April 2018 in Northern Hemisphere

[Philip Walker]

Androsace sarmentosa yunnanensis
Aquilegia formosa nana
Linum arboreum
Salix alpina

[arisaema]

I'm envious when I see all the spring pictures, it went straight from grey and smoggy winter to full summer and 30 degrees here... Some more Dendrobium below, pretty much the only plants that can survive me being gone for weeks in mid summer without much water.

[Gerdk]

These are Fritillaria pyrenaica - normal colour and a 'yellow' selection

Gerd

[meanie]

A couple of cheaty Frits from me. A member on another forum sent me three F.imperialis bulbs which I potted up and left in the greenhouse over the winter. One is in bloom, the second has just broken the soil and the third is nowhere to be seen..............
Fritillaria imperialis by longk48, on Flickr

They also lifted F.persica and sent me all their bulbs as they couldn't get them to bloom. Treated the same as F.imperialis I had to evict them from the greenhouse as they were too big and unruly. I now have more stems than bulbs that I received and all are in bloom or bud.................
Fritillaria persica by longk48, on Flickr

Fritillaria persica by longk48, on Flickr

[GordonT]

Spring has shown up, all at once here! Crocus and Galanthus are well past it, and are now intent on setting seed. Jeffersonia dubia is starting into bloom, and has expanded well since last year. Is Jeffersonia self fertile- will a single plant set viable seed?


Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' is in full swing! It started to bloom in December, and then went into suspended animation over winter, when I thought the blooms would be lost to the cold, as they were quite advanced. This is its best showing yet.


My first Erythroniums look promising in the woodland garden. Erythronium x Pagoda shows great potential, looking forward to the full display!


An unknown Pulmonaria cultivar with plain leaves brightens the area below Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo"

[Rick R.]

That's a fantastic shot of J. dubia.  Yes, it is self fertile.

And I'll bet that pulmonaria is Blue Ensign.  It has electric blue flowers held on a comparatively loose and upright inflorescence, and of course, plain green leaves.

[Robert]

Gordon,

Pulmonarias are easy and work well in our early season woodland garden. I grow a few named varieties and let them self sow. A common garden plant but very 

We too grew Jeffersonia in our garden. They died off due to neglect. It wish I had them around still as they did well in our garden.

Erythroniums are fantastic! I finally have most of the western North American species planted out in our Sacramento garden. So far E. multiscapideum is the only species mature enough to bloom every season. The northern (Oregon, Washington, BC) high elevation species are impossible in Sacramento, however there is hope for some of our high elevation California species. I am working on a few tricks to see if I can keep them growing and bring them to flowering size.

Thank you for sharing the photographs. It looks like your gardening season is getting off to a good start. 

[GordonT]

Rick, thank you for the Pulmonaria identification. Now that you mention it, I remember hearing the name 'Blue Ensign' tossed into a conversation about garden escapees at a friend's place (the source for this plant). I'm glad you liked the photo of Jeffersonia dubia, and am glad to hear it is self fertile. The spot where this is growing, is crying out for more plants... my lone specimen needs companions to make a real statement.

Robert, all the gardens here are no more than 8 years old. When we bought the house in 2009 there was little going on except acres of lawn, and old workhorse shrubs such as common Lilacs, Forsythia and Philadelphus. There was a row of about 8 sickly Robinias along the north side of the house, and they were the first to go- but not without a fight... We had them taken down, and the stumps removed. Then we created a sloped garden, and planted it. The following year the residual roots from the Robinias sent up shoots through everything. Thankfully we had the hardware to deal with the Robinia invasion.


It took about 2 years to eradicate all of the Robinia, but the results were worth the effort. Here are a couple of views of the garden today:

[Robert]

Gordon,

Your garden is looking nice, especially after such a short time! This is where you grow Pacific Coast Iris? I'll have to take a photograph of their natural habitat. This might help with there cultivation.

Robinia is not native to California, however a few land owners have the misfortune of having some near their gardens. They are certainly a bear to get rid of!    A back hoe seems like the perfect rig to dig out the roots. Many of the Robinia trees in our area date back to the Gold Rush days, however some have been planted as non-thorny, pink flowering ornamentals. Sadly, the understock can still create major problems, especially if damage or the grafted top dies out. I would never plant one on our property, however maybe on "the back 40" they would be a good hedge to keep people out.    In your neck of the woods I am sure they are native? So one has to deal with whatever one has on their place.

[ashley]

Gentiana angustifolia never flowers very profusely for me, but is always welcome.

[Maggi Young]

There really is nothing so blue as  a blue gentian - I love them!   Great view into the trumpet, too, Ashley.

[ArnoldT]

Cydonia sinensis

Korean Quince.



Ovary below flower.

[ArnoldT]

Apple Calville Blanc

[ArnoldT]

Stanley plum

[Robert]

Arnold,

Nice to see your fruit trees in bloom.

Are your Korean (Chinese) Quince any good? Our tree consistently produces plenty of fruit, however it is only of average flavor. We generally cook it with apples and jujubes. Not too bad prepared this way. I have to admit that I like the apple - jujube combo better.