The Garden Worm blog Digging up the best dirt on gardening!

April 28, 2011

Spring is Sputtering

Filed under: Flowers,Our gardens,Spring — Judy @ 4:18 pm

Yesterday and today, we have actually been able to shed the extra layers of clothes and work in shirt sleeves! We have had sooooo much rain – the creeks are overflowing, the farmers have not been able to get into the fields to plow, and this is now the rainiest April on record for our area. The lawns are so soggy that it is difficult to find anywhere to walk to start cleaning up the gardens.

My daughter sent me this picture to let me know that they have had somewhat warmer weather than we have had!

Flowering cherries at Cornell

Fortunately, the flowering trees and shrubs around here are now bursting forth – the star and saucer magnolias, the flowering cherries and plums. The forsythia seems to be gorgeous this year and the quince is promising lots of color very soon.

Forsythia 'Lynwood Gold'

Forsythia 'Lynwood Gold'

The daffodils, grape hyacinths, tulips, and all the spring bulbs are now on stage too.

Poet's eye narcissus

Poet's eye narcissus

Purple Hyacinth

Generic purple hyacinth

And the perennials are starting to jump out of the ground. The polemonium I have mentioned before here is showing its fabulous early coloration.

Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven'

Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven'

The brunneras, that have similar flowers and coloration of the forget-me-nots, but don’t seed all over the place and look gray and ratty by midsummer, are blooming gloriously in the shade garden.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost'

Brunnera 'Jack Frost'

It almost seems like spring is going to be compressed into a very short season – everything is blooming at once! I certainly hope not because, now that I am able to get outside, breathe the fresh air, savor all the newness and glory of the season, it seems a shame to not have it hang around for a while. I was more than ready to let winter be gone, but I can’t say that I’m ready for summer to be here just yet. How about you?

April 26, 2011

Garden Visitor

Filed under: Creatures — Judy @ 11:18 am

A loud rat-a-tat-tat outside alerted us that the pileated woodpecker was back. Through the rain and the dirty windows, I managed a picture of questionable quality, but it still is evidence that he was here!

Pileated woodpecker

Pileated woodpecker

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