Flower Language Friday 4.27.2012

Frittillary .... persecution

 A new series of Art Garden posts:  a guide to communicating with flowers. 

Inspired by The Language of Flowers, by Margaret Pickston and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Flower Language Friday 4.20.2012

Magnolia .... Dignity

 A new series of Art Garden posts:  a guide to communicating with flowers. 

Inspired by The Language of Flowers, by Margaret Pickston and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Wordless Wednesday 4.18.2012

samara - fruit of the silver maple, Acer saccharinum

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day 4.15.2012

It's so rewarding to see so many plants in bloom this month!  April flowers are our colorful reward after a long winter's nap.  Although I don't think of my own garden as having a particularly dazzling early spring display, there are at least a few things to share with you today:

The prairie garden is coming to life

Although the buffalo grass is still dormant...

the first of the species tulips, T. dasystemon, are on show

...and the Caragana is blooming.

The back border is awash in lilacs and mahonia                                    

Syringa vulgaris

Mahonia aquifolium

Bergenia cordifolia

and the standing-on-my-head shot

The pond is not ready for prime-time, but some of the surrounding plants are at their flowering peak now.   These plants provided evergreen foliage all winter:

variegated Vinca minor

candytuft, Iberis sempervirens

Turkish veronica, V. liwanensis

Across the entry garden mahonia, vinca and an informal hedge of Cameo quince:

It's always fun to look back and compare today's bloomers with those from last year.  2012 will certainly go down as an "early" and floriferous Spring!

Don't forget to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to find links to other gardens from around the world that are sharing their colorful blooms today too!

Flower Language Friday 4.13.2012

Red Tulip .... declaration of love

A new series of Art Garden posts:  a guide to communicating with flowers. 

Inspired by The Language of Flowers, by Margaret Pickston and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Wordless Wednesday 4.11.2012

My Thanksgiving cactus, Schlumbergera truncata, is giving an encore!

Where are the bees?

Chaenomeles japonica 'Cameo' bursting with pollen

This past Saturday I took a few photos in my yard to document all of the woody trees and shrubs that are blooming - oddly enough - simultaneously.  Most years we have a succession of flowers from mid-March through early May, and now I can see forsythia, serviceberry, quince, crabapples, mahonia and lilacs all in view of my own home, not to mention the magnolias, redbuds, flowering almonds, peaches and pears I've spotted around town. 

Mahonia aquifolium and Syringa vulgaris

 It's a wild and crazy mash-up of colors for sure, but also a bit disappointing that the spring flower show will be a flash dance rather than a parade.

Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

 Unfortunately, despite the huge floral surge of late, I have not seen any bees.  One of my favorite springtime pleasures is to sit under my apricot tree when it is in full bloom and listen to hundreds of bees going about their work. 

Prunus armeniaca in late March 2012

 This year I saw less than a handful of bees.  What gives?

Cameo quince

Flower Language Friday 4.06.2012

Crocus...youthful gladness

Introducing a new series of Art Garden posts:  a guide to communicating with flowers. 

Inspired by The Language of Flowers, by Margaret Pickston and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Wordless Wednesday 4.04.2012