Trillium luteum
It’s no good. I just can’t resist them.
When last year’s T. kurabayashii failed to materialise I had to replace it. And what do you know, this one fell into the trolley too.
.
A week ago we were all saying that Spring was late in arriving. And now? A bit of gorgeous warm weather and everything has come on in a rush.
![Anemone 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Anemone-001-Wm1.jpg)
Staying in the shade garden for a moment, the Pheasant Defence System has worked and for the first time in two years I have flowering anemones.
![Epimedium warleyense 'Ellen Willmott' 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Epimedium-warleyense-Ellen-Willmott-001-Wm1.jpg)
Epimedium warleyense ‘Ellen Willmott’
I love this. As the blooms open they are pure orange.
![Bergenia 'Bressingham White' 001 Wm[2]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Bergenia-Bressingham-White-001-Wm2.jpg)
Bergenia ‘Bressingham White’
![Erythronium revolutum 'Knightshayes' 002 Wm[2]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Erythronium-revolutum-Knightshayes-002-Wm2.jpg)
Erythronium revolutum ‘Knightshayes’
I love this even more. Possibly.
If only it would spread. It’s such a delight to see it, but there is still only the one.
![Tulip 'Little Beauty' 002 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tulip-Little-Beauty-002-Wm1.jpg)
Tulip ‘Little Beauty’
The diminutive species tulip that popped up so unexpectedly last year has increased in number by 100%. Giving me a stunning total of.. two. I find myself ever drawn to the small and simple when it comes to Spring bulbs.
And then there is this..
![Tulip 002 Wm[1]1](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tulip-002-Wm11.jpg)
From a mixed packet, Tulip ‘Strawberries and Cream’
The cream bulbs are just seen, yet to open.
Now, this was a freebie from a local garden centre last autumn. As you know, I’d pretty much lost the plot on tulips, given how many previous bulbs disappeared. But, what did I have to lose? I planted them in a wire cage and would you believe it: every single one has come up. They don’t have protection above ground and yet they’re still here.
The conclusion? Only the expensive varieties get eaten. Mice are discerning.
![Saxifraga 'Touran Lime Green' 006 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Saxifraga-Touran-Lime-Green-006-Wm1.jpg)
Saxifraga ‘Touran Lime Green’
I’m yet to be convinced that gardening is a worthwhile pursuit in the middle of a wood.
Between all the nibbling critters, shade and my heavy, damp, clay soil, probably only about half of the plants I buy actually make it through to the following year. Those that do though.. they grow like crazy.
This one goes from strength to strength.
It has even started to seed itself around..
![Saxifraga 'Touran Lime Green' 007 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Saxifraga-Touran-Lime-Green-007-Wm1.jpg)
A tiny volunteer, growing and already flowering in a crack in the terrace wall.
I get more blog hits via this plant than any other. How very strange.
![Saxifraga 'Gleborg' 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Saxifraga-Gleborg-001-Wm1.jpg)
Also in red…
Saxifraga ‘Gleborg’
![Magnolia 'Leonard Messel' 003 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Magnolia-Leonard-Messel-003-Wm1.jpg)
Magnolia ‘Leonard Messel’
From the tiny to the truly spectacular.
It’s such a relief to see the magnolia back in bloom. Last year it had no flowers at all and now it has six.
The trick I think, having established which types of plant seem to thrive here, will be to concentrate the collection on those things. And propagate like mad. I will be taking many more cuttings this year and splitting the perennials that are now congested or getting too big for their allotted space.
![Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' 002 Wm[2]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Erysimum-Bowles-Mauve-002-Wm2.jpg)
Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’
It should be in bloom all summer long now, I hope.
![Primula 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Primula-001-Wm1.jpg)
The humble primrose
Turned into something magical by a shower of rain.
![Viola odorata 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Viola-odorata-001-Wm1.jpg)
Viola odorata
The pale yellow wild primroses that still dominate the wilder areas of the garden have now been joined by sweet violets
![Iberis 002 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Iberis-002-Wm1.jpg)
Iberis
![Geum 'Marmalade' 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Geum-Marmalade-001-Wm1.jpg)
Geum ‘Marmalade’
I know Spring is really here when the geums start to bud up.
‘Marmalade’ and ‘Lemon Drops’ are the first out of the stalls this year.
But I don’t remember ever seeing this before..
![Fuchsia 'New Millennium' 001 Wm[1]](https://www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fuchsia-New-Millennium-001-Wm1.jpg)
Fuchsia ‘New Millennium’
A fuchsia. In April?
I had irrigation on yesterday too…
Slow down please, it’s NOT summer yet!
Linking to Carol and Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens (here), where you will find many other April bloomers from around the world.
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Hello Jessica:
What a superb collection of spring flowers which takes us back to our own gardening days. Trilliums we always found difficult, growing them with only moderate success. All the Erythroniums are, we think, a delight but one must always remember to sheer off the previous year’s leaves just before the new flowers start to emerge.
But talk of watering so early on in the year is most alarming and something of a worry.
