April Bloom Day

The 15th of every month is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Many garden bloggers participate, creating blog posts specifically highlighting what is blooming in their gardens that day, thereby contributing to the splash of color that inevitably comes from flowers. It's a blast! Check out her website for inspiration and roll-call lists of bloggers participating each month. Since I publish blog posts on Thursdays, the odds of it landing on a Bloom Day, i.e., the 15th of the month, is . . . . well - what, mathematicians? One in 28? Don't judge my math skills. At any rate, today is both Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and Thursday so here is my contribution to spring color.

First up is Tulipa praestans 'Shogun', a gift from dear friends of ours in The Netherlands. We think of them every spring when these beauties bloom. I prefer species tulips because they don't pitter out like other fancier hybrids, are smaller and seem to naturalize. 

Brunnera macrophylla 'Garden Candy Sea Heart' is a brunnera with an odd name (does anyone know its origins?) and gorgeous foliage and flowers. I really like that critters leave this alone.

Fritlillaria melegris, winner of the "best patterned petals" award.

Pachyphragma macrophilla is a plant we sell at the nursery and it is said to be weedy by some. For me it popped up several years ago, coming in as a hitchhiker on some plant or another and I allowed it to stay. I am glad I did, it handles dry shade with aplomb. Plus, it's one of the earliest flowers to bloom in the garden. 

Uvularia perfoliata commonly known as merrybells are native to the East Coast. This little woodland perennial is a favorite, I hope it spreads.

Pulmonaria seedling, from a nearby clump of P. 'Benediction'.

One of three flowering cherries on the property. These are a full three weeks later blooming than they were last year.

From a broader view, the pink popcorn tree. I will say this about them - they do catch the light and brighten up the garden. The rest of the year after flowering they are of no interest to me, but we keep them all the same.

Euphorbia rigida next to Agave bracteosa 'Calamar' 

Clematis cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’ has been blooming since January.

Polygala chamaebuxus commonly known as shrubby milkwort is a new-to-me low growing evergreen subshrub I recently got from work.

 From the Missouri Botanical Garden's website:
Polygala chamaebuxus, commonly called shrubby milkwort or box-leaved milkwort, is a dense, suckering, alpine, dwarf evergreen shrublet that grows to only 6-8” tall but eventually spreads to as much as 24” wide usually forming an impenetrable mat. It is native to sunny alpine regions, primarily in areas of wooded slopes, rocky ridges and higher elevation pastures in west-central Europe south to Italy and the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Arctostaphylos x densiflora 'Harmony'. Most of the arctos are still blooming in my garden. Here are a couple.

Arctostaphylos x densiflora 'Sentinel' is wrapping it up but still blooming.

Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart' is a perennial I want to hate but it makes this area of the shade garden wake up a little. It was a throw-away from work a few years ago. Every year I am charmed by its chartreuse foliage. Dicentra has been reclassified as Lamprocapnos and I have yet to get on that bandwagon. 

Cardamine trifolia is a charming evergreen, small-scale groundcover for shady locales. Each spring it gets even better with clean white flower spikes at the edge of the shade garden.

Pulmonaria 'Benediction' is one of the best blues around. This photo doesn't do it justice and gives it a purple cast when in reality it's quite pure azure blue.

Epimedium × warleyense  is one of my favorite epimediums.

Epimedium versicolor 'Sulfureum' is a decent spreader with charming pale yellow flowers.

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' is in its third year and is growing nicely. The scent, as you all know, can be detected from quite a distance.

Erythronium revolutum, our native trout lily. I'm excited to have this little charmer in the garden, it's new as of last year. 

Pulmonaria 'White Echo' from Joy Creek Nursery. I do love white flowers in the shade garden.

Beesia deltophylla is only just getting ready to bloom, but there are flowers present so I include it here. This is of course an evergreen shade plant native to Tibet that is one of only two species in its genus, the other being B. calthifolia

Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is one of my top 10 favorite plants ever for its ease of cultivation, its blue flowers, its usefulness in the garden and its evergreen-ness.

And finally, a buddy in the garden, a reminder why I garden. These trees, the flowering cherries also remind us why we garden for they are alive with the sounds of many bees, both honeybees and bumble bees. The hummingbirds have claimed them, too. The sound of the bees is audible from about 10' away, it's pretty amazing.

