April 2020 Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month

I didn't think there was much blooming for this month's post, but I looked for blooms in the gardens... and I found some!

The last of the poeticus daffodils are blooming.

Pieris japonica is blooming.

Azalea Snow was part of the original landscape over 25 years ago. Yup -- this is a dwarf azalea.

Ajuga looks amazing at this time of year when all the plants push out blue blooms.

I just noticed the Polygonatum (Solomon's Seal) is beginning to bloom.

Virburnum plicatum closeup. I wish it was fragrant.

Dogwood

For other garden bloggers' bloom day photos, spring over to the blog May Dreams Gardens.

The Best Are Free

The yellow daffodils here are another freebie. And as an added benefit, they multiply like rabbits, holding up well to our variations in spring weather. 'Golden Dawn' are similar to the poet daffodils with their small flower size, multi-bloom stems, small cups, and sweet fragrance. The timing is also similar -- late in the daffodil season.

The green & white daffodils, another free one from last year, only put up leaves this year. I didn't like where I planted them, so moved them very shortly after they finished blooming last spring -- before they had the chance to develop a bulb for this year.

The tulips are amazing. Their smallish flower with a traditional pointed petal tulip shape has the most incredible deep blood red color against the blue-green leaves. I describe them as a saturated red with just a hint of carmine or magenta. They all came back this year - a feat for tulips in my climate. I wish I knew the name to get more.

Sweet Love

The landscape architects gifted me a few of their extra daffodil bulbs last fall. They were labeled Sweet Love and Bridal Crown on the hand written sticky notes, but I did not keep track of which was which. Fast forward to today when the mid-season and late season daffodils are blooming in the front garden.

I know the newcomers there, so began reading up on them to learn the true identity of each. I quickly realized that Bridal Crown was an imposter. This was not the cultivar, but another mid-season daffodil instead. I have written to ask if my friends know its true identity.

The full size single trumpet bloom starts out with a striking orange fringe at the rim of its white cup which eventually turns a shade of peach. This reminds me of Solome, a white daffodil that starts out with an orange-yellow cup that eventually fades to a pink. I planted my mystery daffodil bulbs too far apart to make any meaningful statement in the front garden, but I hope with the luck of some good spring weather and fertilizer, they will multiply for next year.

Sweet Love is a multi-stemmed delight. A soft yellow tints its small cup and creamy white petals. The blossoms are lightly fragrant, like my other multi-bloom stem narcissus. These daffodil blossoms, also like the others, are small in size with about 7 or 8 flowers on several stems. At just the right angle, they look like a soft creamy cloud hovering just above the ground.