Primula Veris,'Cowslip'.

Primula Vulgaris,'Primrose'.

Osteospermum,'Cape Daisy'.

Forsythia x Intermedia,'Lynwood'.

Erysimum Linifolium Variegatum,'Variegated Wallflower'.

Variegated Wallflower.

Variegated Wallflower.

Terrarium.

So pretty. Your garden is way ahead of mine this time of year.

Terrarium

Hi Sandi,..we were stepping back and forward into winter for a spell luckily our weather has improved,..everything started popping up this week,..you will catch up!.

Philip

How pretty. I love primulas. Too hot for them here.
Our weather has been crazy too. It was near freezing 2 nights ago. Way past any recorded freeze here.

Hi plantmaven,..its pretty much the same world wide,..by coincidence this week we had politicians from all over the world meeting in Dublin,Ireland,..discussing global warming.

We have primulas growing all over the islands where i live,..lots of rain and mists here of course,..they thrive in that.

Philip

Your cowslips are way ahead of mine, Glengarry. It's been a miserable spring and has only got going in the last couple of weeks. Cowslip flower stems are just beginning to extend.

Hi flora,..its really going to be a very short spring,..well what we have experienced as spring,...including the plants,..summer starts in nine days,..lets hope from May 1st we return to something like summer.

I'm about ready to ribbons bright color in my flower beds.Few daff. But that is about it for here in Iowa.Had to cover some record cold-day before flash flooding.

Lovely, absolutely lovely, we for a change are actually having a spring this year, a real treat compared to the last few years.

I also have Primula, Pulmonaria and Erythronium blooming along with a couple of Magnolias, Rhododendrons and my Daphne odora marginata. The Lily of the Valley, Solomon's Seal, Corydalis lutea and a few others will be blooming soon. A seedling from a Pulmonaria longifolia is blooming and has deep rose colored flowers, quite a nice surprise. I'm sure glad I didn't weed it out as it's intertwined with some Astrantia seedlings that were destined to be weeded out last year, I just didn't get around to doing it.

My deciduous Azaleas will be next, one of my Cardiocrinums is throwing a flower stalk, I seem to only have one blooming every other year, I've got to stop giving them away and build up the numbers but you know how we gardeners are :). Spring is such a glorious season, I'd almost forgot how nice it can be.

Annette

Hi Annette,..i am very pleased for you knowing you are actually having a spring,..ours is certainly about five weeks late.

You have a lot of plants blooming just now and i am sure your garden is rearing to fully bloom,..ah yes stop giving away so many Cardiocrinums,..just imagine if you had all those you gave away coming in bloom,..i admit to doing the same,..its always oh i can give you some plants then realize i gave away more than am left with lol.

Enjoy the spring and your deciduous Azaleas when they bloom.

Philip

ohhh boy, I'm having April in my garden too!!

Sometimes life just ain't fair!! (photo taken this morning)

My pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash' is blooming as well alongside the 'Regal Ruffles' hellebore/Lenten rose that has apparently come into its own for the first time since being planted 4 years ago. To my delight it's heavy with both blooms & buds this year. Lots of perennials have pushed their way up through the earth and are beginning to show promise. My 'Leonard Messel' magnolia is putting on quite a lovely show at the moment and the lupines are all looking promising.

The garden beds are in need of tidying but will get some attention now that it's beginning to warm up enough to work outside. Now if I can tear myself away from the videos & books that have entertained me over the past dark, cold & dreary months!

runswithscissors - my sympathies to you as I've suffered Aprils such as your photo above in my own gardens. Have hope!

Growing up in Montana (Missoula) I can completely relate to that, runswithscissors; in Texas we are in the midst of a beautiful spring, but will pay the price come June!

Your gardens are very pretty.I have the purple and white osteopernum(sp)Love them as they come back better and better every year.Enjoy your spring.
Kathi

Hi koszta_kid,..i have viewed your garden when in full bloom and its lovely to see,..hard to believe you are not only mentioning the cold but flash floods as well,..fingers crossed for you in Iowa.

Philip
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Hi runswithscissors,..oh boy that picture needs no words,..not a sight i would expect to see but with the weather change everywhere anything goes,..sorry you have to endure snow just now as well as your Daffs.