This is a good snapshot overall of the flowers in the garden right now, but to be honest when I went to take photos I wasn't specifically considering Bloom Day so I'm sure many were missed. That's ok, we'll save them for another post. I also realize that many of these plants are blooming much later than they have in the past. We've had a chilly spring and nature is reluctant to show off her blooms, but I think we're out of the chilly spell and into full-blown spring.

One last housekeeping item, if you subscribe to this blog by receiving emails in your inbox, that function will no longer be supported by Blogger. Booooo! That means you will have to manually go to chickadeegardens.com weekly or so to check out new posts. So sorry. Technology - it's a wonderful thing until it isn't. **side note** I do have a Chickadee Gardens Facebook page where I link new posts. That can be found here. 

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you! Happy gardening, happy bloom day one and all. 

Comments

  1. I love the species tulips and must make a point of planting some. I had a few come back but they are very erratic and scattered. I love that 'Georgia Blue' veronica too and apparently it seems to do well in shade since my ceanothus is hanging over it.

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    1. Hi Phillip, the species tulips are AWESOME! Definitely seek them out.

      Oh, Georgia Blue does so well for me in shade/part shade. I think it does better there than in sun, actually.

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  2. Lovely - happy Bloom Day! Nice to see some things that I have here, too; makes me feel a little bit like one of the "cool kids"! I love the very easy-going 'Georgia Blue' veronica. And I just bought what looks to be the same variety of brunnera yesterday, along with other pretty things for my shady areas. Your shots of your epimediums - "epimedia"? - almost have me convinced to indulge. They're my gardener mom's favorite - she has tons - but they've never quite aroused my affection. Hmm....

    Thanks, as always, for the inspiration, friend! : )

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    1. You ARE one of the cool kids! ;)

      Oh, 'Georgia Blue' is right up your alley. It's a front of the border edging kind of plant, perfect with some hydrangeas, for example.

      Epimedia - hee hee - hmmm...maybe you'll come to the epi side of gardening. They are great for dry shade.

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  3. Lovely blooms. Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

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    1. Thank YOU Carol for your awesome blog and invitation to gardeners! I think my technology skills when posting on your site this morning were lacking, apologies for multiple entries. I'll learn someday. Sorry!

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  4. Each and every photo is a joy to view, Tamara. There's very little blooming in your garden that will survive in my own but I appreciate them nonetheless. Epimediums always cause me to sigh. In a fit of zonal denial I tried growing one in my former garden and the best I can say is that it didn't die immediately.

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    1. Kris, you are TOO SWEET! I always feel great after reading your comments.

      Well, I'm sorry you can't grow a lot of what we can here in the PNW, and not dying immediately is an accomplishment, indeed! :) You can grow the COOLEST hot loving plants, so I'm envious of you. I think Loree is too.

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  5. What a beautiful garden. I love that pink popcorn tree. I also have a number of epimediums, a plant I love. Thank you for the show.

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    1. Aw, thank you Commonweeder! Epimediums are little treasures. They just keep on giving. Cheers!

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  6. Anonymous12:55 PM PDT

    I think you can set up subscriptions from MailChimp, but I'm not sure. I had to same problem awhile back. I love your gardens. Thank you for posting on Bloom Day. It was so nice to read on this gloomy Thursday in Oklahoma anyway. ~~Dee

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    1. Hi Dee, so great to hear from you! Yes, MailChimp is an option but...it costs $$. I don't know what to do other than tell people to follow me on Facebook or Instagram.

      Anyhow, I hope your gloom lifts soon and you're back to fabulous Oklahoma gardening in no time.

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  7. Love the popcorn tree..haven't seen one before! Also your pulmonarias are so pretty. Planted my first one this spring!

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    1. The popcorn tree really is quite pretty right now. I also have a clematis growing up it so when the blooms of the cherry tree are finished the blooms continue with C. 'Minuet'. It's a lovely sight. Pulmonarias make me swoon in the shade garden - glad you got some in your garden! Let us know how they do for you!

