Friday, April 18, 2014

Bloom Day April 2014!

GBBD April 2014
Hello everyone out there! Sorry I've been MIA for such a long time...but I'm back, and I can't think of a better way to return than with a Bloom Day Post (of course, a couple days late). Spring is well and truly underway here in Portland...the garden changes so rapidly right now that every days I wake up and can't wait to see what else has returned or is in bloom. At this point, I think everything that will return HAS returned. There were a few losses over the winter, I'm guessing due to our parking strips flooding repeatedly. Oh well...such is life, right? Without further ado...on with the show!

Purple Tulips
April in my garden is Tulip season. I'm not a collector or connoisseur by any means...I just buy a bag of whatever looks good at the time. My favorite Tulip purchase was a few years ago when I found a mix of pinks/purples/whites called Plum Pudding or something similarly silly....they are great...a perfect blend of colors that makes me look super chic! I wish I could find it again...maybe this fall, right?

More Tulips
Here they are again...just love them!

First Iris
While its early for most of my Iris, the purple ones we inherited with the house always bloom about a month to a few weeks earlier than all the rest...which I love...it extends the Iris season by quite a bit...and they are so pretty (and fragrant)!

hyacinthoides
Love 'em or hate 'em, if you live in Portland, chances are you have a healthy patch of Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides). They spread at a frightening rate...and I've given up trying to get rid of them...I just pull them out the moment they are done blooming. Does it really weaken the bulbs...maybe a little, but not enough to keep them from coming back each year!

hyacinthoides
Still...at least they are a pretty weed...and they do provide a nice cool flush of color for several weeks.

Hyacinthoides & Calamagrostis
I especially love them mixed with grasses...as here with Calamagrostis 'Avalanche'.

Geranium macrorrhizum
The Geranium macrorrhizum I have scattered around the garden are also starting to bloom. I love their lush, green (and fragrant) foliage...and the blooms are brief and lovely addition.

Euphrobia
I know there was a time I really liked this Euphorbia 'Dixter', but it seems like such a distant memory. I tried exorcising from my garden last year, only to have it return even more vigorous this year!

Oxalis oregana
One of my favorites, Oxalis oregana, flowers fairly heavily in the spring and then sporadically during summer...it's another plant which forms a lovely, lush carpet of leaves.

Manzanita James Roof
I purchased this Manzaninta 'James Roof' earlier this spring when I fell in love with it's deep mahogany bark and bonsai-like form. Imagine my surprise when I noticed these tiny, white urn-shaped blooms!

spring garden
That's about it for now in my garden...we're literally just days away from the flood of Iris and Alliums...but you'll get to see those next month, I'm sure.

North Border April
I hope you're having as nice a spring as we are here in Portland...we've had some nice, sunny weather recently, but have returned to lovely, soft showers today, for which both I AND the recently transplanted plants are grateful. Check out May Dreams Garden for more blooms from around the world...and happy GBBD!