Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – April 2010

Over the years, I tried to grow primrose without much success. I even began to call them “stinkin’ primrose”. This primrose, in its third year, is my first success. It was a gift from a friend’s garden. I don’t know its name but I know I’m happy to have it in my garden. (If you know or have a guess, please leave a note in the comments.)

The trees and shrubs are perfect today.

White lilac

Purple lilac


Dogwood


Redbud


and spectacular azaleas
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Ah, Spring!

From a brown, chilly March to a bright, colorful April - there are sure to be many examples blooms in the links at Carol’s blog for April Bloom Day. I can’t wait to see what is blooming around the world. Visit May Dreams Garden blog and enjoy!
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Squirrel Food

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Our dogwood trees (Cornus florida) are full of pretty red fruit. The fruit, called a drupe, is also called stone fruit and is akin to a peach, plum or cherry.

I imagine snowy winter days with the tree’s graceful structure dotted in bright red fruit.

However, it’s not to be. Every evening we hear a faint crack, crack, crack. The squirrels sit in the tree, split open the fruit and eat the seeds.

By the time the last leaf drops, the tree will be stripped clean.

So it goes.

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Promise of Spring

Even though I’m in the “season of brown” mentally, there are signs everywhere of the promise of spring.

The PJM Rhododendron with its burgundy tinted leaves cradling buds waiting to explode next April.

Buds of the Dogwood trees pop straight up among the fall colored leaves.

Pussy Willow buds swell in anticipation of late winter sun.

Azaleas and Rhododendron buds wait for April.

Time to get over the brown mood. It’s time for a garden tour! The Coplay Garden Club’s Longwood Garden tour will be a treat. Then there are the house plants – the Christmas cacti are setting buds. The topiaries need a trim. The amaryllis will bloom. The cuttings are growing and will need to be cut and rooted. There are flower shows to look forward to. And all those flower and garden catalogues. I’ll need to asses this year’s garden and make a plan for next year. I have a few new garden books on my Christmas list that will keep me reading through the winter. It’s time to rake leaves. So, I guess I’m over the "season of brown" mood. There’s too much to do.

Dogwood and Red Bud

The Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) and Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) are in bloom right now. I find the flowers on these spring blooming trees one of the beautiful treats from mother nature - especially on a clear, sunny, spring day.

Cornus florida may have some longevity problems but it's graceful shape makes it well worth it's sometimes shorter life. I've found that if planted in a suitable place it will last for many years. The kousa dogwood is less suseptible to insects and diseases but lacks the gracefulness of the native form.

The Eastern Redbud is another graceful tree. This tree may have problems with brittle branches breaking in a windy location but the short spring bloom time is awesome with tiny pink flowers crowded along the branches. It's worth the effort to find a suitable location for this one.

Winter Damage

It seems as if I spoke too soon in my last post.

I checked the shrubs yesterday and there is some damage from the freezing temperatures we’ve had lately.

A lot of the buds on the old, large rhododendron on the west side of the house are brown and shriveled. The row of azaleas on the same side look a little burned too.

Many of the new leaf buds on the hydrangeas are also caput! And some of the flower buds on the dogwoods were hit.

Ah yes, it’s bound to get warmer soon – isn’t it?