In Bloom Today

Lilac & Redbuds (fading)
Wisteria tree, Dogwoods, Azaleas, Daphne,Meyer Lemon Tree, Tea Tree
Tulips,Late Daffodils, Starflower (Iperion?), Wood Hyacinth,
Iris, Lamium Pink Pewter, Violas, Ajuga, Var. Vinca, Foamflowers, Phlox, Solomons Seal
First blooms on (Mutabulis ?) Butterfly Rose and Zephrine Drouhin Roses

The redbuds are going strong and the crab apple is in its glory (the apple is budding out, so it will be in bloom as the crab is finishing up.) The dogwoods are taking turns, first the white, then the pink, and the wild plums have been really pretty this year. The neighbors' deciduous Magnolias have been so pretty, I just hope I can wait for mine to be big enough to bloom! Forsythia, Daphne, and 'Bridal Wreath' spiraea are in full bloom, too.

Tulips, daffodils, bluebells (Mertensia), wild phlox (P. divaricata or pilosa), Lamium, violas, Anemone Rue, Spring Beauty (Claytonia) trillium and hellebores are all putting on a show :) (Gotta love spring!!!)

freezing rain and snow flakes in bloom here

Crocus, primrose and siberian squill, that's it.

I see you guys in Georgia are about 2 to 4 weeks ahead of me. No redbud or crabapple buy many various bulbs, primroses, forgetmenots, some early rhodendrons and azaleas. They will come in their glory in the next month. Such a pretty pretty time of year.

Wisteria, Dogwoods, Azaleas, Tulips, Daffodils, Ajuga, Vinca major, Dianthus, Creeping Phlox, Pansies and Star of Bethlehem. It's a sea of color in our neighborhood with all the azaleas around here. Absolutely stunning.

Forsythia in full bloom (all except one bush in the same row - weird it's just now budded and getting ready to bloom). One purple hyacinth. Little cluster of purple crocus are fading. Lots of buds on everything, though! The crabapple won't be far behind.

First year for our magnolia to be in full bloom! The first buds opened yesterday afternoon, today at least half are open. Terry, keep being patient: they are well worth the wait! Yippee-doo-dah!

Cherry tree in full bloom, I hope the birds leave some for me this year.

Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths -- all the major bulbs. Lots of minor ones too: windflowers, Siberian squill, wood hyacinth, glory-of-the-snow, Dutch crocus, winter aconite, the yellow snow iris (I can never remember that one's real name!).

Weeping flowering cherry all pink buds today,should open tomorrow. Even the ericas are still in full bloom :)

Everything is ahead of schedule here. Even my azaleas have popped open in the last couple of days.

Normally, I don't have iris in bloom until May - - but I have buds that should open within the next week.

In bloom now, tulips, grape hyacinths, dogwood trees are starting, columbine, candytuft, creeping flox, red buds. AND my hostas are up. I also have sunflower and cosmos volunteers coming up everywhere.

My crabapple has pink buds on it now in addition to the foliage. I can't wait for it to bloom! I hope the forsythia flush will hang around long enough for me to get pictures of the crabapple backed up by the forsythia bushes!

Azaleas have about finished blooming here and our roses, violet trumpet vine and amaryllis are going strong. The Carolina Jasmine is finished but mock orange is in full bloom.

Hey Weeds, however did you find a fragrant mock orange? I've bought 4 and never got a fragant one!

Hmmm, did I say fragrant?

I *think* mock orange is what our next-door-neighbor has - a whole hedgerow of them. Do they bloom yearly? I don't recall this one blooming but once, but when it did, the blooms were small and white and had the most wonderful, sweet fragrance. I need to take a picture of it for ID, though I know it's tough when there's no flowers to aide in the search.

This is what mine looks like...not my photo.

It is not fragrant....wish it was!

Mine look more like this borrowed pic.

GW, mine always bloom just after the Azaleas. It is said that they do smell of oranges or orange blossoms.

Do we have a shrub expert at Daves?

This message was edited Friday, Apr 4th 10:59 PM

Well, I think they are the same!

Naw, yours are prettier and have longer leaves!

No, that is not a picture of mine, but the blooms look like mine.

Unfortunately the only way to tell if a mock orange is fragrant is to smell it when it is in bloom. The fragrance is usually absent from seed-grown plants. If you know someone with a shrub that smells great, beg a cutting!

BEGGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine have so many blooms now but no aroma! Heck.

