April Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (Came Way Too Early!)

April's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day--hosted (as always) by the lovely Carol of May Dreams Gardens--came way too early for me in so many ways. The 15th seems to sneak up on me each and every month anyway, but this spring the blooms are sneaking up on me, too!

Check out my May GBBD post from last year for a photo that looks VERY similar to the one above! This pretty dwarf iris didn't bloom last year until May, either:

Things are so early that much of my usual spring garden work remains undone. For example, many of my "late" tulips are blooming determinedly among the as-yet-unclipped foliage of 2011:

Thankfully, the smaller species tulips are sited on the edges of the driveway garden. This area stays mostly clear of leaves, so they are all blooming freely:

The hyacinths are in a similarly clear spot, too... which is particularly good for this bee:

And I am particularly happy to see him, because the cherry trees, apple tree and blueberry bushes are all in bloom right now, too!  And so are the currants:

Hopefully there are enough pollinators around to take care of all of my fruit trees. I guess that we'll find out whether or not that's the case this summer!  Here's a roundup of everything else that bloomed in my garden on April 15th, 2012:

• Pulmonaria
• 'Jack Frost' (but not 'Looking Glass') brunnera
• 'Lilafee' epimedium
• mom's passalong pink lamium
• 'Purple Dragon' lamium
• 'Geranium' daffodils
• sweet woodruff
• 'Bressingham Ruby' bergenia
• the last of the red species tulips

Blooms from the Front Porch: GBBD May

This may just be the most un-spring-like spring in all my years as a gardener. The temperatures have ventured past chilly into actual cold weather territory, and tomorrow we may not even reach 50 degrees. I don't remember a day without at least a threat of rain in weeks, and the winds today have been brutal to tulips (above) and gardeners alike.

Thankfully, bright tulips distract from dead oregano stems and countless other as-yet-undone spring chores that need attention. In another highlight, the drought-tolerant bergenia have apparently appreciated the extra winter/spring moisture, judging by their new growth and blooms:

 
The grass has already been mowed twice, but only because I felt as though I had to make time for that since the neighbors do. (And one of them walks this tiny dog, which I feared would get lost in my tall grass, twice a day!) Many annuals sit in several spots on the porch, waiting for a chance to be tucked into the garden:

A few plants have made it into the ground, and  I'm waiting to see whether I'm going to regret planting the 'Bandana Cherry' lantana and 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' fuchsia in particular. If a plant is mobile, though, I'm not taking a chance with it this evening. All of the flats, any individual pots, and my just-planted hanging baskets are all coming into the house for a 36-hour vacation!

The photos above show you what's blooming around here today... at least, what I could shoot without leaving my front porch! The rest of my May GBBD Bloom list can be seen below, and many more blooming gardens can be seen by visiting Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Also in Bloom:  lonicera sempervirens, 'Chocolate Chip' ajuga, 'Geranium' daffodils, passalong ornamental allium, 'Looking Glass' and 'Jack Frost' brunnera, 'Purple Dragon' and mom's passalong lamium, 'Ozark' strawberries, sweet woodruff and grape hyacinths.