The first week of April doesn’t seem to be different from previous months, just more of the same unfortunately. The plants however are changing all the time, snowdrops are now just a distant memory, some of the narcissus are over but still more to come, this week though it is about erythroniums and little tulips. New flowers tempt me out into the garden, so thank goodness I took most of my photos earlier in the week, when the weather wasn’t quite so bad.
Erythronium White Beauty is slowly increasing in the woodland. They are lovely little flowers, just 6 inches high.
Erythronium Pagoda is at the end of the woodland on a little slope, so that it has better drainage.
Tulip Peppermint Stick has opened on the scree, nice to see it coming back again.
Love the flowers, so smart and clean looking.
And yes, the flowers are the colour of a stick of rock!
Down by the garage, the Akebia is rampant, covering part of the garage roof, the greenhouse roof and has shot up the twisted willow by the field. I must cut it back once it has finished flowering, that is , as long as I can work with my feet in water as that is where the worst flooding is, maybe it likes its roots under water? No , I’ve just looked it up and it says it likes well drained soil!
King Cup or Caltha palustris has also gone mad in my pond, I’m thinking that I could move some of it to where flooding has killed off other plants down by the field.
My little white Prunus glandulosa alba plena up by the pergola has now started flowering. A small shrub which doesn’t grow more than 5ft.
The little double flowers are just like little white pom poms. The pink variety, which I have planted on the rockery, should be out in flower by next Saturday.
There we have my six for this week, more shrubs are now starting to flower as well as different bulbs, perennials are looking promising and will be in flower in a couple of weeks. So, in spite of the rain, plants are getting on with what they do naturally, some have died, but that was expected when they are sitting in water for months on end, but a lot have survived and even flourished, much to my amazement! I’m trying to remain positive but some days it is very difficult.
Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations for organising, do pop over to see what is flowering in the rest of the world.
This week is marked by many people posting their erythronium flowers which I love as well as the tulips ‘Peppermint Stick’. This prunus glandulosa seems young but it is already loaded with flowers. It will become more and more beautiful!
Definitely an Erythronium week Fred, so many of us seem to have them flowering at the same time.The little prunus is at least 20 yrs old, it never gets any taller but I think I might have to do some pruning to get it to bush out more.
Erythroniums are such elegant flowers. I grew ‘Pagoda’ once, but they didn’t return. ‘White Beauty’ is gorgeous, I’m now tempted to try again with both. Tulip Peppermint Stick is fabulous with the dark red outer petals and pure white inner. The Prunus flowers are most definitely my favourite this week, Pauline. Sweet and beautiful!
Do try again with your Erythroniums Catherine, they are such lovely little flowers even though so fleeting. I love T. Peppermint Stick and will buy more next autumn to plant elsewhere. I too think the little prunus is my favourite, a small shrub, doesn’t grow more than 4 ft and looks so pretty when in flower.
The akebia obviously hasn’t read the book! The prunus is gorgeous and yes, I think the marsh marigold would probably be very happy in the flooded area.
I think some of my pond plants will definitely get moved to the flooded area Helen, though how they will cope if we have a drought in the summer, I don’t know, will just have to try and see.
My Erythronium ‘Pagodas’ haven’t had a good year, less blooms than usual and the slugs have had most of them. It’s odd how these things go up and down without any obvious reason.
Sorry to hear that your Erythroniums have been nibbled by S&S Jim, that happened to most of my narcissus this year for some reason!
You are right, nature gets on with it despite or because of the weather. Love the peppermint stick tulips.
I think if we leave a lot to nature and don’t interfere too much, nature always knows best Rosie!
Aw love your Prunus glandulosa alba plena, we call it double flowering May here, is so lovely. As is those Dainty little tulips and Erythroniums. 💞🌼🌸
So glad you like my selection this week Sarah, I love the little prunus too!
Erythroniums are really elegant. Funnily enough I noticed my T. ‘Peppermint Sticks’ have begun to flower. I should have photographed them before they get flattened.
I’m glad I photographed my T. Peppermint Stick before the storm came Graeme, they did get a bit of a battering, but hopefully can now try to stand up again!
It is amazing to see how plants seem to manage in ‘adverse’ conditions. Still I hope the weather improves soon Pauline and your garden dries out. Very wet here too as we had a very large snowfall which is now rapidly melting. The little Prunus is lovely. I look forward to seeing the pink version next week.
Plants are amazing Denise, with how they manage to cope with everything that is thrown at them. Our weatherman has said that we have sunshine forecast for Thursday, Friday and Saturday next week, wonderful, can’t wait to get out there to do some work!
Oh my goodness, I thought the Erythronium photos were lovely…and then I saw the Tulips and the rest of your beautiful blooms and plants. The Tulips are just about to bloom here in my part of the Midwest, and when they do it’s such a transformation, isn’t it?
Glad you like them Beth, so many lovely plants are flowering at the moment, a wonderful time of year. Tulips make such a wonderful pop of colour but my soil isn’t really suitable for them, I have to just grow a few in pots.