Trilliums are difficult and costly to buy too. I have tried some seed… but apparently it can take two years just to germinate, if it does. The weather is really strange this year, very warm and especially dry for April with no immediate sign of any rain. It is a worry.
Beautiful photos! Really heavenly.
Thanks Alexandra. We got up early and used the morning light. It really paid off, especially after the shower of rain.
Beautiful blooms for April, Jessica it has been a delight to see them all in your photos:)
Everything has changed so much in a month! Thanks Rosie.
Gorgeous images, gorgeous choice of plants. And yes to adding more of what clearly thrives in your woodland area. Planting in generous-sized pots is a good way to grow a variety of plants that might not do so well in your garden soil (if there’s room near the house of course).
It means some tough decisions, giving up on things I might want to grow because keeping them going is so hard. But it’s a big garden, only one of me and only a fixed number of hours in a day. Something’s got to give.
My goodness you have things in flower already that I only dream of having in quite a few weeks time! I think my fuchsia is dead actually, so there will not be any flowers there then! They say right plant right place don’t they, so it is good that you are working out the right plants isn’t it! We seem to be doing well with aquilegias for some reason so I might have to get some more of them! Still cannot grow things that do well for everyone else though. Alchemilla just will not grow, how weird is that!!! It is so lovely to see what you have flowering and doing so well, I am glad that the PDS is working against Ptolomey! xx
If your fuchsia is a hardy one in the garden, give it a bit longer. Mine are only just beginning to shoot from the base. It’s so warm tonight, just like summer, I’ve been outside until it got dark. I think I have found the tree that Ptolemy roosts in, I could hear him grumbling up on high. Thankfully it is not one of the trees we’re about to chop down!
Very nice selection Jessica! Trilliums are so hard to resist. I’ve said several times before to stop buying them but everytime I spot the temptation is so high…
If you are succeeding with trilliums then the temptation must be even greater. I just keep hoping the next one will be the one that makes it!
There’s some fabulous things blooming in your garden at the moment. We only need a little warmth and everything comes on a treat. I’ve recently acquired geum Mrs Bradshaw and last year I got geum Koi so I’m looking forward to both of those flowering, I do like Marmalade though, such a pretty colour.
I love geums and they are one of the plant groups that seem to do well here, thankfully. I’m a little late but quite a few are ready to divide, they’re so robust I think I’ll risk it.
What a lovely load of blooms – there are some really choice plants in this post. I particularly love that Erythronium. I think you are ahead of us – certainly Geum isn’t in flower here yet. Happy GBBD to you!
I’m surprised we’re ahead, you guys get so much more sun. But this year has been a cracking Spring. I’m sitting here sunburnt tonight.. in April!!! Thanks Sarah.
Great blooms. Love the Erythronium! It’s all happening too fast here too. Enjoy!
Spring and summer go by so quickly, I just want to savour it while it lasts. Especially now, when everything is so new and fresh.
Beautiful blooms, can’t wait to see some in my garden. I’m being patient and enjoying the plants poking through the ground. Saw the trillium just emerging yesterday.
I envy you your abundant trilliums. Aren’t they native to Ontario? Your Spring may be later, but it will be all the more welcome when it arrives.
My yellow Trillium is just popping up. I think you are on the right track to concentrate on what is doing well. My list of backbone garden plants includes Epimediums (Lilac Fairy is my best for increasing quickly), Trilliums (My T. sessile are seeding all round the garden — even in a stone path!), Hellebores, ferns of every kind and species Peonies (Japonica, obvata, and Molly the Witch to name a few). Don’t know if you are familiar with these; they bloom very early and squirrels and rabbits don’t bother them. Not sure about deer as I don’t have that problem
I shall definitely try T. sessile if it’s that prolific. It’s a pretty one too. I’ve been waiting for a Molly the Witch to bloom for three years now, I bought it as a very small plant. Looks like it’s going to be next year.. but they are worth the wait.
All lovely,Jessica – aren’t we blessed having a garden in springtime?
We truly are. I have taken up your practice of a dawn patrol.. well, not quite dawn, but everything looks so good in the early morning light.
A fuchsia in April? Your garden is much more early than the gardens in my area. And the plants in Britain have not the identical name that in Germany, the epimedium is *Orangekönigin* in Germany! It the highlight in the garden in the moment!
Sigrun
This particular fuchsia is a tender variety and has spent winter under glass. But even so, I’ve never seen flowers on it this early before!
Lovely blooms and photographs. I really like the Epimedium warleyense ‘Ellen Willmott’. I think I may have seen it in the local gardens this morning – or something very similar. I will look out for some. I haven’t tried any Trilliums yet so that is something else I must try. I love getting all these ideas from yours and others blogs. Gardens wouldn’t be nearly so interesting if we didn’t keep trying something new.
It is great fun to try new things. Perhaps that’s why I have so many failures, a natural consequence of experimentation. Thanks Annette.
