FIRST FLOWERS OF SPRING!!! Post your pics!! April Edition :)

We came from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1353729/

I just couldn't wait any longer...with it being so cloudy and bummy today the daffs made no progress. I do have some pics of our eranthis though. I was surprised it came up after such a poor performance last year. I planted 25 of these baddies and the only ones to come up last year made a lovely snack for the rabbits. When I planted them though I had no idea which way was up so perhaps I gave them a bad start. Also, I included some purple crocus in the backyard popping their heads through a thick layer of possibly dead delosperma.

thanks Seq. My those Eranthemis are cute. Maybe I'll get some , seeing as how I have lost all yellow crocus.
Hm the Delosperma makes a nice mulch for Crocus. I'm gonna predict that those are all freeze dried leaves, but that it grows from the ground and will be fine.

Well I hope that's the case otherwise I have a lot of replacing to do. They fully cover a 15' diameter circle under our blue spruce. Last year lot of the purple ones didn't come back but luckily there were plenty of volunteers to carry on the beauty. The yellow ones are huge though but gorgeous even when not in bloom.

Many of my Daffs are starting to open up--especially in the long, S. facing bed..

i DO feel that spring has sprung... G.

hmmmm Eranthemis... delosperma... why am I not knowing what these are??? slipping I guess. Need to look them up lol

love the photos everyone has been posting

I took a few this morning. It is really beautiful out here today. Hope to do some much needed garden clean up along with sowing some seeds

put out a new garden flag this morning! noticed horseradish and phlox on the move

Visited with Gita and SSG today for a little bit. Gita's got some beautiful things blooming right now!

Then we went to Maryland Flower & Foliage Company:
http://mdflowercompany.com/

1. Here's my little flower!
2. So organized....
3. Terri and Gita immersed in some conversation about flowers probably.

Thanks for the fun time, ladies!

Wind: Eranthis aka Winter Aconite, Delosperma aka Ice Plant

Typ: Nice pics! Your daughter is cute. Looks like a fun time going there.

Looks like it was a fun outing, you guys! Love your little flower, Typ. :-)

I went down to Loudoun for the native plant sale, and ran into some friendly, familiar faces! :-) Greenthumb and Ecnalg were manning ('personing'?) the Monarch Waystation booth, and I picked up lots of literature from the various booths *plus* a monarch t-shirt! I have visions of myself working hard in my garden wearing it... I also managed to spend money on plants (oops, how'd that happen?), and it's a good thing I knew I was getting a lot of those plants (for a fraction of the price) from the NC group buy, or I really would have gone broke there! :-b

Aspen and Muddy, great to run into you guys! It was fun!

Nice photos. Karen---better than I could have taken them....
I will save them in my Pictures...Thanks!

If I laid down on the ground--it would take 5 minutes for me to get up...
Enjoyed the day with you and SS and cutie-pie Adelle.
G.

Lots of adventures today in MD and VA! It was great to see the interest in the Monarchs today and a good turnout at the native plant sale. Part of our time was spent playing human shields for the displays that were attacked by the wind.

Had fun visiting with CatMint and Muddy, as well as Terri (AspenHill) who made her first public appearance since getting home. There were also books for sale, equally as tempting as the plants for us. All I needed were shoes and chocolates to make for a morning filled with overwhelming choices. We came home happy and cold.

yes, the wind was amazing--and Greenthumb and Ecnalg had collected all kinds of rocks and sticks to keep the papers from blowing away! And you guys were out in it all day. I can imagine a nice cup of hot cocoa would be nice to end the day with!

Thank you, Karen and Gita! The strawberries have all been planted!

Gita's living room/dining room has a long wall full of plants! It's hard to appreciate the panoramic view in photos alone. And those double hellebores were so pretty!

Beautiful hellebores, Gita! Sounds like your place is a treat to visit in every season!

Thanks!

My place is especially pretty end of May (all the bulbs and Peonies in bloom)
and again in June--when the Roses and DL's bloom.

Much of the flowers in the beds are better looked at in--say--July and August...

