April Showers…

April showers have indeed brought May flowers, and from the amount of rain we got in April, we should see a heck of a lot of flowers this month. Even with rain almost every day, I still managed to get some good work done. The flower beds have been cleaned up and are weed free and topped with a layer of double shredded hardwood mulch. Trees and shrubs were transplanted. Once the vegetable garden got a dose of compost, the snowpeas, bush beans, beets, cabbages, brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower were put in and are doing nicely.

I’ve also started my annual flower seeds indoors and they are coming up surprisingly quickly. This year I am trying my hand at growing petunias from seed. I wasn’t too sure how that was going to work out. When I opened the packet and saw how tiny the seeds were (they look like grains of fine sand) I was a little skeptical that I would be able to get them to germinate, but a few days later, I had the smallest sprouts I had ever seen and they are continuing to grow ever so slightly bigger and stronger each day.

Outside, my dwarf irises are taking off. Colors ranging from pale blue, deep purple, bright yellow, soft peach to baby pink are all in bloom. It’s a beautiful site from my kitchen window and makes doing the dishes less of a chore. The Japanese Snowbell (styrax japonica) that I planted 2 years ago finally has flower buds for the first time and I couldn’t be more excited. The first time I saw a picture of a snowbell, I knew someday I had to have one. Zone 6a, which is the hardiness zone I am in now, is just barely warm enough for this particular tree, so it requires a little babying to keep it happy. The first time I tried planting one, it was hit by a late frost and it never recovered. My current snowbell gets wrapped in burlap if there is any chance at all of frost once the leaves have opened. Lesson learned.

The garden is always in flux and nothing stays the same for very long. The Autumn and Yoshino Cherry trees are done blooming, and tulips, fritillaria, and daffodils are dying back to make room for columbine and daylilies. Asiatic lilies and hardly gladiolas grow taller, and the pyracantha is getting ready to bloom. The glorious rainbow of dwarf irises will be gone soon, and something else will come into bloom to steal the show. Everyday in the garden is something new and wonderful but it never lasts long, so take time and enjoy every bit of it.