Havenwood Comes Alive in May

European Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus fastigiata, leafing out in the Rose Garden.

May is here! I think it is my favorite month, because it is in May that spring truly arrives in my zone 5 garden. We have had many beautiful days of sun, many quiet days of rain, and the last of the frosty mornings. Blooms are popping out daily and are deeply appreciated after our long winter. 

Are My Bulbs OK in the Snow???

Crocus tommasinianus in the snow...

People always ask, "Are my bulbs are going to be ok coming up in harsh winter weather?" 

"My tulips are poking up and it is only January! Are they going to be ok?" 

The Rose Garden in May at Havenwood

Tulips in the Rose Garden this week with Magnolia stellata.

Welcome to the first year for our new gardens at Havenwood!

I have been working very hard lately getting all of our these new beds weeded and mulched for their first spring show, working on new garden designs for local clients, as well as finishing up my studies for the RHS Level 2 tests this June.  We have been having a hot, hot spring. So there has also been need for lots of watering and the plants are shooting ahead in growth... And there were 13 roses, 6 boxwood, 6 fruit trees, 6 birch trees and a hornbeam hedge that went in too!

While I put my feet up & have some mint ice cream, I hope you enjoy having a look around... :)

How to Choose a Tulip Combination

Tulip 'Princess Irene' and Tulip 'Cum Laude' at Gilmore Gardens in May 2012

I have put much thought this week into what bulbs we should start at Havenwood for our first official spring season next year. There are crocuses, snowdrops, rock irises, daffodils, fritillaries, grape hyacinths, anemones, summer snowflakes, camassias, allium and - not least - tulips to think about. That is a lot to hold in ones head!

When it comes to choosing tulips in particular, I have found a trick that really helps me have a good idea about what the finished planting is going to look like: just Google it. (Isn't that the answer to many of life questions in our modern world!) Any browser (Bing. etc) with an image search capability will do.

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...

Allium 'Purple Sensation' and Tulip 'Cum Laude' Combination

Our Front Walk garden on May 17th.

One of my favorite surprised combinations happens in the Front Walk garden this month. Tulipa 'Cum Laude' and Allium 'Purple Sensation' make a beautiful pair here, the latter just beginning as the former finishes. The blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis) add to the blue theme and the chartreuse foliage of Spirea 'Goldflame' adds some punch. You can just see the foliage of the Japanese Anemone coming up in the area, which helps to cover the rather unsightly Allium foliage while it blooms.

Read more about the Front Walk garden on the map of our town garden.

Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' on the Hill

Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' surrounded by silvery lambs ears (Stachys byzantine) on the Hill. Photo by Melissa Ellen.

If you missed my GBBD post, then you missed a ton of beautiful photos of our garden taken by my good friend Melissa Ellen. I love the above photo so much, that I felt it should have its own post. It shows our Hill Garden this May with Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' blooming and a few blue Muscari armenicum woven in here and there. Silvery Stachys byzantine, purple barberry, and purple-flowered Phlox subulata fill in the tapestry.

Driveway Garden

Tulip 'Apricot Impression', Muscari armenicum, and pink blooming Lamium maculatum.

The morning sun made for a nice photo opprotunity!

More of Cherry Corner in April

Cherry Corner: pink weeping cherry tree, Narcissus 'Pink Charm', Tulip 'Apricot Impression', Muscari armenicum, Sedum 'Acre' and much more.

Tulip 'Apricot Impression' in the Hill Garden

Tulip 'Apricot Impression' in the Hill Garden

Cherry Corner Garden in April

Pink Cherry blossom in Cherry Corner today.

Though it has been a bit cold at night, our days have been beautiful this week. And the plants have certainly responded to the weather!

Here are a few photos of our Cherry Corner garden (so called for the weeping cherry tree that is its center piece). I snapped them in the afternoon light sometime between watching the kids ride their bikes on the driveway, an afternoon homeschool session, writing a meal plan for next week, lying down for a wee rest, getting out pancakes to warm for dinner, and going grocery shopping until my mini van overflowed...  because we had no more food and were reduced to eating leftover pancakes for dinner!

The garden is such a reminder to me of the Lord's peace, and a greater Beauty, in the midst of a busy life. I hope it can be a reminder for you today as well.

Tulips for April

Tulipa 'Persian Pearl' in our garden this week.

