greenhouse owner kindly ordered some plugs of it, too, so that I could have it in my garden.)
Of course, I have what I call “regular” violas. I planted some in a planter that wraps around the umbrella pole on my patio table.
And I also filled the containers around the patio with more violas.
I warned you I was obsessed with pansies, violas and violets.
Okay, one more violet, and then we should move on to other flowers.
This one isn’t in my garden. I saw it on in a wooded nature preserve a few days ago.
This is Viola pubescens.
Okay, that’s it for Viola sp., but don’t be surprised if there’s a future post dedicated to them.
Nothing says “April” in my garden quite like the flowering crabapple, ‘Guinevere’ for which I have only good things to say.
If you hear someone bad-mouthing crabapples, they don’t have ‘Guinevere’! This one has been a star, with zero problems for almost 25 years! Look at those flowers!
Elsewhere in the garden, there are tulips.
These are ‘Lady Jane’ tulips which will open to show white inside their petals. A lovely tulip.
Behind it is summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, which I warn you is a bit of a thug. (In fact, I’m digging a bunch of those thugs out this week.)
These are also some hybrid tulips I tossed in the ends of the raised beds in the vegetable garden.
As these tulips fade, those snapdragons and alyssum will take over. In fact, I might pull the tulips out once they are done flowering and plant them someplace out of the way to get them, well, out of the way of the snapdragons. Plus these hybrid tulips don’t always bloom great the second year. Since Easter is on April 17th next year, I want new bulbs in these beds so I will have a nice display for the big Easter egg hunt.
I can’t leave the April bloom day post without showing you some fairy wings, Epimedium sp.
I have some pretty yellow flowering fairy wings.
And some pink flowering fairy wings.
Now, how shall we wrap up this bloom day post?
How about with some pansies? No?
How about wrapping up with one of the blooms on Magnolia ‘Butterflies’?
It’s still not a big tree, though I planted it about three years ago, but you can see by the yummy, buttery color of the flowers that when it does get big, it is going to be a spectacular flowering tree every April.
What’s blooming in your garden in mid-April. Why don’t you participate in Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us? It’s easy to do so. Just post on your blog about the blooms in your garden and then come back to this post and leave a link in the Mr. Linky widget and a comment to tell us what you have.
(And if you tell me you have anything in the Viola genus, I’ll be over quick as you can say, Viola!)
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
I let the wild violets grow all over the place too!
I don’t remember ever seeing Fairy Wings before – so pretty!
Happy Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!
Some azaleas in Black Mountain NC
I love wild violets. I had them yeard\s ago. My candytuft and bleeding heart are blooming.
No Violas for me this year… I think you must have my share!
I do however have some epimediums which are blooming for the first time this year. Naturally I had to show them off today đ
Happy Blooms Day everyone!
Love the Lady Janes.
-Ray
I planted some Leucojum in fall of 2019 so excited as it’s the first time I planted them. They bloomed last spring and then some critter systematically dug them all up, so a few sparse leaves this year but no flowers. Hyacinths, violets, and forsythia in bloom, daffodils fading, bleeding heart budded and lots of dandelions and other weeds. Alas I have no blog, so you’ll just need to imagine them.
I am imagining your flowers as lovely!
I could do with a post on nothing but violas and violets! I let my wild violets be, in most places. I like the little violas, never pansies. Your ruffly one is very pretty though.
You do spring well Carol! And I am jealous you have room for that magnolia, it’s a favorite.
I love pansies even if they don’t hold on long here. My own ‘Lady Jane’ tulips were also here and gone. Looking at my garden, you’d probably think it was summer but there’s no shortage of blooms. When “real” summer arrives, that’s when my flowers disappear en masse. Thanks for hosting, Carol.
Dear Carol, thanks for hosting my blog. Love to read every week about your garden.
Happy Bloom Day Carol! Your blooms are all so beautiful and you can definitely see that spring has sprung in your garden. Your violas, tulips, Crabapple and Magnolia are just lovely! We are still in crocus, hyacinth, daffodil, Magnolia and Flowering Plum mode, but catching up to you quickly. Thank you for stopping by my blog and for hosting!
Happy Bloom Day, Carol – You can see there is Chaos in Greenfield. I don’t know how I managed to get two images from my garden with no message. I hope you all will forgive me – and enjoy my fringed bleeding hearts and the daffodils and scilla. Thank you so much for Bloom Day!
Carol, it’s all so lovely. I also have those violets, and they are “planted” beneath my new serviceberry. I also have Royal Raindrops crabapple which is beautiful if short blooming. I love your Guinevere. I hope your garden continues to bloom better and better in May although April is pretty darned nice. ~~Dee
Just found your blog by way of Dee’s Red Dirt Ramblings! Love your Lady Jane Tulips! I am on a tulip craze this spring! After the harsh weather they are such a bright spot! I’m in love with those Frizzle Sizzle pansies-haven’t seen any in my area yet. So pretty!
Love your Magnolia âButterfliesâ – I am not a huge fan of yellow, but those blooms are just the right buttery shade!
Have a great Bloom Day, all!
Happy spring!
Everything was fine until I saw magnolia ‘Butterflies’. Now I have a problem.
Love your fairy wings! Everything looks so colorful and lovely, thank you Carol!
Oh that Crabapple !
This is a spectacular spring filled post with all the beautiful spring blooms pansy, violas. I love the tulips, epimedium is one of the spectacular lower. I have started a weekly Garden link up party anyone interested in sharing posts relating to Gardening, Nature and Birds can link up here at http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2021/04/garden-affair-mesembryanthemum.html
Hi Carol, I enjoy celebrating spring with you. Violets are an inevitable feature of our garden too! So nice to move beyond snow and cold.
I’m sorry to admit I have no violas, although I love seeing them in your garden. I do have several fairy wings (I hadn’t heard of that name and I love it – much easier than Epimedium.) But I find them so difficult to photograph that I only included the most accommodating one in my post! Thank you for hosting yet again this month, Carol.
What a treat to see all your spring flowers, Carol! Here in my Maine garden, the spring bulb display has just begun and I’m eagerly waiting for the daffodils to bloom. Thanks, as always, for hosting.
The linkups are not working for me right now. Perhaps tomorrow?
Sorry I missed the date, but glad I didn’t miss your posting, Carol. Your April garden is lovely! I am blown away by how wonderful your site is looking. (I must get away from Blogger.) Happy spring. P x
I grew up with my dad growing pansies. I love them dearly. Very nice April flowers you have.