OK I'll start. I took these yesterday, but it's May 1st and the same plants are blooming today.

Primula sieboldii "Late Snow" in the white garden.

Epimedium Lilac Cascade, growing well under a Norway Maple.

Epimedium 'Versicolor'

The Hostas are back. This is Sagae. It's really big, about 6' in diameter when fully open.

Mertensia virginica, just opened two days ago.

Malus 'Candy Cane'

I wish I knew the name of this Azalea. About 6' tall and 8' wide. It's sort of evergreen. It holds its leaves that turn a bronze color in the winter.

Happy May.

Steve

Beautiful, Steve! You're way ahead of here, although the epimediums are just beginning to bloom, and the hostas are just beginning to sprout.

It's been a slooooow spring and a very dry spring as well, and we're still solidly in daffodil season with an inordinate amount of brown still visible in beds that will be stuffed with green things soon.

The late daffodils are beginning to bloom:

Sir Winston Churchill

And the little yellow daffodil Hawera, here with Thalia Sun.

Narcissus 'Fragrant Rose' is beginning to bloom:

and the Dicentra 'Gold Heart' is beginning to bud.

In the inconspicuous, often overlooked category (but appreciated in early spring), wild strawberry has started to bloom:

Fragaria virginiana

and violets

and vinca

Scillas are still hanging on. I have one more picture but I've reached the Houzz limit per post so I'll put it in another reply.

Claire

It's not flowering but this mullein just pleases me. It planted
itself in the path and I protected it from shoveling and tromping all
winter and it just looks perfect there.

Claire

I made this little movie two days ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJf9RRGVSro

This spring was weird. All of these photos were taken in April of 2016.

I like your movie, parchworkfarm! Are you going to do one for May?

Claire

I'm gonna try! I take photos of my garden every year. This year I had a little health issue, so I wanted music with the pics to raise me up!!

Caltha palustris, marsh marigold is always a spot of gold in early spring, this one visible out the kitchen windows. It grows wild in streams, but seems happy in a garden that never dries out. If it got too dry it would be emphemeral.

This Aubrieta (rock cress) as a plant usually looks half dead, but every spring it throws out these fluorescent flowers that really brighten up a gloomy day, so it has stayed in the garden.

Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is its usual spectacular self, despite being chewed on a fair amount last winter by the cursed voles.

The froth of shadblow (Amelanchier) is everywhere, including these photos I took at work. Some wise soul in the buildings and grounds dept. at UNH decided to plant them all over, and the campus is therefore beautiful in spring and fall when so many prospective students are visiting. I have wild ones at home along the woodland and stream edges, and there is a glorious one in the median of I-93 by exit 17 that brings me joy every spring.

I also have an Aronia (chokeberry) that is lovely at this time of year and is enjoyed by early pollinators.

Lots of daffodils are blooming, and though the early ones were defeated by the 9 degree temperatures, they have been cheerful since then along with the Dicentra eximia (fern-leafed bleeding heart) which is starting to push flowers in the warmer parts of the garden. I am always in awe of those who can actually remember the variety names of their daffs, though I do fine on other plants.

Apologies for photo quality - all were shot with my phone.

I think those are Thalia, immediately identified by being white with recurved petals.Anyone else agree.? I may know the names of a couple of more or groups....especially small ones which were overused at every garden show for a decade.: jetfire and tete a tete. I have no interest in those at all.

After trudging along for a start, May is finally perking up.

The old inherited sour cherry is starting to bloom:

Prunus cerasus

And flowering crabapples have just started to flower too:

The old inherited crabapple over by the road that is recovering from a butchering by the local utilities last year.:

Several of the volunteer crabapples that appeared in my yard, descendants of a tree up the road:

It's still daffodil season though with late daffodils appearing.

N. 'Manly'

and 'Sir Winston Churchill' still in prime time:

Hosta 'White Wall Tire' seems happy this year, its second in my yard. It will turn green later on.

Suddenly there's an awful lot of green out my window, rather than the brown I'd gotten used too.

Claire

Steve, I forgot to mention earlier that your Rhodie looks like Olga Mezitt. Bright pink flowers, slightly olive-colored foliage that otherwise looks fairly similar to PJM, and it blooms right after PJM.

I wanted to add a few things and also show a few longer shots to put plants in context, rather than just a close-up.

The little daffodil Hawera keeps blooming and I occasionally find seedlings around the yard.

The sour cherry in reality. This is a sucker of an inherited tree that hangs on even though it would rather live in a moister environment.

Spanish bluebells are beginning. I didn't plant any of these; they moved themselves from areas where I did plant them.

White bluebells (whitebells?)

Blue bluebells

The pierises are showing new red-ish growth, here with a daffodil I don't think I planted there (although I might have before I moved a few pierises.)

