April Blooms Day

This is my first month to join handfuls of other garden bloggers across the globe at posting pics of what's blooming in my area. (For a list of over 100 bloggers participating today, visit http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/) I've decided to add a twist and post wild plants as well as cultivated ones. I think you'll be able to guess which are which. In addition to the blooms pictured, I spied hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, periwinkle, and phlox. A lot of my bulbs are in a bed that was piled with an 8ft snowbank from all the blizzards we had earlier this year, so the flowers are slower to show buds there.

These Acer (Maple) buds will open to show yellow anthers soon.

Ranunculus ficaria (Lesser Celandine) is an early blooming, European buttercup that thrives in moist, sunny areas with rich soil.

This Common Hazel has separate male and female flowers. The pinkish, single female flower is borne above several catkins packed with pollen-bearing male flowers.

Our Symplocarpus foetidus (Eastern Skunk Cabbage) performs a special gas exchange to warm the surrounding air and melt the snow as it emerges. The mottled, part seen here is the spathe, which protects the actual flowers inside.

Here's a white form of the common blue violet Viola sororia.

Even Pachysandra is in bloom!

A Trillium surrounded by nicely naturalized Scilla waits to open.

Here's a hellebore that will stand up straight for a picture!

From pussy willow to beautiful magnolia flower. . .

An early-blooming rhododendron- most likely an azalea-type.

Helleborus argutifolium has charming chartreuse blooms.

Pulmonaria saccharata (Lungwort) is one of my faves, but I grow it mainly for the polka-dot foliage. It was called "Lungwort" in the Middle Ages for its reputation in healing lung ailments. The custom was to add the suffix "wort" to plants that were helpful in some way, and "bane" to plants that were harmful.

I love the wide-open shape of Anemone, and the purple stamens.

Erica is the earlier-blooming of the two most common forms of heather.

Forsythia is a billboard advertisement to pollinators this time of year!

Viburnum bodnantese bears clusters of pink flowers against reddish-brown twigs. 

These tassels of bell shaped flowers belong to Pieris (Lily of the Valley bush)

Magnolia stellata (Star/ Feather Magnolia) is a great tree for small gardens.

I've recently had the privilege of being accepted by a few blog networks. Although I knew about Blooms Day before I joined Blotanical, a network of garden blogs http://www.blotanical.com/index.php, it's a perfect example of one of the many perks in communing with other gardeners there. How else would I have connected with another alumni from my hort college, an Italian flower gardener willing to mentor me, and a gardener as crazy about planting vegetable scraps as I am?? Gardeners without blogs can join too. You may not find familiar blogs right away, but you'll stumble on some great new blogs to explore. I'm looking forward to having ongoing connections there. Happy blooms day to all blog-following gardeners!