Early April Garden

It has been a busy past couple of weeks in my garden, from finishing a new patio and surrounding bed to cleaning up and starting to plant all my other beds, creating a bottle tree, dividing and transplanting lots of perennials, planting summer bulbs, and tending to more than 300 plants I have growing under lights. Tomorrow, I’ll begin to harden them off by carrying them in and out of the house for a couple of weeks before planting them out…. not an enjoyable task, but necessary. The weather has been sunny and HOT but I have managed to get so much done lately! Since I’ve been so busy, I haven’t taken as many photos as I usually do this time of year, but here are a few quick shots of some of the blooms over the past two weeks:

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Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’
Blooming now, with about a million flowers!

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Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’

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Tulips and Daffodils at edge of woods
The spring bulb flowers didn’t last long this year –
they didn’t like the 86 degree temperatures.

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Pink Tulips and Bleeding Heart

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A pretty pink tulip

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Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
This gorgeous honeysuckle is blooming exceptionally well this year.

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Bluebells and Creeping Phlox in the spring bulb bed.

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Dwarf Lilac (Syringa ) ‘Josee’
This is ‘Josee’, a reblooming lilac. This type is supposed to be better for the south and our mild winters, and so far, it is blooming more than the old-fashioned lilacs I have. They are huge, but always bloom very sparsely (our winters just do not get cold enough for them). This lilac is about 5′ tall, and has many bloom clusters on it now. After the first heavy bloom in spring, it will continue to flower intermittently til frost.

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Are you enjoying this gorgeous, early summer-like weather?

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Kerria, Japanese Yellow Rose

My Kerria (Kerria Japonica) is in full bloom right now. This deciduous perennial shrub is also known as Japanese Yellow Rose (the flowers resemble roses), and comes in both double and single-flowered varieties. This shrub has a gazillion flowers on it when in full bloom, beginning in March or April (usually around Easter), and it blooms so heavily that the slender stems arch and hang to the ground. Afer the first bloom, kerria continues flowering off and on throughout the summer. I usually prune mine back severely after the first bloom in the spring. These shrubs have attractive, bright green stems and leaves and they thrive in full sun and dry soil and can even take shade. They do seem to like well-drained soil, are very easy to grow and spreads slowly from the roots. The stems can be easily dug up and transplanted. Take a look at the photos. Have you ever seen so many flowers on one shrub?! I don’t do anything special to this plant and the only attention it gets is when I prune it back after the first bloom. A couple of my neighbors also have these shrubs and they all bloom this heavily!

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kerria japonica in full bloom

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kerria flowers

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To join in the fun and see flowers from all over the world, click here: Today’s Flowers

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Kerria

My kerria has a gazillion blooms on it right now. Click photo to enlarge.

This hardy, fast-growing deciduous shrub, Kerria japonica, is about 8 feet tall right now, with arching bright green stems and sharply serrated leaves. The double-flowered blooms are so heavy that the stems arch to the ground, and I usually prune it back severely every year after the first heavy bloom. This shrub will rebloom often from now right up until frost late this fall. They are very easy to grow, even in rocky soil, and while this one is in full sun, I know that they will also do well in shade.

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Flowers this weekend

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Click photos to enlarge.

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