Dicentra 'Gold Heart' continues to delight me by the stairs. The hostas and lilies behind it are sprouting. I have one other Gold Heart, if I had room I'd have fifty:

Variegated Solomon's Seal is starting to bloom:

Claire

Tiarella 'Dark Star' is stealing the show at the moment in the shade of our native rhododendrons. It went in last fall and seems happy

If I could share the fragrance of my Arnold's Promise lilac I would love to, but it is not the most photogenic thing in the garden so no picture of the sweet-smelling ugly duckling.

veronica 'Georgia Blue' went in a couple of places on your recommendations! I am looking forward to seeing it settle in.

That tiarella is a pretty thing, Maisie, and it's a native! I checked it out on Paghat's Garden and the conditions it needs makes me think it wouldn't do well in my garden.

"Tiarellas
want rich loamy moist well-drained soil, but should be neither mulched
nor watered during the winter or they may rot. Their own
winter-persisting leaves are the only mulch they require."

Between my dry summers and wet, well mulched, winters I'd probably kill it quickly. Ah well.

Is anyone else not getting the email notifications of comments from threads they've posted on? Houzz used to send them to me but I've gotten no emails from Houzz for about a week, and I've been posting on several forums. It was very useful to get that reminder that a new comment was posted on a thread.

Claire

edit note: I still have notifications enabled so that's not the problem.

I haven't had the Tiarella long enough to really say but it was certainly under a layer of oak leaves that served as mulch all winter. It came up through them just fine. Maybe just luck? Or the odd winter?

Claire, I am getting notices on posts I've started, though I don't have the part enabled for all threads.

My Tiarella is in a lightly mulched garden and it doesn't seem to mind. I don't put mulch over the crown, just over the roots when planted and renewed as needed.

I love seeing all of your photos and the new colors of spring, especially the Tiarella, which I had but lost, and Claire's mullein. Gardening bring such joys ... but also a few sorrows.

This spring my favorite hydrangeas have barely leafed out and the buds are shriveled, so no blooms. And our 'Crimson Queen' Japanese maple died after 8 years because of winter embolism.

A closeup of the trunk

The ghost of a tree before we cut it down

So what's a gardener to do? Well ... more gardening, naturally. The mound has been widened and a new, much smaller 'Crimson Queen' placed inside the mound to avoid heavy snow pile up from the plows. Many plants in the bed have been divided and moved, especially the Astilbes which have exploded in that deeply composted bed. Today is windy and cooler ... a good day to be in the gardens.

Molie, I don't think I've seen this bed previously. Very nicely composed!

Claire, I love the Pieris foliage.

A big loss this year was the Styrax Japonicus given to me by George, (ego43). It's bark split and not a little - about a 2 ft. length and then curled into itself. And, it was weeping from points on its trunk that even with bifocals, neither moliep or I could see any borer. It had grown from a 3ft. twig to about 12 ft. UCONN Hort. website said this tree is prone to sudden death. Sad.

The yard survivors thus far, however, seem to be doing okay.

Viburnum (forgot which one)

Chinese peony tree in our woodland Philosophy Garden

Daphne, Carol Mackie - was really out last week - so fragrant!

Jane

Wow, Jane! Your tree peony is magnificent and should look spectacular against the red bench... no photo with both in the frame? Yes, it is tough to lose a planting, but I'm betting the garden will look wonderful when you're finished!

moliep - this is all I have right now:

moliep,

What is the pretty purple plant in front of your Japanese maple?

Sorry, Princeton701, but I lost the tag long ago. I'm guessing it's some form of phlox because its leaf pattern and sweet scent.

A closeup of the stem and blossoms

Below, you can see how it's crowding the Pieris japonica 'Katsura' , the Rhododendrons and Astilbe. It spreads like crazy but is very easy to transplant. From one planting years ago I now have clumps all over the gardens.

I guess I should post on the Name That Plant! forum to identify it so I could take some to the CT Plant Swap.

Okay, so I checked my "records" (all the tags I've collected over the years) and think it's Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon."

Steve, what a beautiful collection!

I love your lilacs, Steve! What a beautifully diverse collection you have! And Molie, your phlox is gorgeous! You southern New England gardeners give those of us here in the frigid reaches of the north a nice preview of things still to come!

Molie, I also have Phlox divericata Blue Moon and perhaps one other. I've underplanted my redbud with them and some Epimediums, so in a few years when the spring flowers have filled in a bit more I think it will be lovely. Right now it's quite sparse.

Nice range of lilacs, Steve, and as always, beautifully photographed.

Jane, I like both the Viburnum and the tree peonies. Short bloom times, but spectacular while they are in bloom like the lilacs.

Looking at all your gardens happily advancing into spring, I look at mine and step back a bit - it's a slow spring here on the coast.

I still have one late daffodil that's just now beginning to open.

N. 'Felindre', a poeticus type

and all of the Spanish bluebells are open:

pink and white

and blue

I have one bed down by the road which contains hosta, Solomon's Seal and lily-of-the-valley (and a few other things). The hostas are slowly leafing out (Northern Exposure).

In another bed the hostas are swimming in bigroot Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwerson's Variety'.

Hosta 'Diana Remembered' and some assorted plantaginea hostas.

