Thursday 15 April 2010

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day – April 2010

Once again it’s that time, and this month I honestly almost forgot!
It wasn’t until I saw another blogger had already posted theirs that I made a mad dash to take some shots… The sun had made a last ditch attempt at coming out, just in time for sunset!

It was rather chilly outside and I couldn’t stay still for long, so I’m afraid we’re a little thin on the ‘artsy’ photos this month. Sadly, or rather happily for me the camera battery died before I managed to get all the shots…

Blackcurrant flower open…


... And the buds waiting to open.


Dogwood cuttings sent from Cheryl with Elder in the foreground out of focus.


Unknown flower from Cheryl’s garden.


Unexciting for most, but these small Clematis babies have suddenly grown whilst I was in London over the weekend. This is ‘Nelly Moser’.


And this is ‘Etoille Violette’


And… Urm… It has yellow bell-shaped flowers. Clematis Tangutica!


Dicentra, I really need to move this it hasn’t grown at all since last year. It’s in too much sun I suspect.


Osmanthus… A week or more later than last year.


A pot in flower with Violets, Muscari and Giant Snowflakes.


Now this one… Oh, it screams of summer, the colours… Golden and warm… Trick of the light, the sun’s last breath before sunset!


Daffodundells… Sorry, my name for them. Daffodils, of which I have no idea what type they are!


Anemone



My ‘home grown’ Friterillaries are almost blooming now.


One Cyclamen has survived the snow, I see… This pot looked wonderful this time last year, with the white Cyclamen, ‘Silver Chime’ Daffodils and Bluebells… No sign of the Daffs this year and the Bluebells are a way off.


Look at all the promise of good things to come here!!! All those Alliums… Perhaps I went a little Purple Sensation happy in this border…



Tulipa ‘Pink Impression’ and Narcissi ‘Rainbow’ almost blooming with some pretty Pheasant’s Tail grass also getting into the frame.


Sorry the colours on this are so off, the light was too poor. Aubrieta brightens up a very dull area.


…As do the Daffodils. I must remove the self-sown Foxglove out of this pot. It’s smothering my Dicentra ‘king of hearts’.


Is this ‘Silver Chimes’? I thought I’d lost it, none seemed to be coming up… I do hope so!


Forsythia – I can almost like its colour in this shot!


Chinodoxa, this came in a spring bulb collection, so far I am not impressed…


Narcissi 'Rainbow' again


In the front garden, the primroses look wonderful, the colour is completely wrong though… They’re a much deeper purple.


I confess not to be a fan of Primroses... But the sheer number of flowers they've produced this year have me very much impressed.


Dicentra alba


Unknown Daff, no others are like this, no idea where it came from…


And then the battery died.

One thing I have noticed…

I seem to have acquired more Daffodils than I care for.

20 comments:

Cyndy said...

My goodness, you've got a lot of spring to show even with a dying camera battery. I love the name Daffodundells!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Beautiful collection of spring blooms Liz. My daffs have been done for the last couple of weeks, so it's nice to see that others still have some in bloom, and my Dicentra was planted a little late, and I haven't seen it bloom yet. You're right, the trick of the light with the tree in bloom really did impart a beautiful glow to that shot!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Beautiful! I am excited about alliums. Planted new ones last year, and can't wait to see them bloom. I don't think there could be too many of alliums in the garden. You have a lot of action in yor place, Liz!

WashingtonGardener said...

Nice photos - lovethe soft background focus look - very dreamy!

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....so pleased to see the dogwoods have taken....and the mystery plant will re-seed all around the drier areas of the garden.

You certainly have a lot of blooms.
I like the white Dicentra. I only have one, the rest are pink. I wish I had planted more white now.

Daffs do seem to spring up out of nowhere, don't they?

Wish the weather would warm up a bit, don't you?

Snap said...

I'm glad you didn' t forget! Lovely! And, it's an unwritten law ... the camera battery always dies in the midst of a photo shoot!

Anna said...

I really enjoyed the April flowers in your garden Liz but you can never have too many daffodils :) Wish that camera batteries would emit a noise prior to going flat - it always happens when you are in the middle of taking photos and is so annoying!

