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.

Winter scenes at Havenwood

Primrose blooming in the snow on New Years Day

Hello friend!

I have missed sharing here on WMG recently!  I have been able to Instagram, which has become a form of mini-blogging for me. You are welcome to check in with me there anytime to see what is starting to bloom around Havenwood, or just what we are up to. I am hoping to continue to share some of our big changes and achievements in our garden here in more detail this year.

Winterthur's Quarry Garden in Full Bloom

Our visit to the Quarry garden at Winterthur

It is a busy morning here as we are getting ready for our last official day of homeschool (yea!) and for our annual garden party that is scheduled for this Saturday. But I wanted to take a minute and post a few more photos from our trip to Winterthur gardens near Philadelphia, PA from early in May.

At Winterthur, H.F. Dupont designed a spring-watered wet garden that includes an enormous collection of giant primroses, Primula x bulleesiana hybrids. They are a cross between Primula bulleyana and Primula beesiana, both parents being native to Asia (more here). Enjoy!

Chanticleer's Asian Woods

Chanticleer's Asian bridge... corresponding to this multi-stemmed tree and the dark-stemmed Arisaema.

Chanticleer's Asian Woods is beautiful in April! It is full of blooming woodland primroses, fresh hosta leaves, delicate peonies and many other woodland treasures. Orchids, Epimediums, Japanese maples and lady's slippers fill out the scene. Plant lovers, read on!