The 2011 garden season will be upon us soon enough... I'm anticipating warmer temps this coming week with a possibility of going into the low 50's. Daffodils and minor bulbs are starting to show where the snow has departed, while other areas of the gardens are still under a four foot snow cover. I've been putting together a garden journal of sorts, highlighting major bloom times for my own benefit and comparisons in the coming year, including when various garden projects were accomplished. One thing that I am quite certain of is that 2010 ran about two weeks early for the most part. At any rate, join me if you wish, but be forewarned, these are long posts. While trying to include all the things that bloom this time of year would very difficult, I've tried to cover some of the highlights, especially my beloved flowering trees. Today's entry covers the end of March through May 1st. I will insert short posts on the orchid case and magnolia shade when they are completed. So here goes...
The witch hazels came into bloom on March 15th a year ago with Jelena and Arnold's Promise pictured here...
Within a day, Eranthus hyemalis was showing color with flower buds on March 16th and open blooms on the 17th...
By the 16th of March it was dry enough for me to begin the rockery project that would occupy much of my spring... the following shows the very first portion of the project... the installation of the lamp post which was redone after a bit as it was much too tall in the following position...
The first crocus bloomed on March 17th and the following photo is from March 24th...
I had also completed the lamp post creation by the 24th and it was ready for painting...
Also by the 24th of March, the hellebore display had begun, as with this double...
In the greenhouse on March 25th, many of my daylily seedlings hybridized the previous year were growing well. I actually planted half of the seedlings into the garden and the remaining ones are shown here, and were kept in the greenhouse through the summer. In retrospect, the ones planted in the gardens actually did better, even with the occasional pruning by rabbits...
The first week of April saw the blooming of chionadoxa, early daffodils, pulmonarias, more hellebores, scilla, daphne mezereum, primula, and the completion of the painting of the lamp post (after several attempts at getting the colors right), and the placing of rocks for the rockery...
Part of the process in creating the rockery, was redoing a small garden pictured on the left, and adding a new portion... the pathway would eventually proceed between these two areas... Normally rocks should be 'planted' with a third to half below the surrounding soil level. Unfortunately that was impossible in this case as this area was once the entry drive for the old cheesefactory and there is 150 years of gravel, coal, and rock below the thin layer of top soil I added forty years ago.
While the first daffodil blooms occurred on March 31st, the early ones were going strong by
April 6th as witnessed below...
Most plants recovered fairly well... afterall, the main bloom was the daffs and hellebores at that point. By the 10th the snow was completely melted, leaving some brown on the blossoms of the early magnolias... I actually can't recall other seasons when the stellatas and loebneri's were browned like this...
Wada's Memory was also at peak on April 15th...
The saucer magnolia pictured below ended up broken over in a severe wind not long after this photo was taken...
The end of April was really the time of magnolias this past season and many cultivars were in bloom through early May. By May 22nd, the Darwin tulips were in full bloom throughout the gardens...
By April 22nd my seedlings were all moved into the greenhouse for a month's growth prior to bedding out in the gardens...
By April 23rd, I had installed two more columns along the path to the gazebo and concocted the pediments for the tops... we also stained the gazebo including the roof about this time...
On April 26th many of the later magnolias were well into their bloom period, including these of the Little Girls series and Prunus avium plena behind...
Also on and about April 26th, the small leafed Rhododendrons were pretty much at peak bloom...
By April 29th, getting up with the dawn has become a daily affair as I experienced the beauty of the rising of the sun and flowering crabs were coming into bloom...
By April 30th, many of the flowering crab apples were well into bloom. This is really the highlight of the Spring gardening season for me as there is a definitive overlap with many of the magnolias this time of the year. In the following photo, we have Butterflies and Galaxy magnolias in combination with a mature Snowdrift flowering crab...
In the following photo, two mature Spring Snow crab apples that generally have leaf fungal problems in the summer, earn their keep in the spring... they almost went on the chopping block this past fall until I reviewed photos from May and changed my mind...
Two days later on the 8th of April, we were in for a surprise... several inches of heavy wet snow...
Of course there were many more buds to open and by the next day the trees looked considerably fresher...
One of my favorite aspects of this time of the year is primulas and other plants developing in the rockery. The following photo was taken on April 15th and the primroses and epimediums were just starting to fill out and bloom. This was also peak bloom for the earliest magnolias, and PJM rhodies and their relations were showing color...
Wada's Memory was also at peak on April 15th...
The saucer magnolia pictured below ended up broken over in a severe wind not long after this photo was taken...
The end of April was really the time of magnolias this past season and many cultivars were in bloom through early May. By May 22nd, the Darwin tulips were in full bloom throughout the gardens...
By April 22nd my seedlings were all moved into the greenhouse for a month's growth prior to bedding out in the gardens...
By April 23rd, I had installed two more columns along the path to the gazebo and concocted the pediments for the tops... we also stained the gazebo including the roof about this time...
On April 26th many of the later magnolias were well into their bloom period, including these of the Little Girls series and Prunus avium plena behind...
Also on and about April 26th, the small leafed Rhododendrons were pretty much at peak bloom...
By April 29th, getting up with the dawn has become a daily affair as I experienced the beauty of the rising of the sun and flowering crabs were coming into bloom...
By April 30th, many of the flowering crab apples were well into bloom. This is really the highlight of the Spring gardening season for me as there is a definitive overlap with many of the magnolias this time of the year. In the following photo, we have Butterflies and Galaxy magnolias in combination with a mature Snowdrift flowering crab...
In the following photo, two mature Spring Snow crab apples that generally have leaf fungal problems in the summer, earn their keep in the spring... they almost went on the chopping block this past fall until I reviewed photos from May and changed my mind...
One of my favorite flowering crab apples is Flame...
It is close to impossible to share the myriad of plants blooming around the end of April and into early May... as noted previously, in a normal season this abundance of bloom would be expected to occur at some point around Mother's Day. I will continue with my journal theme for 2010 over the course of the next couple weeks or until completed... I will end this post with a number of photos of the flowering trees taken on April 30th...
Magnolia Daybreak in bud
Magnolia Elizabeth...
Floribunda flowering crab apple...
Wishing you all the best and thinking and praying for those who have been so harshly affected by the weather and earth quakes over the course of the past few weeks... Larry
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