Pam's English Garden said...

No need for you to apologize for any of these beautiful photographs! Love the pot with the grape hyacinths. You inspire me to post for GBBD next month.

Liz said...

Hi Cyndy,

Thanks :)

It doesn’t feel like there’s much going on in the garden, most of the action is in the front where I have a few spring pots looking nice and pretty – battery died before I managed to take shots of them.

I knew the camera battery would die, but I hoped it would last just a few shots longer… I shouldn’t have taken them using the ‘preview’ screen and just used the view finder instead to save the battery! My own fault.

Liz said...

Hi CV,

I think many of the plants here have been hit by the unusually harsh winter, I am not one for daffodils so have never really had any previously so I’m unsure whether they’re late… I don’t even know if they’re meant to be early or late bloomers! They all came in spring bulb collections intended for my mum, but she didn’t want them so I planted them instead.

I really need to move all my dicentra’s, they’re in full sun, and I have shady spots with very little in them that I am sure they’ll love! Only with the snow this year and the ground remaining frozen for so long I never got round to it… Plus, I’m lazy.

Liz said...

Hi Tatyana,

Our Alliums have heads coming up now, and I am so very excited to see them flower… I just wish I had more growth around them as they’re going to look very lonely on their own – not quite the vision I had when I planted them!

Liz said...

Hi Washingtongardener,

Thank you very much, I’m glad you liked them :)

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

I think some of the yellow ones are possibly taking too, I think one’s leaves are beginning to form/open. I can wait to see though, I have enough patience for that!

My Dicentra’s aren’t looking too happy where they are, I really wish I’d moved them to a shadier position, I’ve ordered myself some more bare roots to go under the Cherry tree and brighten that otherwise boring area.
My favourite has to be ‘king of hearts’, I love the ferny foliage to it, and it has profusions of flowers throughout summer, it really is wonderful.

Warmer weather would be very much appreciated right now, it’s amazing how much cooler it is than it was on Tuesday when I was sat in the sun beginning to consider putting lotion on as it was so warm.
Speak of the Devil, the sun’s just appeared!

Liz said...

Hi Snap,

Thanks for visiting my blog, it’s much appreciated.

You’d think I’d know better by now, to ensure the batteries are fully charged, but no, I still insist on tempting fate…

Liz said...

Hi Anna,

It was my fault the camera died… I decided to use the LCD preview screen for the shots rather than the viewfinder, it was flashing at me warning me… If I had done then the battery wouldn’t have been eaten up quite so quickly and I might’ve got those last few shots I wanted.

No major deal, it just means now that I can post the photos another time instead :)

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

It’s never too late to participate in the GBBD, I’m sure you could still post now :)

If anything it’s just a nice record to have of where the garden was and compare to previous years. I’ve been doing that with my photos, checking what I had in flower/coming up, and this year it’s a mixed bag with some plants being much earlier and others being weeks behind.

Q said...

Your gardens are full of Spring delights. Even with low light and low battery you did an art-filled post.
I have divided my daffs for 30 plus years, I think I have 10,000!
I never mind...cut flowers for all the vases and tables.
Happy bloom day!
Sherry

Rosie leavesnbloom said...

I love dicentras too Liz and mine are in a shady part of the garden and they grow a couple of feet tall there while in the sunny part they struggle to make it even 1ft high. Every year I always regret that I didn't plant enough alliums the autumn before - I just love them.

Shirley said...

A belated Happy GBBD, Liz :-) Wow… I am wondering what we would have seen if the battery hadn’t died on you now!

What a fantastic Spring mix from the blooms to the cuttings. I meant to take some clematis cuttings last year… must make a to-do list for this year… and follow it!

Favs so hard to pick here. Loved the trick of the light shot. I think I know the colour of your primroses as my neighbour has them. I’m a huge fan of the pale lemon ones. I grew them from seed a number of years ago and they are gently trying to creep around my garden. They don’t get too far though as I follow them lifting and repotting/replanting the new free seedlings.

My alliums are through my gravel now too. I’ve lots of purple sensation too. Planting in gravel they get a great chance to self seed… I leave them well alone though :-D

Carolyn Parker said...

so many lovely images!