Philip

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Hi gardenweed_z6a,..i can well imagine you are over the moon seeing your Hellebore/Lenten Rose in bloom for the first time in four years,..congrats are in order as well as your patience,..your Lupins are way ahead of mine as are all your blooms,..looking forward to seeing pictures.

Philip

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Hi ogrose,..wow you certainly moved down south,..i visited Utah,..and reached into Wyoming and part of Montana,..spectacular scenery thereabouts and of course Yellowstone was something to remember.

Philip

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Hi Kathi,..so you have the purple and white Osteopernum,..they are a beautiful flower and i must try growing the white and the purple,..i am enjoying our spring in particular during the last few days warm and sunny,..even managed some sunburn lol.

Philip

ogrose, I'm in Hamilton. It has been a crazy spring here, but you're right, I would not trade our weather for Texas's. Yikes! But I sure do envy those lucky people that live in between the two extremes.

glen, that terrarium is sure pretty. Did you have to plant it using chopsticks or something like that?

Hi runswithscissors,..that Terratium is quite big,..its 18 inches high and 12 inches wide,..i can easily get my hand through the opening though it is difficult to move about,..my local Fruit and Veg store said they had something stored away that would not sell and perhaps i might like it for half price,..described it as a glass thingy lol,..i grabbed it quickly for 20 euro,..$25.97.

Pieris Japonica,'Andromeda'.

Mahonia Japonica.

Phillip,
You just have all the ladies on here all a twitter. Must be that Irish charm. :)
Appears our gardens are nearly in sinc right now as per what is in bloom., although my Forsythias finished two weeks ago. So short-lived, but it was lovely while it lasted! There were also the Pink Flowering Almonds, the white Spireas and Coral Flowering Quince and then the Red Bud trees overhead. Really spectacular for a time. Now the white flowering Crabapples are in bloom and they smell so sweet. My poor Jane Magnolia started blooming in March as she normally does every year,got her beautiful blooms spoiled by freaky overnight freezes. She bounces back and puts on new ones and then we get hit with another freeze that ruins those blooms - she just keeps trying. Such a shame too because her blooms are my favourite tree blooms every Spring.. On warm days, those blooms perfume the whole of the garden.
My Oregon Grape is covered in fruit now too, and the Pieris bush is all a flame now too.
With our crazy weather we are having this year, the plants can't decide what to do. Everything is so out of sinc.
I have a few Primulas blooming with Violas and blue Petunias.The Stocks are blooming and smell divine. Such pretty colours!
The Freak freeze we had last night (our fourth record-breaking freak freeze in a month, BTW) didn't hurt anything, oddly enough and thank the stars!
Thanks for sharing your garden pics. They are lovely.
~Annie

Hi Annie,..the Irish charm lol,..or the brogue.

Yes we are about the same flower budding wise,..the weather certainly is weird with warm sunny days but quite cold at night,..we had rain here today and it was needed,..unusual for us as we get lots of rain and mists but it was quite a spell since it last rained.

I live in a Cul-de-Sac,..there are only three houses and a Church,..the Church is just two doors away,..nothing to do with me,..but i live on what used to be Church grounds,..plus there is a walled in park within the grounds,..some views as seen from my front door,..lots of colour.

Better colour than in my garden.

Latin Mass Church,..Tridentine.

Towards the park.

Oh, I would love to go exploring throughout Ireland...the old places and such, but not the all the typical tourist traps. (I suppose a lot of people think that too, but I don't care if they do)

My cousin sends me photos of her neighborhood and of parks she visits every spring. I have noticed thee is a lot of pavement and not very much grass. I would think on the Emerald Isle growing green grass would be easy enough. Is there some reason why?
I did some exploring on GOOGLE EARTH, as well, and saw the same thing...a lot of paved streets and sidewalks, but very little in the way of grassy areas. How comes it?

Hi Annie,..i suspect she is living near the city,..if i walk three minutes west of my house its countryside,..Lake and River,..below is a video of where i walk the dog,..starts about 100 yards from the house.

Video===Walking The Dogs Route.

Or a trip in my boat downriver.

Video===Downriver

Enjoy.

