Two sunny days made the landscape here today look like mid-April, which is an improvement over looking like March as it had been.

Forsythia blooms and trout lilies alongside the brook.

Forsythia and pussywillows beginning to flower.

Daffodils and some mostly hidden blue creeping myrtle blooms in the "gnome garden."

I can't get over these trout lilies. They are coming up from bulbs planted last year, and it looks like there will be many flowers, which is a surprise since literature claims they bloom very sporadically.

I don’t have much happening now, but the wall rockcress is very cheerful next to the tulips. And, I have the mottled leaves of trout lilies EVERYWHERE, with a few trout literally flowers. I do hope they’re trout lilies and that lily-of-the-valley cannot sprout with a mottled leaf. Looking forward to a future with lots of Trout lilly blooms!

My forsythia is blooming—the first time In five years of living here that I’ve had decent blooms on it, after a hard pruning in 2016. I will finish the hard pruning this year and from now on It will look like a real forsythia. But, as with many other things that were here already, it is in a back corner of the house that rarely gets seen or enjoyed. It is not easily visible from the outside, and being on a corner it is not viewed from any windows. I purchased another one, Showstopper, and I’m trying to find a place for it in clear view.

Anybody remember the purple poppy adventure in a raised 6 foot long veggie bin last year?

Well, last Spring only half the veggie bin had been seeded by me with a packet of new Botanical Gardens Lauren's Grape Poppy seeds; the other half was zinnias for the hummingbirds. Went out to plant zinnia seeds this morning and found that the carefree sprinkling of last year's pods was powerful enough to plant the other half of the bin. So I sprinkled zinnia seeds anyway. As long as there are flowers for everybody. I thought they were annuals, packet said Annual...should be interesting.

powerful little pods

Jane, your last post has made me want to run out RIGHT NOW and buy huge planters for poppies and zinnias. That's just stunning!

Jane, someone gave me some annual bread poppy seeds well over 20 years ago. They self seed every year and even moved with me to a new home in the soil of the few plants I brought with me. I really enjoy them, both the flowers and the interesting seed pods. I imagine that the zinnias will be starting around the time the poppies are ready to be pulled.

You have a plethora of purple poppy plants there, Jane! It's going to be a dramatic planter if the zinnias come up too.

My first rhododendron is blooming, Mary Fleming, which is always understated and in too much shade, but is well-loved anyway. I wonder if the hummers like it.

Epimediums are blooming, mostly Sulphureum and Warlayense.

Leucojeum 'Gravetye Giant' (AKA summer snowflake) is blooming like a snowdrop on steroids. It comes back every year right next to a miscanthus.

Mid-late daffodils are blooming.

N. 'Thalia Sun'

N. 'Sir Winston Churchill'

N. 'Fragrant Rose'

I still have some very late daffodils that are not blooming yet.

Some pieris are still in bloom, although many of them had a rough winter and skipped bloom this year.

Wild violets, purple and white, are in bloom, and the volunteer crabapples are budding.

Claire

I forgot Dicentra 'Gold Heart', which is what made me grab the camera in the first place!

Claire

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who starts to photograph one thing and 20 shots later forgets what the main intention was, lol. Looking at your epimediums, Claire, makes me think they may be a good choice for part of the new Spirit Garden. Worth a try in part shade near the font in front of the young wild dogwoods. Might as well try before the NE asters move in. Have yours spread actively or are they more 'introverted'?

NHBabs - yup, the key word was "Annual". A distortion, perhaps, meaning yes, every year they are a new annual, in a new place whether you want them or not, lol. If they truly all pop into plants with blooms, I may as well take some of that soil and put it into my hellstrip out front. I don't want to take zinnias away from the birds - it's a favorite.

Jane

P.S. just found out epimediums are deer resistant. Some will be coming to our house.

Jane: Epimedium 'Sulphureum' spreads somewhat, but never obnoxiously. Warlayense is almost as good in that it does increase a little each year and it looks good with Sulphureum. I have a number of other fancy epimediums in there but you'd hardly notice. They don't die off but they don't increase either.

A nice plant.

Claire

Thanks, Claire.

Jane check out Garden Vision Epimediums, on the web and in MA. I don’t know if it is too far for a field trip for you, but she is open several days in April and May each season and posts the schedule on the website

Well, that explains why my pieris looks so horrible! I was going to post and ask. Below are photos of one of my Spring favorites, Quaker Ladies. So cute! Then a nice healthy batch of trout lilies that are not in the least bit afraid of the pachysandra bullies. I've got many trout lilies among the pachysandra. Last, a shot of a couple hundred trout lilies that will surely be sprouting flowers in the years to come. I think there are some lily of the valley mixed in at this particular spot, but my shade area is mostly trout lilies. I'm assuming they're still young now. They really like my yard, and I can't take any credit for it at all.

That is trout lily city, Deanna! I look forward to seeing future pictures when they all bloom. Did you plant all of those as bulbs, or have they spread?

My trout lilies all began to bloom this past week. It's still just a tiny patch compared to yours. I like how the forsythia and trout lilies complement each other.

I look forward to seeing your planter when those poppies are blooming, Jane. It's too cold where I am for most flowers to seed themselves. I think I've had a few nasturtiums and portulaca plants that have self-seeded, but for the most part I have to save the seeds each fall. I think that the zinnias and poppies will look great together. I usually plant cosmos in amongst my poppies.

This clump of daffodils is still hanging in there; most of the others are going by..

A mix of spinach and other salad greens are sprouting in this little planter on the front porch, and radishes in the grow bag. They are liking this cool weather.

Unlike your cool weather happy vegs, Sped, my annuals get to spend another day on the porch. I figure if I need to wear a turtleneck and a sweatshirt just to be outside, it's still too cool for them. They get another day of protection while I prepare the pots.

