It seems like the gardens sputtered to life back in March, but have now run out of steam. Not much new blooming these days.

Grecian Wind Flower - About 4 years ago I planted 6 clumps at the edge of my white garden. This is the only clump that has survived. Not sure why the others did not survive.

My first tulips have bloomed. I bought these as purisima - a pure white tulip. But they turned out to be yellow and were promptly relocated out of the white garden!

Jonquils - dug from my grandmothers house. She always called them jonquils. I like them because they are a shorter variety - only about 8-10" tall.

Lastly, the white garden is coming to life. Rock Cress blooming in the front with hyacinths in back. Late daffodils and tulips also in the back ready to bloom. Lillies, Dicentra and Yarrow poking out of the ground. And garlic chives and white muscari poking out to make short borders towards the front.

Here on the sluggish coast we didn't really get started on Spring #1. By the time the garden opened one eye and looked around and yawned, it had turned cold again and the plants pulled the mulch back over their heads.

Forsythia are finally blooming now, not quite full, and Spring #2 seems to have started.

Scilla sibirica is mostly in full bloom, but some spots still coming up. Here the iris sprouts look hopeful.

Various daffodils in bloom - this is N. Toby the First, an early bloomer and planted (by me) in an unfortunate spot. I can't really see them until I cut back the ornamental grasses, and even then they face the wrong direction (by my viewpoint). A short daffodil, and I needed the movable LCD screen to get this angle.

Hellebore 'Green Heron' opened a few more buds.

The fuzzy pussy willows buds are opening to their frothy yellow flowers. So far the squirrels don't seem to have noticed. Last year they decimated these flowers.

Claire

Slowly, slowly, spring approaches, maybe with suspicion (is it real this time?).

My earliest rhododendron, 'Mary Fleming', is just starting to open.

First bud of Azalea 'Hino Crimson':

Claire

Claire - that azalea is gorgeous.

It's blue season in the garden. Muscari, periwinkle and pulmonaria.

Something has eaten my lillies. Due to the size of the "chomp", I'm suspecting deer. However we have a deer deterrent outside. And the lillies were right next to tulips, which tend to be the preferred food of deer. The lillies were chomped but the tulips remain untouched. Hmmmm. . .

Either Deer or Rabbits, Claire. Try some Bobex. The idea is to get them to go to the neighbor's yard.

Opening Day for the Red Sox! The Hosta decided to open up as well today. Here's a few pics.

Hosta Sagae with King Alfred Daffodils

Hosta Sweet Innocence with Darwin Hybrid Tulip Ivory Floradale in the background.

More pics on the Hosta forum if you like these. Go Sox.

Still slower than other gardens, but progressing.

The squirrels haven't bothered the pussy willow this year, and the frothy yellow flowers are mostly all blooming. This smallish tree (maybe 20 feet tall?) has never been pruned but could almost be considered a specimen tree if carefully maintained. At least for early spring.

Epimediums are just beginning to bloom.

E. 'Warlayense'

E. 'Sulphureum' with a no-id hosta and scillas behind it.

And the wisteria buds are beginning to show! and I can smell them!. I just sprayed the wisteria with Repellex, a product I've never used before that is supposed to repel squirrels without damaging anything or anybody. I hate when the squirrels eat the wisteria buds.

A wisteria seed pod leftover from last year.

Claire

Viburnum are blooming...

Viburnum carlesii (could be 'Aurora', but I think it's V. carlesii.)

Viburnum 'Mohawk'

Narcissus 'Decoy'

This Narcissus had me thinking I was shipped the wrong cultivar. Both of these are Narcissus 'Fidelity'. They open a clear yellow and pure white but age to a peach corona with pale yellow perianth.

Lewisia Rainbow Mix --just bought this at the Farmer's Daughter and it's still in the pot. The flowers seem to glow from within.

Leslie,

Great photos. I particularly like the viburnums. When I see those pics I remember the fragrance. What camera do you use to get that close?

Here's a few of my garden this morning.

I bought Malus 'Candy Cane' from Weston Nurseries about 20 years ago. They no longer have it and neither does anyone else. Eight years ago when I moved I dug up a sucker from the plant and put it in my new yard. It looks very similar to the original with the semi-weeping habit that attracted me to it at first.

Here is a close up of the flowers.

Tulip Angelique

This Azalea is a NOID to me. It was on the property. Green foliage that bronzes up in the winter.

Hosta Touch of Class. Looks like temps got below the dewpoint last night.

A NOID Narcissus. Maybe Pheasant Eye. I was sent the wrong daffs last year.

The Dogwoods are out now in Central Mass.

A lot of the Hosta are still emerging. This is Frances Williams. Tends to be slow.

This is Sagae. I love the way this one looks when it emerges.

This one is Liberty. If you don't have it, what are you waiting for.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Love your photos! Malus 'Candy Cane' is gorgeous!

I use a Sony Cybershot H20. It's really just a point and shoot (set on Auto). I just try to hold still and not breathe. It does quite well on macro shots.

I have a number of different fragrant Viburnum, and the scent has been wafting in the open windows at night. We fall asleep and awaken to the scent. Mmmmm.

I've anxiously been awaiting my Lunaria to bloom. Didn't really notice that this particular plant didn't quite have the right shaped leaves. But I've been nurturing the plant anyway, and you can see the beautiful wood chips I carefully placed around the plant. What a surprise when it bloomed today and I realized it is garlic mustard.