Philip

She lives south of Dublin city in Cabinteely.
All the homes in her neighborhood are identical, what we would call townhouses here.
I did not mean to say that I thought ALL of Ireland was paved over with concrete...just surprised at how many dwellings I have seen that did. When I think of Ireland, I generally think of vast panoramas of pastoral settings - of rocky creeks and deep rivers.
I never picture the modern cities. :)

Thanks for the videos Phillip.
They are beautiful!!!

~Annie

This post was edited by sweetannie4u on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 19:46

Hi Annie,..oh i didn't think you thought of here as all cement lol,..not to worry,..i know Cabinteely,..i used to live in that direction,..but on the coast.

A video of the west coast where i lived for 6 years,..a beautiful place,..now there you would like.

Video===Irelands West Coast

Philip

Love your videos, especially the west coast. And the music for that one is so pretty.

Your photography is absolutely stunning!
The music you chose is perfect for your videos.
Bravo! Well done.

The West Coast is very beautiful indeed.
I have always loved going to the coast and walking the shores. Love the wind in my hair and the sand under my feet. Love the way it smells and the interesting things you find there. The dune grass and the flowers. The waves crashing onto the rocks and the the lull of the sound of the waves rushing up onto the beach. Love how big the sky is and the way the clouds drift across the sky. I learned to swim in the sea. I could see myself going there every day to paint landscapes.

I very much like the area where you took the dogs for a walk... through the big trees and the grassy hillsides. I like the rocky hillsides where the grass is deep. I would enjoy being able to paint those places too..

I loved traveling down the river Shannon and seeing all the scenes along its banks.
Enjoyed them all.
I felt like I had actually been there by the end of the videos, and that says a lot about your work.
Very nice..Very nice indeed.
Thank you for sharing them with us.

Hi sandi_w,..delighted you liked the west coast,..the areas photographed were well visited by me and the last picture is where i spent the best part of six years.

Philip
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Hi Annie,..your description of visiting the coast brings to mind all the sensations i enjoy when on the coast,..for years after i departed the north west coast i would often return with a visitor just to retrace my steps and relive the enjoyment but also introducing a friend to the same experiences.

Where i live now is right in the middle of the midlands,..lots of water,..only 100 yards from the River Shannon and upriver a mile is Lough Ree,..when not in the garden or walking the dog i am found on the water.

Thank you for the nice compliments and glad you also enjoyed the videos.

Just hoping the garden looks like the pictures below,..they were taken during June last year.

Again in June last summer.

Oh my gosh, those are amazing images!
Your garden is just beautiful!

Stunning! Do you have help? I would never be able to achieve all that beauty just by myself.

Thank you for all the eye candy.

Hi runswithscissors,..no help just little old me,..the garden doesn't take up a lot of time,..no digging,..i leave the soil as it is and benefit from this as seeds grow,..i even spotted a rose bush seed had taken,..still in its rose hip,.. plus i get a lot of volunteer plants every year,..from birds dropping seeds,..i think two days of gardening six hours each day every spring covers everything in the garden,..however i admit to leaving down my coffee to go into the garden to move something that didn't look right seeing the garden is just a step out of my front room.

Philip

Wow. Just wow.

Hi tempusflits ,..thank you very much.

Philip

Stunning. The purple and yellow knocked my socks off.

Hi hosenemesis,..thank you!,..there wasn't a great selection of blooms,..this spring is way behind normal growth and blooms.

Philip

Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing the pictures. I especially loved the pulmonaria. I've got my first few pulmonaria plants outside waiting to be planted. Lovely church too. I'd love to have that kind of architecture to view daily.

Hi saponaria,..i really love that Pulmonaria,..its the first to flower in my garden each year then there is the benefit of those lovely enlarged leaves when the plants have finished blooming.

As i mentioned elsewhere i live on what used to be a walled in park and church grounds,.. it was all the property of the church for a few hundred years,..the only connection i have with the church is i supply them with flowers for the altar,..there are always plenty of blooms to spare.

Yes it is nice to see the old stonework of the church and part of my garden wall is the same age,..three pictures below,..the church at night from my garden and some of my flowers on the altar plus a view from outside my house.

The altar,..mostly roses but they also use ferns and purple fennel among the roses.

From outside my cottage.