Well Jane, I chose only to post pictures of happy plants. I didn't post photos of my pots of plants from seed. About half of these pots are empty and are probably not going to germinate. The others are home to tiny green stubs, the tallest of which are about one inch. It was too cold to start seeds until late in April, and it has been cold and overcast since then. Of all the sunny days predicted, only about 1/3rd have actually panned out. Your geraniums look well despite being confined indoors. My sun-loving plants are distinctly unhappy this year.

I envy you trout lily gardeners; I haven't planted any here because I'm afraid it's too dry in the summer and too wet in the winter for them.

My patch of inherited sour cherry trees (Prunus cerasus) is blooming. They're all suckers so I rarely get fruit. They don't photograph well at a distance, at least not by me, but they look good closeup.

Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum') is blooming in with hostas and daffodils and a bunch of other plants.

Volunteer crabapples are starting to bloom,

and some late daffodils have appeared.

Narcissus 'Hawera' - little yellow flowers with Thalia Sun still blooming:

and Narcissus 'Green Eyed Lady' has begun:

Claire

They are beautiful, Bill. What more I could want would be that they were hardy here, but they aren't - I tried.

Gorgeous, Bill! What more I could want is a space that would do it justice.

Claire

Love that yellow beauty, Bill! That is spectacular!

My bleeding heart is blooming amidst the violets.

Babs, it's good that you tried it. It's never had any winter damage here at all, so possibly 5b, but that doesn't help you. Well at least you can look at the photos now and then.

Claire, if you have a pergola, it would be a good candidate for that, since it's not heavy and woody the way wisteria or trumpet vine are, and of course, it's evergreen, which is nice.

Sped, thanks for the nice comment. My bleeding hearts both died this past winter. They were there for several years, and in two quite different places in my garden. Not sure why.

Bill, how long does your Carolnia jessamine stay in bloom like that?

Suz, only for a couple of weeks. But I feel that the show is worth it. But I also like it because it adds interest to the stone wall all year because it's evergreen. We don't have many evergreen vines around here (except ivy - ugh!). The gelsemium doesn't cling either, so it won't ruin wood, etc. Just needs a support, like my last two photos of the one on the high fence.

Syringa vulgaris 'yankee doodle' has been in next to the deck for about 10 years. This year its going all out. Prolific in past years, but never before has it had a 12" long blossom. Very fragrant - nice. :)

I have been gone for almost two weeks, and much has changed in the yard, thankfully. One of my favorite azaleas is blooming, this view which looks upwards into it. I like for its luminous white-pink blooms and because you can see the topmost blooms from the back deck.

These tiarellas were rescued from near extinction last year, and they grew from extremely small starts to what you see below. I think I'm going to add some more for a mass planting. And, I LOVE the cobalt blue of the Brunnera. I will definitely turn that into a mass planting. These were abused by the plowman, and still look good this year. I thought they were goners. Just wish the variegated leaf forms would grow from seed.

I bought four Percy Wiseman Rhododendron this year. I LOVE these colors. The buds are bright pink, but the flowers are light pink tinged with yellow. The three colors simultaneously on the plant are just gorgeous.

And, ending with a very pleasant surprise. I ordered roughly 15 bare-root peonies last year in the fall from GH Wild. I planted them in rich well-prepared soil, and nearly all of them have buds this year. Did NOT expect that. It's going to be exciting! Below is one with two big fat buds.

As a side note, I am realizing that these spring-blooming trees and shrubs are a good color bridge between bulbs and my "normal" herbaceous perennial season. The new azaleas may be off their true bloom time since they were just purchased and I'm assuming are under more of a greenhouse/grower timeline. But, I'm hoping next year they are blooming during this needed "bridge" time.

May is nearing the end but I have a few things blooming that belong here.

The very first daylily is blooming: Hemerocallis 'Orangeman'

Doublefile viburnums just off my deck. One is the named 'Summer Snowflake' and one grew from an unnamed cutting I bought for about $2 at a local plant sale. The unnamed cutting is the big one on the left.

Summer Snowflake below:

Claire

Finally, on the last day of May my Cherry Cheesecake Azalea opened one bud.

My Geranium sangiuneum, unknown variety, in blooming, but I have NO buds on my Rozannes. Is that normal for Rozannes to bloom later?

Siberian Iris, Geranium, unknown variety, Dwarf Deutzia, Hosta, Sedum, Azaleas and annuals.

This isn't exactly a garden, but rather a clearing in our woods where this colony of false lily of the valley (aka wild lily of the valley, aka Canada mayflowers) has sprung up. Last year I did a major clearing out of blackberry brambles that were obstructing our view from this overlook area, and I have the scars to prove it! Then this year I chopped down the brambles that were re-generating, and found these delightful wildflowers growing. (Perhaps they were there all along, hidden under the blackberries.)

I built this protective cage yesterday for my arctic beauty kiwi vine that was eaten down to stubs by rabbits this spring. It is regenerating, but has a long ways to go to reach its former size. Hopefully it will not again become a rodent snack now that it is in protective custody.

I was updating the list of things I planted this year, and many of the entries have the following notations: "didn't germinate," "germinated but died," and "eaten by rabbits." I discovered yesterday that rabbits consider coleus plants to be a delicacy when they ate all my sprouted plants out of a flower pot. I guess I can give up on growing them alongside the brook. It's really too shady there for pansies to bloom profusely, but at least they do grow and produce some blooms, so back to pansies in the pot we go! Then a skunk dug up an area that I had filled in and seeded with a mix of grass and clover where a decaying stump had been, probably looking for the remains of the ant colony that had inhabited the stump. What a year!

saypoint, your walkway look so new and nice!