April Bloom Day 2013
April, in my opinion, here in the PNW, is an ugly month. Sogginess abounds. We have blooms, and they are beautiful, but they rarely last between downpours. That's just the way April rolls here.
In the past I've tried and tried to be successful with tulips. I love them. For heaven sakes I'm Dutch! But, while our soils and climate here are very comparable to those in the Netherlands, our rain showers in April are daunting. Heavy, soaking things.
Instead, I've opted for Daffodils. They have sturdy stems and petals that are not easily ripped off by wind and rain. Here are some new varieties I'm enjoying this year:
The large, pink, dogwood tree, planted by husbands great grandfather a long time ago, is blooming beautifully.
There are many dogwoods in bloom right now. It's a parade of pink throughout the neighborhoods. Gorgeous.
The dwarf, combination, apple tree, graced us with lovely blooms.
Once they opened, they survived some nasty rainstorms.
The pear tree is also blooming. I love feeling like I'm cultivating a mini-farm.
My shade garden is coming along. I've been fighting with wood hyacinths. I've inherited a yard full of wood hyacinths. Blasted.
Happy April from the rainy Pacific Northwest. I look forward to visiting you gardens. Look up Carol over at May Blooms Garden and join in the worldwide celebration of April's Bloom Day.
Cheers, Jenni
In the past I've tried and tried to be successful with tulips. I love them. For heaven sakes I'm Dutch! But, while our soils and climate here are very comparable to those in the Netherlands, our rain showers in April are daunting. Heavy, soaking things.
Instead, I've opted for Daffodils. They have sturdy stems and petals that are not easily ripped off by wind and rain. Here are some new varieties I'm enjoying this year:
The large, pink, dogwood tree, planted by husbands great grandfather a long time ago, is blooming beautifully.
There are many dogwoods in bloom right now. It's a parade of pink throughout the neighborhoods. Gorgeous.
The dwarf, combination, apple tree, graced us with lovely blooms.
Once they opened, they survived some nasty rainstorms.
The pear tree is also blooming. I love feeling like I'm cultivating a mini-farm.
My shade garden is coming along. I've been fighting with wood hyacinths. I've inherited a yard full of wood hyacinths. Blasted.
Happy April from the rainy Pacific Northwest. I look forward to visiting you gardens. Look up Carol over at May Blooms Garden and join in the worldwide celebration of April's Bloom Day.
Cheers, Jenni
Everything looks SO beautiful! Im ready for the sun too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blooms!
ReplyDeleteHappy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Hi am new here, straight from GBBD. I smiled at your not being able to raise tulips despite being Dutch. Don't worry, you have more beautiful alternates, daffodils as viewed by someone who hasn't seen them yet in person, are very attractive and fascinating.
ReplyDeleteYou have some very beautiful Daffs there, Jenni. I particularly like the ones with white petals and orange trumpets. In contrast, the "ordinary" yellow ones seem, well, ordinary. As you say, they are surprisingly robust too. April here in the UK is often very windy, and the daffodils seem to cope with that pretty well. You mentioned Wood Hyacinths in a derogatory way: I had to look up that name, and I see it is an alternative for Bluebell. Are they not attractive to you? Do you see them as weeds, or what?
ReplyDeleteHi Mark, they are pretty, but they are invasive. They do not have a fragrant smell and the bulbs spread like wildfire. They seem to choke out other plants, so I am hacking away at them! Be gone awful plants! haha.
DeleteAre your wood hyacinths the ones we call Spanish bluebells as opposed to the English ones with the lovely scent. There is concern here that people growing the Spanish variety in their gardens may spoil the gene pool of our native plants through cross pollination.
ReplyDeleteOur apple trees are well behind this year.
Sue, yes, the wood hyacinths are Spanish Bluebells. They are voracious and non-native. It is very difficult to get them out. My efforts will probably just 'thin' them for awhile. At least that will allow some of the other plants I have to grow.
