Spring Flowers for April ~ GBBD April 2016

Welcome to Havenwood!

It has been such a roller coaster spring, as I am sure you know or have heard from many other eastern US gardeners. We had more buds in January than ever before, as our true cold did not arrive until February. Then a especially mild March, with more snow and cold in the first two weeks of April. And now it is 70 degrees again today.  This is not totally abnormal for our zone 5 garden, but the high temps have been much higher than usual. This has brought the garden further along than it normally is at this time of year.

Many flowers that were doing so well, so soon... too soon... did meet a cruel end with the frost.

The star magnolia blooms were blackened after one day of blooming all around our town. The taller daffodils did not stand up as well to the snow that covered them soon after they were full out, but the shorter ones have stood the test. The pretty star of Bethlehem, that I recently posted, were soon snuffed out with cold. But still, the garden and the gardener marches on...

There are still a few pretties to see today for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in our western PA garden.

Crocus tommasinianus for Early Spring

The bees are out drinking it up in the spring sunshine.

This is undoubtedly my favorite early spring crocus, as every year it spreads its cheery purple all around both of my gardens, here at Havenwood and Gilmore as well. I cannot get enough color at this time of year. Inevitably, I think, "Why did I not plant a few hundred more?"

Gilmore Gardens' Shade Path in Spring

Purple Crocus vernus 'Grand Maitre', light blue Iris histrioides 'Katharine Hodgkin' and white-winged snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii.

Even though we moved residence from Gilmore Gardens a year-and-a-half ago, the flowers there are carrying on through the seasons beautifully. Once the hard work of establishing plantings has taken place, it becomes much easier to maintain those areas, as this garden well shows.

Gilmore Gardens in September 2014 ~ Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

The Hill Garden is still full of color this month: Allium tuberosum & Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.

Welcome to Gilmore Gardens in Pennsylvania, zone 5!

There are still quite a few blooms over at Gilmore, even though we have not been living near it or caring make for it at all. About once a month to month-and-a-half, I do a big cleanup of weeds and deadheading the flowers.... That is it! That is all it takes to keep this garden going right now. It really has confirmed to me, though many people just do not believe it, that a garden on this scale can be plannned to pretty much take care of itself by having well designed planting schemes.

(Note to newcomers: This is our previous garden, which is a small town lot about a half mile from our new garden at Havenwood. Read my 'about my gardens' for more info!)

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ July 2014 GBBD

A bee sampling the nectar in the last foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, of the season in the Shade Path garden.

Welcome to Gilmore Gardens in July!

Work is in full swing still over at our new garden, Havenwood, as I try to prepare new beds to hold our flowers at Gilmore in the fall. There are a lot blooming over there, so here are just a few glimpses this month!

Clematis Up a Tree

Clematis 'Perle d' Azure' growing near the Shade Path garden at Gilmore Gardens.

This Clematis is the star in one of my most popular posts of all time: How to grow a Clematis on a tree trunk. If you like this look, that post is a great place to start looking at getting one going in your own garden!

It is also popular in our own family, each of us waiting to see how high it is going to bloom this year. It is still doing well! Even though we no longer see it out our windows during the day, we still drive by Gilmore Gardens to check on how things are going. Often, the children ooh and ahh louder than the adults, as they instinctively feel that this garden is still a part of them as well. We look forward to bringing some of our flowers over to Havenwood this fall!

Gilmore Gardens ~ GBBD June 2014

Catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', and Geranium 'Orion' beside the road in the Curb strip this month.

Welcome to my little garden in Pennsylvania!

June is here, and we are enjoying it both at our new garden, Havenwood, and at our old garden, Gilmore Gardens. Here are some pretty shots from Gilmore just after the rain last evening...

Tulips at Gilmore Gardens

Cherry Corner is full of Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' this May.

Welcome to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in Pennsylvania!
We are finally in full swing for spring around here and we are absolutely loving it!

While we have been working like crazy on our new gardens at Havenwood, our old garden is blooming away effortlessly this spring. It is amazing to stand back and watch it go... rather like seeing your beloved child run and win a race all by themselves. We did have two spring clean up times this spring, cutting back out sticks, etc. And another nice layer of mulch. But really, it was very little for such a beautiful show...

Helleborus for the Spring Shade Garden

A pink Lenten Rose, Helleborus orientalis, at Gilmore Gardens this beautiful May week.

We stopped by Gilmore Gardens the other day to take a look around to see these shade garden beauties...

April showers bring March flowers...

Crocus tommasinianus at Gilmore Gardens April 1st

... at least that is how the song goes for us this year.

We are just now enjoying our crocuses and snowdrops during a few days of warm sun. I hope that those of you in more northern places in North America will feel encouraged to know that your flowers are coming soon as well!

Crocuses are up!

Crocus 'Goldilocks' at Gilmore Gardens

And under snow! ....but still they are up. Now I am waiting for a sunny day to enjoy them. :)

Spring is coming... if slowly this year. I am expecting to have snow flurries all the way into May this year, so I am starting plants indoor a bit later also. Perhaps we will make up for it with a beautiful fall? We can hope. :)
~Julie