Come on over--no one has ever gone home empty-handed from my place...
Gita

The "panorama" in 3 sections....

They are so beautiful and healthy looking, Gita!

Had a glorious day outside in the garden! Mild, sunny--and I saw *two* butterflies float by, and also a handful of other flying insects (maybe hoverflies?). The birds have discovered the new location of their feeder and seem very happy. So wonderful to watch the variety of birds!

Moved all the plants in my former shade garden (now full sun to part sun, since my back neighbor cut their tree down last weekend) to new locations. Also enjoyed seeing a few new blossoms popping open:

1) My first daffodil opened--yay!
2) The yellow tulips are wide open and look lovely now
3) Two different colors of hyacinth

So pretty, Cat! And--also all are short-stemmed.
Someone commented on that when their Tete-a-tetes were blooming...
May be an odd result of all this cold weather...


Most of my daffs are now opening up and in full bloom. I took some pictures.
Will post later.....
G.

Those tulips look pretty Cat! My first daff bloomed today too. I was too busy in the yard to take a picture though. I also had some early snow glories but the good rabbits made them their snack so I'll have to wait for some in another area to come up before pics.

My tete-a-tetes are always short stemmed. They're only a couple of inches high when they bloom. They keep growing as the blooms age.

Seq, might have forgotten to tell you yes my Tetes got taller and are now 7-8 inches just as you predicted.
Ice Follies, Minnow, Topolino, and old standard yellow daff are blooming here and many more varieties will follow. Blue Anemone Blanda looking great under the front dogwood. Some say they will be invasive; I'm willing to risk it.

I love those yellow tulips!

I saw a poor bee buzzing around today but there isn't much blooming right now, except for the reticulated irises and exactly one creeping phlox flower! I hope the rest of them catch up soon.

Forsythia is popping open. Daffies and some hyacinths, too.

thanks Gita, Seq, and SSG! I think the daff is February Gold--8", all yellow, and one of the early bloomers. So, here it is the first week of April and February Gold is finally blooming--LOL!

SSG, I had the same thought about the two lone butterflies I saw fluttering by-- not many blooms to enjoy yet, and who to mate with??

Is your creeping phlox blooming, SSG? Mine has not. I think I need to move it to a sunnier spot...

Would love to see everyone's photos!! :-) The first blooms are such a thrill.

Here's a couple pics I took this afternoon...

1--My pink, frilly Hellebore. name????
2--Bunch of Tetes.
3--3 blooms of all yellow Daffs

4--Red pips coming up for my oldest, big, white Peony.
This old peony is at the end of my TINY bed...
it is only about 6' long and 2' deep. In this bed also "lives" my Proteus
Clematis--2 clumps of Monkshood--a B&B Salvia--and, at the end
(not included in the 6') my old, white Azalia.

5--This is the old Peony that will grow from those pips...(pic. from last year).


As the catch-phrase goes: "Bloom where you are planted".....and--they all do!

I literally have *one* flower on the creeping phlox. It actually looks pretty silly. :)

LOL SSG--well that's one more bloom than my creeping phlox has! :-D

Gita, that frilly hellebore is gorgeous. And such wonderful red pips coming up for your peonies. I really need to move my peony to a sunnier spot. I think I mentioned that it was planted by the previous owner under the red bud tree, and I think it just needs a little more sun.

I'm pretty sure it is way too early for creeping phlox to bloom. No fear. Mine is not blooming at all and I have a lot.
Gosh I looked at my Delosperma today- ACK! looks horrible, like a miniature flat hayfield

Beautiful flowers, everyone!

What a great weekend for gardening, especially today! It was great to see Ecnalg, Greenthumb and CatMint at the Loudon native plant sale. I bought 3 types of groundcovers - perennial Geranium, "Green and Gold" and Sedum - that will be great for a steep slope in my backyard.

CatMint, those tulips are so cute...and early-blooming.

Sally, Anemone blanda hasn't been invasive in my yard; on the contrary, I had very few come up the second year.