Sooooo that is what I had last year?!!!! Last year I had the chance to go to a old home place and dig up plants and there was this hugh hugh bush that was in full bloom...and that is exactly what it looked like! I broke me off a large branch and brought it home and stuck it in a bucket. As lond as I had it in the water it was fine, the leaves didn't wilt and the blooms stayed on it. But after awhile the skeeter's found the water and needless to say I couldn't deal with them so I went ahead and planted it. No roots or anything but I didn't want to just throw it away. Now I could just kick myself for not trying harder to keep it going! (I would go back to that place and try for another cutting, but they already bulldozed the whole yard!)
Live and learn I guess!

MOLLYBEE, I will get you one started after they bloom if you's like.

O me likes!! Yes please that would be more than wonderful! Are they fairly easy to root? I'm thinking that maybe the branch I had was too woody like, now that I think about it I should have tried getting a newer shoot.
Do you want me to go ahead and send you postage?? LMK
Thanks!

No. just hang on and let's see if I can root one. Never done it before!

Molly, I'd wait for a fragrant one. They grow too fast and bloom too short for me!

They are gangly.

O ok weeds will do.

LOL at Vi, I can't look a gifted horse in the mouth! LOL Beggers can't be choosers eaither hee hee

But no really I wouldn't mind having one even if it doesn't smell....then maybe I can get one later that does smell then I'll have 2 lol

According to my books on propagating, these are simple to root. Take cuttings after blooms fade, that are two nodes high -- about 3" long. Root them in pots.

I have a dwarf cultivar, never bloomed for me yet, so I don't know if it is worthy of being propagated; if so, I will root some that will be ready in the fall or next spring :) The tag says 'highly fragrant' but I don't trust labels.

Guess we'll have to wait! I know that I've had a least 4 of the things, have 2 left. One was a named variety Minnisota Snowflake?? I've bought 2 from store and at least 2 from catalogs, all bloomed--No Scent. As Weeds said, they are gangly. And a pretty dull green and grow too big for me.

Have you seen this? http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/nph-ind.cgi?name=Philadelphus&f=d&gl=1&p=1&page=1

Seems like much ado about nothing, No Info!

I'm anxiously watching my neighbor's shrubs to see if they have buds on them this year. Thing is, they topped them all off the fall after they bloomed so beautifully, and every fall since (probably did before, but we didn't know it). I wonder if that has anything to do with their not blooming. I may just have to root some of our own and see.

The Viburnum carlesi (Korean Spice Viburnum) we got last year at Lowe's last year has some nice, big flower buds forming, our first blooms. I can't WAIT for those babies to bloom...You can smell them from fifty feet away!

Ohhh, Gw, tell me you're gonna try and root some of these babies!

Sincerely,
Begger # 1

Gardenwife, pruning these in the fall chops all the following spring's flower buds :( That is why no blooms. Can you suggest they prune them in late May (right after the correct bloom period is finished)? That way the new buds that form in the summer won't be chopped.

Rule of thumb for flowering shrubs/trees: spring-blooming plants form their flower buds soon after the current ones fade. Pruning should be done immediately after they are finished. Lilac, weigela, mountain laurel, azalea, mock-orange.

Summer-blooming shrubs can be pruned in fall or early spring -- they form flower buds in the spring after they leaf. Althea (rose of sharon), summer-blooming hydrangea, clethra, butterfly bush, bottlebrush bush. Of course there are exceptions, but in general the rule holds true.

Awwwww. I KNEW it. :( You'd think this lady would know better...She worked at Alban's Nursery in town for 15 years! I dunno, maybe her yard guy just took it upon himself to top them that year and they didn't notice since they're a ways from the house.

Any idea when we're sposed to trim back crape (crepe) myrtle? Now? (I hope?)

Hey Shoe, I bet cha tiG could answer that one. Seems I remember her telling us about her DH cutting her's back, but I can't remember exactly when it was.
Lot's of luck!

I was wondering why mine weren't budding out yet? I don't remember them taking this long to leaf out last year??? Could be wrong??

LOL, Mollybee, if it weren't for my pictures, I'd never remember when stuff came out! Even with them, I'm always surprised. Today I noticed hostas sprouting under the sycamore. Yippee!

ahhh speaking of hosta, Are there certain ones that grow a little slower than others?? The reason I ask this is, I have a whole bed full of hosta that were all new to me last year and most of them are up and of good size now. But then there are some that are just now popping up and they still have their leaves all rolled up. Hosta's are new to me. In fact in all my gardening years I have never owned one single hosta until last year! Hard to believe huh? I have soo many different kinds too! So I guess I still have alot to learn about them!!