Spring is in overdrive here in Pennsylvania. I took another walk around our garden today and I already see so much change from Monday tour for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day! The weather has been sunny and in the 60's, and we just had a few nice days of saturating rain last week.  The plants are zooming ahead to catch up to their normal April schedule, which was delayed this year.

These two tulips are sure to add some color to your April days! They are both very early bloomers, do well in containers, and have perennialized well here in well drained planting medium.

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ April 2013 GGBD

Blooms for April along the front of our house at Gilmore Gardens.

Spring seems to have finally arrived here in western Pennsylvania, zone 5. Temperatures will be in the 60's this week (18 C) and the sun is shining.... and I have the sunburn to prove it! oops.

Yellow is the theme color this week with the forsythias and daffodils in full bloom. And our pet bunny, Bella, is enjoying the fresh new dandelion greens that I am pulling out from the lawns and borders. (Hint: Now is the time to get a jump on those weeds!)

Chanticleer House in Spring

My visit to Chanticleer House & Gardens in April.

Welcome to the end of my Chanticleer series! It has been nice to finally post these photos from my visit last April with my garden blogging friends, Pam and Carolyn. Chanticleer is a beautiful garden throughout, and it was a very enjoyable visit. Keep and eye open for roosters statues (like on the pillar above), as chanticleer is french for rooster.

If you are interested in reading more about Chanticleer, I recommend looking at their book that was new out last year, Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden by Adrian Higgins. For me, the real thrill of this book was the beautiful garden photography by Rob Cardillo. His photos cover many seasons of the romantic garden, and there is a bit of information for the plant and garden history lovers as well.

So here we are, at Chanticleer house...

Slow Spring, but still Happy Easter!

Narcissus 'Jenny', blue Muscari armenicum, purple Phlox subulata and pink lamium in our Driveway Garden last year at this same time: March 30th, 2012.

This year in our Driveway garden: March 30th, 2013. A bit slower this year!

Tulip 'Persian Pearl', Narcissus 'Tete-e-tete' and Echeveria in a bulb pot last year: March 30, 2012.

The same pot in our garden this week: March 2013.

Tulip 'Ice Stick' and Narcissus 'Tete-e-tete' on our Hill Garden last year: March 30, 2012.

No matter where you are this spring, or what your whether is like, I would like to say Happy Easter to you!

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~ Romans 5:6-8

Chanticleer's Bulb Lawn

Viburnum macrocephalum and Tulipa 'Akebona' in Chanticleer's Bulb Meadow.

When you emerge from Chanticleer's Asian Woods, you are greeted by sunshine and a wide swath of grass. But this is no ordinary field. In April and May, it is filled with a succession of colorful bulbs and flowering trees. This is the Bulb Lawn, where tulip, daffodils and bluebells abound.

Chanticleer ~ Gravel & Ruin Gardens

Tulipa 'Rem's Favourite' and white Allium neapolitanum framed by pillar Arborvitae look down on a pergola covered in Wisteria sinensis 'Amethyst' ~ the Gravel Garden at Chanticleer.

We are continuing our tour of Chanticleer gardens in Wayne, PA, USA.  Last April, the Gravel Garden and Ruin gardens were clothed in tulips, alliums, grape hyacinths and daffodils for my visit... And they make me remember why spring is my favorite season!

Chanticleer ~ Oak Bed Woodland

Chanticleer's Oak Bed filled with spring delights!

I had lovely weather and lovely company on the day I visited Chanticleer last April. The sunny, warm spring excited hundreds of plants into bloom on the estate grounds all at once. It was a beautiful time to visit!

Here are my photos of the Oak Bed. I found the planting in this area captivating; so many woodland treasures were all nestled together. It had the effect of a patchwork quilt which the gardeners had been knitting together these past years.  Each plant so quietly beautiful, supporting one another. I hope you enjoy the view!

Color for the Weekend

Orange and purple-flamed Tulipa 'Prinses Irene' and blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis) in our Front Walk last spring.

Remembering April... I am looking forward to seeing some more of Tulip 'Prinses Irene' in our Front Walk this year!

Longwood Gardens' Spring Show 2012 - Long Border and Container Displays

Longwood Gardens' Spring Show 2012

Our April visit to Longwood Gardens was a bit rainy, but water always makes bloom color more intense for photography. After having visited this grand garden several times in the winter and summer months, we were excited to get to see what they plant out for spring. We were not disappointed!

Container display in the circle of rose arbors looking toward the emerging tree foliage.