Ajuga and the bigroot geranium in front of cotoneaster

Cotoneaster just beginning to bloom

And I thought I should show my second Dicentra 'Gold Heart' which is a few years behind the big one. That's a whole lot of self-seeded soapwort around it and I'll have to weed a lot of that out soon. It's just so nice to see healthy green for a change. I also hate to mess around roots when the soil is so dry - they were forecasting about a half inch of rain this morning but we got 0.01 inches, which is more like a heavy dew. I've been watering regularly.

The first ladyslippers I've seen this year:

Hosta "High Society" - small 8", looks a lot yellower now that it will later in the summer

Native columbine attracts the hummingbirds but not in this pic

Susan

Moliep,

Thanks for the additional info on the phlox - I just LOVE it!

I'm going to check online to see if I can buy some. Really, really pretty.

Steve,

Beautiful lilacs! I'm glad you posted a real-life picture of Sensation. I've often wondered if the pictures from the mail-order nurseries were true to life or photoshopped. i may have to make some room for a sensation in my garden!

Oh, Steve's lilacs and Susan's lady slipper and Claire's Spanish bluebells ... all so lovely! I'm a bit envious, I must add. In my former house I tried both bluebells (lost them all) and lady slipper (just not the right environment for them). Not enough room here for any more shrubs, though Sensation and Arch McKean are spectacularly tempting.

The thing I love about GW is the fact that I get to see so many plants and gardens... a virtual garden tour. Keep them coming!

First daylily bloom today (I've been checking the buds every day)! These were transplanted last year so I'm not sure if the timing is normal. They weren't happy where I had them before.

Hemerocallis 'Orangeman'

The Siberian irises are opening.

Iris sibirica

Little geranium 'Biokovo' is blooming.

The rhododendrons had a rough spring - Anah Krushcke was full of buds but only about half of the florets in each bud actually opened. I don't know if it was temperature damage or if some insect got into them.

Rhododendron 'Roseum' only managed two flowers but they timed themselves nicely with the Felindre daffodil.

Doublefile viburnums also are less floriferous than last year, but they're right by my deck so I really enjoy them.

In the modest, unassuming category, Canada mayflower is slowly taking over the ground in out of the way areas.

Everything is getting a light dusting of pine pollen, it's that season now, but it's also eat-out-on-the-deck-with-the-laptop season. Which reminds me I need to bring out the dusting cloth to deal with the pollen....

Claire

My very first rose bloomed yesterday! I am so excited! I've had lots of things blooming so far, but nothing that I planted myself except for this rose.

Cinco De Mayo:

claireplymouth: that Canada mayflower is gorgeous!! I've never seen that before!

nat1611: Canada Mayflower is a native woodland plant that has probably been lurking here for years and is expanding its domain ever since I abandoned the lawn in several areas, letting whatever wanted to grow up (I enjoy watching to see what volunteers by itself). My neighbor calls them "little ears".

Your rhododendron is a beauty. I love when they're allowed to grow tall - there are a few huge ones up the street from here and it's a great show in spring.

Your Cinco De Mayo is lovely. My rugosas are beginning to bloom but not really photo ready yet (and it's raining heavily outside).

Claire

Nat, your rhododendron is magnificent! I love the color!

I only just planted my gardens and some pots a few days ago. Except for my geraniums that wintered over indoors and a few daylilies and Siberian iris purchased online, the only things I planted are annuals that can be started from seed directly in the ground.

This spring has been a lost cause for me. After the prolonged cold spell killed my daffodil blooms, it was too cold to even start plants from seed on my enclosed back porch. We also went to Maine for several days and, as wonderful as that was, it disrupted our usual spring routine even further.

Here is one of my only successes so far this year, my rhubarb (ignore the untrimmed weeds that surround it) and a pie made from the same.

It's been hot here, things are blooming and fading, but managed to photograph some blooms.

More later. Got to water out there!!

Wow, gorgeous garden, punky and amazing to think it's only a year old. I am finding myself imagining the rose scent.

Sped, I've been planning to make a rhubarb pie for most of a week, but have been under the weather. Yours looks lovely.

My earliest peony, Early Scout, just starting to fade a week ago.

This year is the last one for this particular Halesia. The flowers are gorgeous, but it is borderline in my garden and in this spot is too exposed. It gets killed back often enough that it's a wild thing of resprouting branches, far too large for its spot. So it is getting the chainsaw sometime this summer to allow the magnolia behind it room to grow.

The Fothergilla is always eye-catching at this time of year, starting with little chartreuse puffs that expand to this bright white bottlebrush scented softly of honey. After a couple of weeks of slowly opening, once all of them were open it was less than a week before everything starting browning with the sudden onset of 80-90 degree temperatures

I am enjoying both the fullness of the flowering of Major Wheeler honeysuckle and the color echo of the columbine that has self-seeded nearby.

The same garden near the house that will lose the Halesia with classic cottage garden plants just starting to bloom plus a few deciduous rhodies and a pagoda dogwood.

First cutting of the hayfield, with corn sprouting in the upper right corner. You can see how dry our weather has been by looking at our "pond". Earlier in the spring the water extended to the bottom of the photo, and usually it fills the dark green area all spring, so the groundwater is pretty far down.