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  8. I heard Dan Hinkley say that he was the founding and sole member of the Beesia Appreciation Society. That was the first time I’d heard of it, and I tried to find it to no avail. Might burn up here in Georgia, though.
    I am REALLY sorry I won’t get the link in my email anymore. What if I forget to check??? Might set a reminder on my phone lol.

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    1. Ha ha...that's a good one, Jules! I hadn't heard that. I know he was involved in bringing Beesia to the market, and if there were a fan club I'd join in.

      Too bad it would burn up in Georgia - could you put one in shade? We grow them at Joy Creek Nursery where I work and we do ship, if you are ever interested in trying one.

      Cheers....and I am sorry about the email thing - I guess you could follow Chickadee Gardens on Facebook and/or Instagram - I post when I have a new blogger post up, so maybe that would be helpful?

      Thanks! -Tamara

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  9. So much to love - hard to keep track of it all, I imagine. That's very sad news about the email notifications, but I recently started following your Instagram feed so I guess I will be okay. I might just bookmark your blog too as a back up.

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    1. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of it all, absolutely.

      Yes, too bad about the email subscriptions - they are always "upgrading" and darn it - most of the time the upgrades are terrible. So sorry.

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  10. You have so many unusual plants in your garden. Would be so much fun to wander around and see what is coming up. I think your popcorn tree deserves it's place. It may only have a short period of glory but it looks like it gives its all. Seems a strange thing for Blogger to get rid of. Will continue to check in weekly.

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    1. Wandering around is what I do best! It's so fun, especially after a long winter and I can't remember what I planted where.

      Yes, the popcorn tree does deserve its place, I agree. It is quite pretty right now and just that the bees love it so much is enough for this gardener.

      Thanks for checking in weekly or so - so sorry about the email notifications. Darn!

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  11. Wow, those tulips at the top... gorgeous! It's nice to see a bloomday post from you. Also, what a bummer about the email subscriptions, I was stunned when I read the notice! I need to do a info post for people too...

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    1. Those tulips wow us every spring. I'm thrilled to post about Bloom Day - finally!

      Too bad about email subscriptions - you too, Blogger Danger. Darn. What were they thinking?

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  12. I have to say I don't envy a lot of the spring stuff colder zones can grow, but you grow just about every spring-blooming plant I do envy! Must be a wonderful time to roam your gardens.

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    1. Ah, high praise from such an admirable gardener, Denise! That means a lot coming from you. Thank you! It is a wonderful time - I enjoy it tremendously. Cheers!

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  13. And lets face it, Lamprocapnos is not nearly as much fun to say as Dicentra spectabilis. I love your spring blooms ! All the PNW peeps Epimediums have mad me decide to try a couple in one of my pesky dry shade areas. Happy spring !

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    1. Ha! Exactly!

      Oooh, I bet Epimediums would do well for you - that's exciting! Happy spring to you too, KS!

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  14. Thank you for the garden inspiration.

    I have set your blog and other garden blogs I read up on the Feedly reader. Maybe that would be an option for other readers.

    Cheers!

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    1. Aaah, thank you for that suggestion, Merry! That's a good one.

      Thanks for commenting and reading - happy spring!!

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  15. These are all beautiful subject matter for Spring in the garden and you have reminded me of what I am lacking and try to make a mental note of every darn year ! Uvularia perfoliata was one I keep intending to get and haven't as well as the trout lily Erythronium revolutum ? my shade garden is getting larger all the time as my main tree stretches out further and further. I also need cardamine trifolia ! LOL
    I have had veronica Georgia Blue and loved it .. some how it disappeared .. another note to myself.
    What is this ? dicentra reclassified ? good grief , who thought that up ?!!
    My plant name world just changed again ... BIG sigh.

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    1. Oh, Uvularia is so pretty, a good tone to have and trout lily - another beauty worth seeking out.

      Don't you adore Veronica 'Georgia Blue'? Hopefully you can find some more.

      I know - Dicentra - now something new?? I can't keep up. Ugg...well, the flowers don't care what they are called...haha!

      Cheers and thanks for your comments!

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  16. Very beautiful. It is always interesting to check out what other native plant gardens love.

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    1. Aw, thanks for checking in Yvonne! Happy gardening!

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