Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2018

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for April 2018.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a-ish garden in central Indiana, there are lots of blooms to share on a rainy weekend. And a few buds, too.

But there aren't as many blooms this year as last year. I checked. And then I checked two years ago. We are still behind this year compared to that year. Same with three years ago.

Yes, indeed. After a few warm days at the end of February, March was miserable and April hasn't been much better so dear sweet Spring with all her pretty flowers is taking her sweet time in arriving.

That's fine. There are still plenty of flowers to enjoy and more to come!

First up is a planting area around the crabapple tree in the front garden. It's filling up with daffodils and grape hyacinths with a few Siberian squills still blooming. I see foliage, too, from the heucheras, columbine, a few tulips, and winter aconites that have finished blooming.

In another few days, the crabapple tree will be in full bloom and then whoosh, there will be a lovely flower petal fall that will blanket the flowers below.

It's a garden fairy's paradise.

Really, truly, spring is garden fairy time. Every bloom looks like it was made for the garden fairies or made by the garden fairies.

Here's a quick rundown of a few such blooms in my garden, in no particular order.

Out in the back, I have pink grape hyacinths in bloom in the border I call Bird's Blanket.

Nearby in another garden border, these little white flowers make a tiny puddle of blooms every spring. I rescued them a long time ago from a wooded area that was being dammed up to create a lake. I am pleased they find my garden to their liking and return each spring. I think they are rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides.

Oh so close to blooming this weekend! Trout lilies, Erythronium americanum, are budded up and will probably be in full flower on the 16th after all the rain we are getting over the weekend. I like that they are self-sowing a bit!

More daffodils. For someone who professes not to be that fond of daffodils, I seem to have quite a few.

I have star flowers, Ipheion, too. They are spreading out, which is good and makes me happy.

I call these tiny narcissus jonquils, instead of tiny daffodils. Ignore the weeds. I do!

It was a rough spring for the star magnolia, Magnolia stellata. But it still has some decent flowers.

I love violets. These are some I once grew from seed. I don't know the botanical name. But I do intend to dig some up this spring and spread them around because these are hidden on the side of the house

How about these flowers, called Fairy Wings. You may know them as Epimedium.

And almost joining in for bloom day is my favorite tulip, Tulipa sylvestris, which goes by the common name Woodland Tulips.

There are other blooms here and there, but that's enough to give you an idea that spring is finally coming to my garden!

What's blooming in your garden? We'd love to have you join us for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and share what you have blooming on or about the 15th of every month. It's easy to participate. Just post on your blog about your blooms then leave a comment below to tell us what you have and a link in the Mr. Linky Widget so we know how to get there.

"We can have flowers nearly every month of the year." ~  Elizabeth Lawrence