What is in full bloom in your garden now? April 16 to 30

Yeah, she's an azalea, this is her second season with us... the one I have to be careful not to lime... ;) She seems to be very happy. I had a euonymus japonica "Aurea" topiary there before but unfortunately, the deer loved it as much as I did.... I love the color of the Jean Marie!!!!!!

Willow
You have the best pictures! Love that you add one with your comments too.

I am confused about the 'Hebes" ? What is it?

Hebes are evergreen shrubs from New Zealand (I thinkk...). They have a preference for warmer winters, but there are more than several cultivars that perform nicely here, as long as they have excellent drainage. They have blooms like the veronicas & there are quite a number of them that have variegated foliage. Really nice plants if you can give them a little shelter over the Winter.
Anything in particular you'd like to know about them?

I love hebes so much. Some do survive the winter here, but they have to be well established if we get a cold snap. I have lost more hebes than I like to admit, even with excellent drainage. I have a theory that if I want to replace them, I need to get plants that have been raised in the PNW, even if they are considered hardy varieties. They need to be used to our inconsistent weather. The year before last, I lost 5 hebes. Last winter I lost 4 of the 5 I had bought to replace them. They really are the nicest shrubs, and they just keep blooming. I just want them to live! New Zealand. Yes.

Steve, the tradeoff for having fewer weeds to control all year long is that your spring starts later. But that is a lovely garden spot!

Can anyone post some photos of Hebes for me? Something new to investigate! Cool. It doesn't matter if they are blooming or not, I`d`like to see the leaves and shapes. thx

There are zillions of kinds.

Here are some images from Google:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=plant+hebe&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xhLfS-2gGYHWsAOQuLmLAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCAQsAQwAw

Here's a Valerie Easton article on them:
http://www.valeaston.com/hebes/

And here's the Hebe Society page:
http://www.hebesoc.org/hebes_atoz/hebes_atoz.htm

I don't have any current Hebe pictures and got home too late to take any, but I'll try sometime this week.

I took bloom pictures over a week ago, but just now downloaded form the camera....so these are a bit out of date.

All my apple trees are blooming away:

Short bearded iris are in full swing, and the tall ones are just starting. This one is....I think....Sparks Fly:

My saxifrage has been out for a few weeks. It seems to have a long flowering time:

Holly - I'm really loving that little saxifrage, too.

Daffodils and Anemone coronaria are beginning to wane, but this is how they were earlier:

This is the plain yellow daffodil that I was not sure I liked so much (and had planted many of thanks to the Van Engelen 50% off sale), but I was happy enough with it this year balanced by the blue anemone.

This message was edited May 3, 2010 8:49 PM

Mmmmmm....love the saxifrage and the blue anemone. Both are so pretty and so well sited.

Is it Hawthorne that I'm seeing in the woods blooming now? Does anybody else have it?

My newly planted African Queen lily was just beginning to emerge from the soil, and I found a HUGE SLUG DEVOURING IT!!!! Aaaaghhh. The whole growing tip is gone. I am bummed.

Sorry about this digression, but I had to vent.

I haven't noticed the Hawthorne, but I do know what it is. I'll try to be aware over the next few days. I have been rushing through life with my head in full charge position for getting work done, and not stopping to enjoy the view much.

There are Dogwood and Service Berry also. But this is a little tree with tiny compact white blossoms all down each of the limbs . . .

That does sound like Hawthorne. I have noticed a beautiful Pacific Dogwood on my drive home from work also. I love those.

My Potentilla are just beginning to pop:

This is not a very good picture, but the Ceanothus is going for it too:

Oh, that ceonothus! I absolutely adore that! And the saxifrage! Very beautiful. I have to go out and take photos today. The wind was so high yesterday I stayed inside. Branches were flying everywhere. I'm brave but I'm not stupid.

Thankyou Katie. Those websites filled me in. Totally new to me!

You're welcome Enyeholt - probably better off to stay away from the Hebes. I've vowed to do that - no more wasted money for me.

Holly, that Ceanothus is stunning. I think you and Kate have the biggest and most floriferous ones I've seen.

New thread for May 1-15.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1094235/

We are not done here, however, as Julie and I have been taking pictures, just haven't had the time to post.

Talk about wind yesterday! I left your great city on a jet that just after leaving the ground blew sideways and the pilot tipped to correct and almost touched the ground with the wing. On my way in in a small turbo prop I was sitting in the window seat and was blasted for 10 mins with ice off the prop making the plane sound like it was being hit by anti aircraft fire. Quite fun, I left my seat and moved to a seat away from prop wash.

Oh that would have caused me to make good use of a "bag"...

Wow not fun. Glad you are back on the ground.

I am slowly returning to the land of reality and do want to get these pictures in the proper time frame.

Pink camellia, can't come up with the name right now.

Blaney's Blue Rhode. One of my very favorites.

Pink magnolia

Four variety pear tree.

The new pine cones on the hemlock make a nice arrangement with the old and the needles.