April Flowers
The plants around my farm are growing so beautifully - there are gorgeous spring blooms in every garden.
Every day I see something new. Trees are leafing out and flowers are bursting with color and energy - Fritillaria, Leucojum, Muscari, the trout lilies, the tulips, the Mertensia with their charming blue flowers that open from pink-tinged buds, the large blooms of the Magnolias, and of course, lots and lots of daffodils.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Some of the early season blooms are the big flowers of the magnolia trees. Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Growing as large shrubs or trees, they produce showy, fragrant flowers that are white, pink, red, purple or yellow, which may be bowl-shaped or star-shaped.
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- I have these magnolias in one corner of my farm not far from my tree peony garden.
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- Last year, I planted several darker pink magnolias with these large flowers. The variety is called ‘Black Tulip.’
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- Mertensia virginica, or Virginia bluebell, is a perennial that is native to North America. Its buds are actually pink, but the flowers are blue. They can grow in any garden and bloom in early to mid spring and continue blooming through early to mid summer.
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- These plants grow best in deep to partial shade and moist, well-drained rich humus. They self-seed and colonize, so there are more in the garden every spring.
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- This lovely woodland plant is the wood anemone from the Buttercup family. They are cheerful and hardy ground covering plants.
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- Each flower features white petal-like structures called sepals and yellow centers.
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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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- In my vegetable garden, I also have a few beds of blooming tulips. There are currently more than 3000 registered tulip varieties, which are divided into at least 15-groups, mostly based on the flower type, size, and blooming period.
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- All tulips are planted as bulbs in the fall and bloom in the spring. They also have the ability to come back year after year, but beware – the deer love them too.
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- Tulip ‘Sanne’ has impressive, elegantly tapered flowers that open deep rose-pink and creamy-pink edges. As it matures, it turns lilac-pink with pink-ivory edges.
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- ‘Foxy Foxtrot’ is a double tulip with shades of apricot, yellow, and hints of rose orange.
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- These are the flowers of a weeping cherry tree with its cascading branches. This is one of several outside my stable. They only bloom for a short while. These trees are eye-catchers when guests are lucky enough to see them filled with white flowers.
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- When in bloom, weeping cherry flowers attract many butterflies and hummingbirds.
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- A handful of azaleas along one side of my farm are also blooming. Of all the shrubs that flower in spring, azaleas provide some of the most brilliant displays. I have hundreds planted outside my Summer House and down the carriage road to the stable.
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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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- Snowflakes, Leucojum, are native to Eurasia and are members of the amaryllis family. These perennials increase over time and are not attractive to deer or rodents.
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- Commonly known as Guinea Hen Flower, Checkered Lily or 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 on slender stems.
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- The delicate blooms of the trout lily, Erythronium, resemble turks cap lilies and stand out in the dappled light. These are planted in a bed outside my chicken coops, but many others also grow in the woodland.
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- Nearby, this a blooming primrose – a vibrant perennial known for its early blooms that come in yellow, pink, purple, and red. Primrose thrives in cool temperatures and does well in garden beds, borders, and containers.
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- And here is a spring favorite, Dicentra spectabilis, or bleeding heart – a herbaceous plant with oddly shaped flowers that look very similar to hearts. These flowers are native to eastern Asia and North America. They are shade loving woodland plants that bloom in the cool of spring and stay in bloom for several weeks.
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