Mid-April Spring Emergence
Although we have gray skies and lots of clouds above my Bedford, New York farm this week, the gardens are still showing off lots of springtime blooms.
The garden beds are changing every single day. Trees are leafing out and flowers are bursting with color and energy - Fritillaria, Anemonella, Epimediums, trout lilies, the weeping cherries with their pendulous branches filled with white blossoms, and of course the daffodils.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Behind my carport is my dwarf apple orchard. Look closely, and these trees are showing lots of colorful buds.
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- Here is a closer look. The majority of apple tree blossoms begin as pink buds and bloom as white flowers. Father Legendre of Hannonsville, France is credited with pioneering the espalier growing method in 1684. Because sunlight reaches every piece of fruit that these trees bear, espalier pruning continues to be a standard procedure at commercial orchards in France.
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- Commonly known as The Guinea Hen Flower, The Checkered Lily or The Snake’s Head Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris is an heirloom species dating back to 1575. It has pendant, bell-shaped, checkered and veined flowers that are either maroon or ivory-white with grass-like foliage intermittently spaced on its slender stems. I have many in my gardens.
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- This deer- and rodent-resistant naturalizer is native to the western Himalayas and Asia Minor, and prefers rich, well-draining neutral pH soil and a bit of light shade or dappled sunlight.
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- The hellebores continue to show beautifully at the farm. Hellebores are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and early spring for up to three months. Hellebores come in a variety of colors and have rose-like blossoms. It is common to plant them on slopes or in raised beds in order to see their flowers, which tend to nod.
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- Anemonella thalictroides is an easy-to-grow, deer-resistant, durable, but dainty looking plant. The genus name Anemonella roughly translates as ‘little anemone’ because its flowers are miniature copies of the windflower. These are a light pale pink, but they also appear in white.
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- Chionodoxa, known as glory-of-the-snow, is a small genus of bulbous perennial flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, often included in Scilla.
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- These are Snowflakes – not to be confused with Snowdrops. The Snowflake is a much taller growing bulb which normally has more than one flower per stem. Snowflake petals are even, each with a green spots on the end, whereas Snowdrops have helicopter-like propellers that are green only on the inner petals.
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- A weeping cherry tree is at its best when the cascading branches are covered with pink or white flowers. These two outside my stable only bloom for a short while. These trees are big eye-catchers when guests are lucky enough to see them in bloom.
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- Here’s a closer look at the flowers. When in bloom, weeping cherry flowers attract many butterflies and hummingbirds.
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- Cornus mas, commonly known as cornelian cherry, is a deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to central and southern Europe into western Asia. It typically grows over time to 15 to 25 feet tall with a spread to 12 to 20 feet wide. Yellow flowers on short stalks bloom in early spring before the leaves emerge in dense, showy, rounded clusters.
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- Underneath the majestic pin oaks in the allee, and the stand of weeping willows is a variety of Narcissi named after me by Van Engelen Inc., a wholesale flower bulb company in Bantam, Connecticut. Narcissus ‘Martha Stewart’ is a Karel van der Veek hybrid with a three-inch white perianth surrounding a pale yellow cup. In full bloom, these flowers grow to about 16 to 18 inches tall and look wonderful against the luscious green lawns.
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- ‘Mariesii’ is a doublefile viburnum noted for its distinctively layered horizontal branching. It is a broad, dense, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that typically matures to 10 feet tall and spreads to 15 feet wide. The dark green leaves on this dense, multi-stemmed shrub are toothed and oval in shape.
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- Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers that look like bunches of grapes in spring. Muscari is also known by its common name for the genus – grape hyacinth.
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- Muscari bloom in mid-spring. Deer and rodents rarely bother them, and the bulbs multiply readily, returning to bloom again year after year. Latifolium offers a unique ombre pattern of color on a single bloom.
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- Blossoms are also emerging on the fruit trees in my orchard. My fruit trees have been doing so well – in part because of how nutrient-rich the soil is. These flowers are on one of the apricot trees.
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- From the carriage road looking up above the pinetum, one can see the gorgeous golden yellow of the weeping willows.
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- Epimedium, also known as barrenwort, bishop’s hat, fairy wings, horny goat weed, or yin yang huo, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae. The majority of the species are endemic to China, with smaller numbers elsewhere in Asia, and a few in the Mediterranean region. The leaves are made up of leaflets, which can range in number from three to 50 and in size from as tiny to six inches long. They are generally heart-shaped, but can range from round to arrow-shaped.
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- This is a trout lily. Its delicate blooms, which resemble turks cap lilies do best in dappled light.
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- Named for the organ that most resembles the foliage, pulmonaria is also known as lungwort. Despite the name, pulmonaria is a wonderful flowering woodland shade plant. Pulmonaria leaves are deer-resistant and range from solid green to nearly pure silver with or without spots. These plants prefer light shade and a moist but well-drained site, where they establish quickly and make a superb spring show.
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- And here’s my handsome big boy, Emperor Han, enjoying the fresh spring air from the steps of my Winter House. Chow Chows are excellent guard dogs. You can often find mine at the foot of my glass kitchen doors or on these steps watching all the goings-on at the farm.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