DeleteYour blooms are looking great Jenni! April is a very wet month here but we live for those moments where some blue sky peeks through and the sunshine transforms all of the wetness into sparkling diamonds and ribbons of silver. (I'm making myself a litte sick here with the positive attitude.)
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! When the blue peeks through, it's like heaven here!
DeleteHappy GBBD! Your daffodils and flowering shrubs are lovely and your photos are sharp and beautiful. I know we dislike a lot of rain but last summer in my neck of the woods, we had such hot, dry weather that we were doing a rain dance!
ReplyDeleteIt's true, one's attitude about rain depends on how much one gets! Happy GBBD!
DeleteThose wood hyacinths are very hard to get rid of, aren't they, I inherited lots in my new garden, but at the moment I am just happy to have the promise of some colour so I am leaving them be... Shame about the tulips, but the daffs loof lovely. Happy GBBD.
ReplyDeleteHi Janet, I wouldn't mind them so much except that they are thick in the flower beds. We are able to grow lovely, lovely plants in the early spring and I hate to have them choked out.
DeleteI really love April in the northwest! This is when everything turns so green and gorgeous again, when the trees bloom, when all the bulbs are up. I find April downright cheerful! I wish I had some wood hyacinths.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome to all the wood hyacinths I dig up! :)
DeleteGorgeous spring blooms! I really love that maroon-red color of the dogwood. Never seen one that color before! Dogwoods are not terribly common in the upper midwest where I'm from. Happy rainy season.
ReplyDeleteI caught the dogwood, early in it's bloom cycle. It's now a very pretty, medium pink. We have a 'Pacific' dogwood that is white and native to the area. Dogwoods were are a yard necessity here :)
DeleteInteresting. We have no dogwoods blooming here yet. You're so close and yet so far ahead of us. Your daffs are stunning. I love every one of them. And you're so right about ugly April. This is why I have mainly a summer garden. I like to enjoy my blossoms without rain running down the back of my shirt and down my nose. Take care.
ReplyDeleteNo dogwoods in bloom yet? They must be right around the corner! Yes, I tend to plan the bulk of my blooms for summer through frost. I love being outside to enjoy them and soak them up all season!
DeleteLove all your pics! Every time I see a photo of the beautiful bleeding heart, I think I just have to go get a couple of those this year... and then I never do. We have the wild bleeding hearts around my house, which are lovely too. But, I want the larger kind like yours. Hopefully, April doesn't end up being too wet.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good month ahead of us with blooms. (I'm in Eastern Washington). I actually planted some wood hyacinth on my back slope, in hopes that it would compete with all the weedy grass, aspens and dandelions back there. So far in 2 years it has gone from one clump to two. Maybe the dryer climate is reigning it in? Beautiful photos, by the way.
ReplyDeleteVery lovely daffodils and blooms. Happy BBD!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous blooms...glad they are hardy enough to withstand your soggy Spring weather! You've inspired me to consider a daffodil design! Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteI would *LOVE* to see you make a daffodil design!
DeleteYour garden is a little further ahead than mine is. I love your pink dogwood and wish I had one like it. What a nice array of daffodils you have! One great thing about them, as compared to tulips, is there ability to come back year after year. Like you, I have come to prefer them to tulips.
ReplyDeleteYou may not have tulips, but the flowers you do have are lovely!
ReplyDeleteLovely spring flowers! Your Dicentra is certainly way ahead of mine, I have two, they are barely out of ground yet! Here in London we are 6-8 weeks later than a normal spring, I am ready for some blazing sunshine throughout May! Hope you have a great week-end, take care, Helene.
ReplyDeleteDespite your soggy weather, your Daffodils are looking fabulous. Love the Dogwood and Pear Tree blooms too. All these flowers are things we don't see in my part of the world.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed looking at all the lovely flowers. Love the daffodils and bleeding hearts
ReplyDelete