It now resides in my trash barrel. Wasn't going to risk the compost pile or brush pile for this. I walked the rest of the gardens today and I don't see any more garlic mustard anywhere. So hopefully this will be an easy eradication.

Thank you for posting this, pixie. I have three of these little beauties this year and did not know what they are much less about their invasive behavior. Out they go. Interesting and edible, but I don't want a field of them. Thanks.
Jane (who still wants a pond)

Here's what was blooming this morning for me...

So many things just starting to happen... can't wait for next month's thread! :)

A couple more....

I love this shot of Narcissus 'Lemon Beauty', but I cut a little off the top. Too bad.

'Fidelity'

'Fragrant Rose'

This is Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance'. I also have two other Daphne caucasica (or x transatlantica, if you prefer). One with lighter green leaves, and D. 'Summer Ice' with variegated leaves. I love them all, but this one has very shiny dark green leaves. The others aren't shiny at all. They all bloom all Spring, Summer, and Fall and are never without some flowers.

Muscari 'Valerie Finnis'. A light blue grape hyacinth.

My husband's weeping cherry (with bird feeders)

All sorts of lovelies above!

My coastal garden is slow, as usual, but today (a gray, gloomy day) I see:

Dicentra 'Gold Heart' in a bed of mostly Geranium 'Biokovo' with a few wild strawberries thrown in (maybe Fragaria virginiana).

Narcissus 'Thalia' in a woodsy setting, with Pinus strobus 'Louie' and lots of ivy. Later on the hostas will elbow the ivy aside.

Little Narcissus 'Hawera', unassuming but endearing.

And the first wild strawberry flowers. I occasionally see strawberries, but the critters usually see them first (it's an advantage if your eyes are closer to the ground).

Claire

Just have to pop over to say how much I am enjoying all your Spring flower photos!
Susan CT

We got 3 inches of rain over the past two days. The Hosta absolutely loved it and have just popped out of the ground. Here's a couple of pics.

Sum and Substance with a gold Spirea

Piedmont Gold with a NOID Azalea

H. Thank You on the rocks

Spilt Milk (Mildred Seaver from Needham introduced this plant).

Steve

My gardens are really thriving from this weekends rain.

Leslie - would it be possible to post a photo of the whole viburnum? I'm not familiar with the plant at all - so I'm wondering what the whole plant looks like.

Foam Flower was a recent addition. It's a native species. The flowers gained about 6" in height during this rain!

A close up of the Dicentra behind the Foam Flower.

Azalea - no ID. The bright pink of the blossoms faded in the rain.

I'm probably one of the few people who actually love Ajuga. It stays green in the lawn - all winter and thru droughts!

My newly mulched border gardens are filling out nicely. Tulips, violets and Dicentra are currenly in bloom. Lots of foliage from daylilly, rose campion, motherwort, fever few, columbine, shasta daisy, rudbeckia.

I love ajuga too, pixie_lou. In fact, there's one small patch of lawn where I'm trying to encourage the ajuga to take over. We don't need to walk on it, and it's a nuisance to mow (no picture).

Narcissus 'Sir Winston Churchill' bounced back from the pelting rain.

Claire

Other people have shown pictures of Narcissus 'Fragrant Rose', but I like the combination of 'Fragrant Rose' and Azalea 'Hino Crimson'.

The azalea is about 1/3 to 1/2 blooming now, which is the stage of several of my earliest azaleas. This is one I inherited.

I saw my first hummingbird today - maybe the red/orange azaleas attracted it.

Claire

pixielou --I'll take some pictures of the Viburnums for you.

claire, oooooh, 'Sir Winston Churchill'!!!! (much more attractive than their namesake). I've never seen that one. And that is such a lovely shot of 'Fragrant Rose' with azalea.

Gelsemium and Lithodora at peak now.

Gelsemium sempervirens 'Margarita' is really putting on a show now! And it's evergreen and hardy in zone 6. What more can we ask of a vine?

Lithodora 'Heavenly Blue' is looking good too. The hens and chicks and tiny sedum are tucked under a rock.

Korean azalea and new (2011) upper garden. Needs a lot more plants but it's off to a pretty good start.

{{gwi:5901}}

Well this crazy weather doesn't seem to have effected anyone's beautiful spring garden! Nice to see many plants that I don't have in my garden and some familiar ones too. Love all the spring color!

Bill: The lithodora by the rock with hens and chicks and sedums is a superb combination.

Your new garden is developing a unique character. Well done!

Claire

Thank you Claire. The new garden needs more, but I enjoy the fun of having a place for things that I find at nurseries now!

{{gwi:5901}}

Bill,

What did you use for the hardscape? Was it stone or stamped concrete? BTW I love the pine in the foreground. What is the cultivar?

Steve

Steve, the paths and circular areas are made from individual pavers. The pine is a black pine, Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead'. This was all completed only last June, so I will enjoy adding new plants over time. I want to add some evergreen and low spreading plants to fill some areas, and more specimen type shrubs and trees. Keeps me thinking!

{{gwi:5901}}

Wow - that lithodora is SOOOOOO blue! I almost need my sunglasses to look at it. Absolutely gorgeous.

Rushing to get in at the end of April.

Fothergilla 'Mt Airy'

Highbush blueberry

The early azaleas are now almost full.

Azalea 'Hino Crimson' and 'Fragrant Rose' daffodils with an upstart self-seeded foxglove.

Inherited azalea

Claire