Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day April 2010

This year everything greened up and came out at once, as a result of a wet winter and then a week in the high 80's. These new daffodils -- planted last fall -- started blooming a couple of weeks ago and have been unfazed by the heat. I'm not sure what they are: 'Trevithian' or 'Quail' or possibly neither.

They are blooming with the iris 'Crimson King'.

A view of the big perennial bed -- still looking pretty tousled as it wakes up --
with the huge Winter Honeysuckle in back and a mystery iris in bloom in the middle.

'Climbing Old Blush' has started to open up, always a cause for celebration.

Many of the other early roses and iris are open too.

Rosa x cantabrigiensis

Rugosa rubra

'Pippi Longstocking', a Standard Dwarf Bearded

'Jesse's Song', a Tall Bearded

And then more of what you'd expect this time of year:

Jacob's Ladder

The pallid version

Amsonia

Early Blue Violet (Viola palmata)

Piedmont azaleas, fragrant and in both pink and white.

With woodland phlox

After 2 years, we were happy to see the wisteria bloom again. The emerging buds often freeze.

Florida Azalea (R. austrinum)

Coast azalea

Phlox pilosa, from Gail

All -- the Piedmont azaleas, Florida azalea, Coastal azalea, woodland phlox, Phlox pilosa, and wisteria -- are deliciously fragrant.

And then, not growing in the garden at all but wild, this pale Jessamine. Jessamine is usually golden yellow -- it grows all over here, and will wrap itself around pine trees like tinsel around a lamp post -- but this one is butter yellow. The flowers smell just like baby powder.

And a wild crabapple. I would love to have more of these.

Thank you to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.