Here is my precious crocus, the only survivor out of 600 bulbs I planted 2 years ago. The rest of them were all squirrel food. It only bloomed this weekend. Rather later.

I was surprised to see a blooming lungwort.

The monkshood from Gita have survived the winter and are growing very happily.

Hm, Muddy, my Anemone bland are up for their second year in the ground, and they look better than last year.
Bummer , one out of 600?? I have squirrels too but they haven't seemed to eat any here. or few.

Sally, that is good to hear about the creeping phlox--I guess there is still hope! :-) And funny you should mention the delosperma. I was looking at its straw sticks just yesterday and thinking, Is that actually going to be a plant again?? :-D

Muddy, sounds like you got some pretty goundcovers!

Donner, that is awful about most of the crocus becoming squirrel candy!!

Cat--
If you want to move the peonies--it needs to be done in August--NOT now!.

NOT a simple job! Peonies DO NOT like to be moved!
They have long, spreading, fleshy roots--which may break off
when moving the plant. No major harm, but try not to.

The main thing is not to bury the "eyes" no deeper than 2" or it may not bloom.
Work up the area well--with rich, organic soil before planting.
This all is very important--as Peonies can live 100 years. Choose the site carefully!

G.

Yesterday was such a nice change of weather. Pat and I spent much of the day excavating beds and "lawn" that still had their winter blanket of leaves. Such fun to see all the young plants than had been hidden away. Some of what we found were:

Dutchman's Breeches, with flower stems already apparent. A couple more days and they should be at their glory.

Bloodroot, where the flowers precede the leaves by a few days. In this photo the unopened flowers can be seen wrapped by the emerging leaves. The flowers do not open except when the temperature is warm enough that their pollinators are out and about, somewhere in the mid 50's. During the afternoon the flowers were open, but when I went back later again with the camera, the temperature had fallen and the flowers had closed back up.

Hepatica, delightful early spring flowers but surrounded by ragged foliage from last year. The new leaves are so attractive that it is a shame they are not present to accent the flowers.

Virginia Wild Ginger, Hexastylis virginica, with its purple little flowers hidden beneath last seasons declining foliage. The flowers are at ground level so that they can be pollinated by ants.

Spring Beauty poking up through the leaves.

Continuing on...

Cut-leaved Toothwort, another woodland native on the verge of bursting into bloom. These little guys with attractive dissected foliage grow wild in the yard.

Toadshade, Trillium sessile. Believe it or not, the flowers do not open much more than this. Luckily, the mottled foliage adds to the display.

Miniature daffodils, which we both consider to be "fun" little flowers.

Pulmonaria, newly up and already starting to bloom.

Hellebore. While we have them established numerous locations, the recent additions providing us blooms for the first time are always gratifying. Difficult to take upright photos when blindly holding the camera at ground level. :-)

I love the Toadshade-----so perfectly symmetrical. Such pretty leaves and that bloom!
Nice colored hellebore too!

AH, Spring--when all things come alive.....Nature's miracles!
G.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that most of my delosperma is dead. I think this winter put and end to it. We'll see. Our creeping phlox is greening up but not blooming yet.

No blooms, but since I had the camera out...

A clump a Virginia Bluebells probably a week or two from blooming.

Hardy Cyclamen, not a native, but such lovely foliage surviving even under the snow is as welcome as any flower.

Emerging Monkshood, thanks Gita.

Exciting winter sown additions to our native plant collection are Amethyst Shooting Star, and

Pale Coneflower, echinacea pallida.

Man, I wish my cyclamen looked that nice! They took a beating this winter. Hopefully they fluff up in the next couple weeks. Do you have any spring blooming ones? That looks like a fall bloomer there.

It looks like my Endless Summer Hydrangea also took a beetling...

All the stems look dead---only wayyyy down, near the base, do i see new growth buds.
I will have to, practically, cut it down to the nubs.
I am sure it will re-grow---and be a smaller size for a while--which will be a welcome
change as I can almost not get past it on the corner of my small path to the patio.

Sequoidendron, it is indeed the fall blooming Cyclamen hederifolium. We do not have any other hardy Cyclamen species.