April 2016 in the Northern Hemisphere

[SusanH]

Two nice Narcissi grown in pots this year - Prototype and Toto - both have done very well - glad I tried them.

[Gabriela]

Beautiful spring images from all, including those with snow 
Nothing special from me, it will take a while to get in shape this new place. But in the late afternoon light they were looking perfect for me.
Dicentra cucullaria
The reddest of them all - Corydalis solida
Primula frondosa  - the earliest here
New foliage on Epimedium 'Amber Queen'
A pinkinsh Hepatica americana that was preparing for 'sleep'

[meanie]

Nothing special from me,

Crikey, I would be glad with that haul! Here in the frost pocket that is called Oxfordshire I have almost nothing (it's so bad that I've left the common weedy Primroses in as at least they're blooming).
At least Vestia foetida continues to bloom sparsely...............


Several weeks ago the flower scapes started to emerge on a Hippeastrum which was under the staging in the greenhouse. As the days were warmer I put it out during the day and in the unheated porch at night. Not only to the stems move towards tghe light but they also move away from cold windows and this morning I woke up to this...............




I then went outside and found three stems on my ever reliable Iris japonica had been munched off by slugs 

[Leena]

Lovely spring flowers Gabriela.
Your red C.solida has very nice long flower stalks and good colour.

[WimB]

What a show! i'll need to pass the frontier 

Not that far, Yann, you're always welcome!!

[WimB]

I have tried to grow Helonias bullata but lost it and must try again, it has that wonderful detail of flowers of Ypsilandra and I imagine would come from leaf cuttings in the same way?

I guess it should be possible to take leaf cuttings but I finally got them growing from seed and from young plants actually...a friend of mine has a huge group which self sows in his garden and he gave me some seeds and some one year old seedling, both batches grew on but they only grow in the peat bed which is kept moist constantly...he has them growing in a small stream in his rock garden and they grow up to 50 cm tall!!

....but only one form of eranthis 😉...

      

[WimB]

Primula x juliana 'lady Ferguson' ??

WOW, that one I like, where did you get it from?

[Hoy]

Trond,

It is very nice to be able to see photographs from your garden again.

Very beautiful! I like the look of the blooming plants surrounded by snow. Here in the Sacramento Valley of California we never get anything like that.

I am not sure I like the snow   - however snow is better than the dry cold wind we have now. But I picked 35 slugs from one plant (Veratrum nigrum) in the wet snow. They seemed to have a feast

[Hoy]

Beautiful spring images from all, including those with snow 
Nothing special from me, it will take a while to get in shape this new place. But in the late afternoon light they were looking perfect for me.
.  .  . 

Looks good to me, Gabriela!

My Dicentra cucularias are just in leaf - and I doubt I will see flowers now, the slugs find them very delicious
On the up side: I have quite a few nice Hepatica americana seedlings

[Gabriela]

I am not sure I like the snow   - however snow is better than the dry cold wind we have now. But I picked 35 slugs from one plant (Veratrum nigrum) in the wet snow. They seemed to have a feast

This is incredible! and surely very distressing for you 

Lovely spring flowers Gabriela.
Your red C.solida has very nice long flower stalks and good colour.

Thanks Leena, indeed it elongates more than the others which is great for combining with other spring flowers. Last fall though I was only preoccupied to keep it separate
and well marked so I won't cut the bulbs by mistake when starting work in the garden.

[Hoy]

.  .  .  .

Several weeks ago the flower scapes started to emerge on a Hippeastrum which was under the staging in the greenhouse. As the days were warmer I put it out during the day and in the unheated porch at night. Not only to the stems move towards tghe light but they also move away from cold windows and this morning I woke up to this...............

I then went outside and found three stems on my ever reliable Iris japonica had been munched off by slugs 

Meanie, what a pity!  And slugs I know firsthand. One nice Trillium and several other plants ready to flower have been destroyed the last days

[Hoy]

WOW, that one I like, where did you get it from?

Wim, I bought it at the local nursery. Sometimes they have very nice plants for sale. I am not quite sure of the name though, therefore the

[Hoy]

This is incredible! and surely very distressing for you 
 

You bet! But I still hope it will be less than last year.

[WimB]

Wim, I bought it at the local nursery. Sometimes they have very nice plants for sale. I am not quite sure of the name though, therefore the

It looks very much like Primula 'Lady Greer' but that one is light yellow and yours looks snow-white. The picture of 'Lady Ferguson' I can find on Karl Kristensen's website shows a reddish-purple one as being that one. Whatever it is, yours is nice.

[Leena]

We had also snow last night, though it may look pretty I'm not at all inspired to go out and take photos of it. I hope it will all melt away today as it is now above zero.
Here are some pictures from last week. Peonies are coming up, P.obovata is one of the earliest and it doesn't mind cold nights.
Also some Helleborus x hybridus are very advanced in growth and already flowering while some others are still in bud.