Such a nice day today. I was worried that it would be as cold and windy as it was yesterday but really it was perfect. Bulbs are coming into their own right now. Still have a few more that are later. My garden is not as vigorous and abundant this year for some reason. Some of the mophead Hydrangeas look dead still. I lost a Major Wheeler Honeysuckle that I just planted last year. Some of my Chrysanthemum are hanging on by a thread. Some look like 9/10ths of the patch is dead. Hoping given some time they will hang in there, but definitely not an enlargement. Some of the roses are not showing growth yet and a few are. I know it's still early, but I'm surprised. Why after this winter? I didn't think it was that bad a winter. We've had worse.

I have Blood root coming up with scilla and I never planted it. It just showed up a few years ago.

My favorite bulbs, are daffodils, hyacinths and scilla....that electric blue when they first open is one of my favorite parts of spring. And scilla self seed so easily.

A growing patch of Cranesbill...it always amazes me that I don't have to clean it up, it just pushes clean new growth up through the mess.

Daffodils are at their peak and amazing that they are standing up at all, considering how much wind we've had and some of these patches are right in a wind tunnel.

Wow, PM, I have no scilla but I need to get some. They are so beautiful! I would love that electric blue color right about now. Your bloodroot has good taste, as the combo looks great.

Cranesbill are so dependable. I love the flowers, the foliage, and the toughness. What an easy plant! Your new foliage promises a beatiful summer. I am not the biggest daffodil fan, but the very light creamy yellow-white ones are always welcome. again, your patches look wonderful. I really need to get some of those bulbs this fall to plant. Were any of your daffodils more vigorous or long-lasting than others?

Deanna, What I wish I had done when I first started gardening, was to plant bulbs. Lots and lots of bulbs. They look so wonderful in masses and they are so carefree once you get them in the ground and then they just keep improving and enlarging year after year.

I do have two varieties of Daffodil that are very perennial. They always come up every year and I’ve had them for a long time. I love them just for the look of them, but I also love them because they are toxic to animals and nothing bothers them. Not squirrels, not rabbits, not voles/moles or chipmunks…. nothing.

Narcissus ‘Ceylon’ is one of the yellows in my patches that blooms at the same time as ‘Ice Follies’. I first planted them in 2005 and I never bought as many as I should have. Just 25 bulbs at a time a few times. So I still have a lot that have multiplied. I’ve also divided them, dug them up, potted them up and planted them in different locations. One of my photos was the original spot and the other two were transplants.

Ice Follies were listed in a number of articles as very good Naturalizers. They are the white with a yellow center, that fades to white. This variety never disappoints.

I’ve grown ‘Mount Hood’ and started dividing that up and increasing it. It’s not in bloom yet. Very large pure white.

‘Thalia’ is another white and it blooms the latest in my garden which extends the season.

I’m careful to plant them behind perennials that will grow up and disguise the dying foliage, or close to shrubs that will hide them.

Two years ago I bought a Miniature Daffodil Mix from Scheepers and I love that one. I have it in my front bed, the foliage is so small it’s not hard on the eye when it is ripening. That was the reason I tried it. And each variety in the mix I enjoy. I would like to buy a lot more of that.

Scilla….you would love it Deanna. Photos do not do it justice. The first week it opens, every day, every time I walk by it, I’m just startled into staring at it and loving it. And you can see lots of photos online of botanical gardens where they’ve planted it under trees and it becomes a carpet. Last year I added more Scilla to 3 more locations. It reseeds very well with no effort on my part at all.

I couldn’t agree more about Cranesbill. Another easy plant! It reminds me of Sedum, that looks good all season in bloom or out. Actually, I do have to cut the dead stems off Sedum in the spring and I have to do nothing to Cranesbill. Some are fairly long blooming and they make a good ground cover when not in bloom. My one complaint is that I’d love larger flowers. I read an article from a collector once that had a lot of different varieties of all sizes, some that were 2 ft or taller. I wish I had taken notes on the varieties they had and where they bought them.

A few new things have started to bloom in the heat.

The first brunnera to bloom

Doronicum

Magnolia 'Betty'

That's a pretty pink on your 'Betty'!

My Magnolia is blooming before my forsythia! I have some pulmonaria and some corydalis blooming;

And Daffs, of course.

Dee, I didn't do it with all the links to the previous threads, oh well. The month is almost over. I haven't been taking photos much, I've been too busy pulling the garden apart and putting it back together with some hired help I was lucky enough to find this year. I look every year for someone and I got lucky this year.

I should be able to start the May thread and maybe copy paste the links from previous threads too. Monday is May 1st - how did that happen?

And Dee you don't have to add photos, you can just chat! [g]

Stratford CT - A few pics from my native pollinator/monarch waystation area. This is the 3rd year and I have lots of gaps in April. I will be adding daffodil and hyacynth bulbs for more color next year. Golden Alexander:

Virginia bluebells:

Native columbine:

An experiment - native prickly pear that I am propogating from neighbor’s large plant:

This is a prickly pear I got last year at Earth Tones native nursery and its doing well:

Not native but i just love these bleeding hearts:

PM, thanks for the thorough Daffodil info. I’ve already looked at Colorblends website and am going to place an order for Ice Follies and scilla for sure, other varieties still being decided. You always provide such excellent information!

One question for all you daffodil people. If I plant bulbs in the middle of VERY established japanese pachysandra, will it be able to sprout and bloom above it? This pachysandra gets plenty of spring sun before the canopy has developed. The pachysandra would easily disguise the failing foliage. Will it strangle the daffodil bulb? I’ve love to turn that carpet of green into something more interesting. The pachysandra was likely planted 20-30 years ago and it has spread extensively. It’s just too much to try to diminish it, but I am able to pull runners out of some small planting areas dotted amongst the Pachy Ocean.

Oooo, you all are getting me excited! Our area will soon have all these blooms. When our Sunday rain is over I’ll take some pics. Things really emerged during the early April heat wave, but we were DRY for close to two weeks, so they halted. Now with some moisture they are emerging, but temps are back down to cool. Today we are supposed to get 2” of rain! I’m sure with May’s warmer days things are about to take off.

Regarding the heat wave, I overestimated the moisture in my wintersowing milk jugs and for the first time in several years lost some desired seedlings to dryness, like some good salvia varieities that came with few seeds to begin with, so I won’t have many that either waited to germinate or survived the hot dryness.

My pulmonaria is blooming. Sigrid, I am always disappointed to see the lungwort so tiny and straggly when it blooms. The internet pics have such full foliage when it blooms. Mine bloom so soon after emerging that you barely notice it. Does yours ever bloom with full foliage? Anybody else?

Deanna, there are lots of great daffodils as good as those I have experience with. You will get a lot of distance with Ice Follies, according to a lot of lists and if my experience is any measure. Choose others that you love, but if you want them to keep coming back and multiply for you, just look for one that is identified as a good ‘perennializer’. And I will be surprised if you don’t love Scilla.

As for daffodils in a patch of pachysandra, I have experience with crocus coming up through Vinca, but I’ve never grown pachysandra. Daffs do need sun. I’ve never had much luck trying to plant them in too much shade. Maybe someone else can give a better answer. Or you could ask the supplier you want to order from.

Winter sowing containers - I had too many the last time I tried that and lost some that way too. There is a lot to keep up with in spring.

Looking forward to photos when you have some bloom.

I have daffodils in a pachysandra bed. It's under a mature oak, and the daffodils come and go before the oak is fully leafed out. For a similar situation, I'd recommend daffodils on the early side.

Thank you!