Wonderful macro photography! It’s amazing that when the season turns, it really does with such gusto! Your epimedium’s are such little stunners. Great color. And I agree with you, mice and the like…they are discerning! Only my fancy bulbs get munched. The box store, inexpensive varieties always seem to last. Happy GBBD!
Ha! My theory holds, even across continents. Pesky mice. The March-April transition still surprises me every year. There is a sudden explosion of growth.
Perfect image of the red tulips with dew drops. My favourite image of you the lovelies you shared.
Thanks Christina. I love that photo too. I spotted the tulips having been out early one morning. It is something I’ve started doing again and there’s no better way to get geared up for the day.
Happy GBBD! I’m so glad your spring is ramping up. You have some very pretty flowers to show for it. Isn’t it strange what gets searched for the most on our blogs? I don’t get it either.
It is weird. My most popular post is now ‘The Plaster’s Not Drying”, with ‘Do Mice Hibernate’ running a close second..
That sweet little trillium is such an eye-catcher and I love the geum. All of your April blooms look fantastic.
Thanks Dorothy. There is so much in the garden just waiting to bloom, it’s wonderful going out each morning and seeing what’s new.
BEAUTIFUL!!
Thanks muchly!
Stunning, all of it. I have Leonard Messel, too — bloomed more than a month ago.
If your tulips multiply exponentially, you’ll soon have quite a bunch — in five years, imagine!
I was thinking about fuchsias last night, about the man who had the air-conditioned greenhouse full of them. They faint and fail in our heat and humidity.
I do envy you your climate, I really do. I would happily do without fuchsias for it. Although maybe not epimediums..
Leonard Messel is quite late, even compared with other English gardens, and I worried whether it would do anything at all. So better late than never and I’m delighted to see it!
Oh your photos are so crisp and beautiful…never mind the plants! Especially love the Epimedium and the Geum.
Thanks. The plants I love often need close inspection that’s the problem. First it means we really need a macro lens. And secondly they don’t show up, so a long view of the garden just looks green!
So many beautiful flowers in bloom. I love the saxifrages – when one is in full swing it is one of the most dazzling little carpet of delicate flowers. The red one is particularly lovely 🙂
The red one is a beauty. It is in an alpine trough that we kept covered with perspex over winter. The cover kept out the worst of the rain and was worth its weight in gold.
I’m glad to hear that the pheasants have turned up their beaks with regard to the anemones Jessica. Perhaps there are other delicacies on the menu. Erythronium revolutum ‘Knightshayes’ looks fabulous. I must track one down 🙂
I surrounded the anemones with a fine gauge mesh.. fine enough to keep beaks out. Pretty it wasn’t but at least I have blooms!
A wonderful collection of spring photos Jessica. Epimedium warleyense ‘Ellen Willmott’ is beautiful, one to look out for. The warm weather has certainly brought every thing on. A flowering Fuchsia in April, it must be your green fingers and liberal quantities of Pheasant droppings!
This particular fuchsia spent winter in the greenhouse, so it is usually early. Just not this early!
I’ve often wondered about the feasibility of recycling pheasant droppings, seeing as we have them to hand as it were. They’re a bit squishy though.
oh I think gardening in your woods is most definitely a worthwhile pursuit. Your blooms and your photos of them are awesome!
Thanks Michele. I have been out buying more plants today so I’m full of enthusiasm again. We have to persevere don’t we!
So many beautiful flowers. The nicest one? Perhaps the fuschia. But all lovely! Happy GBBD from upstate New York!
The fuchsia was certainly the most unexpected! Thanks Alana.
I like that magnolia, it has a pink tinge on its petals, doesn’t it? I have heavy clay too in my garden and there is no way with tulips and many other bulbs indeed, they don’t last more than a couple of season. I totally agree with you about concentrating on stuff that thrive!
It’s just too hard trying to nursemaid things that really don’t like their conditions and there isn’t the time. I need lower maintenance all round if this garden is ever going to look anything. But it will mean a much narrower range of plants. Yes, the magnolia has pink tinged petals, it’s lovely!
You have so many gems! I REALLY wish I could grow Epimedium – I tried it once, pushing the limits of its range quite a bit with marginal success in my former cooler and shadier garden, but I still have to remind myself to avert my eyes whenever I see it in a catalog. The Trilium and Erythronium are also, regrettably, off limits. I’m glad I can at least enjoy them all in photos. Happy GBBD!
Wherever we garden there is always something unattainable isn’t there. I covet so many plants in your garden that would be way too tender for me. The woodlanders in spring though, I have to admit, I’d hate to be without.
All lovely pictures but the anemones are perfection!
Thanks Alain. Fleeting beauty.
Lots and lots of fabulous colour. I particularly loved those Saxifraga! So lovely!
Thanks Bernie. The white saxifrage lasts for weeks! And it’s great ground cover, a definite do-er here.
Ooo, the Saxifraga is lovely. Sometimes our florists here sell it as a filler flower. Actually I think it would make a beautiful bouquet all on its own. I have that Epimedium, too. Mine are just starting to emerge. Can’t wait! Happy Bloom Day!
Some of the pale yellow epimediums just seem to disappear here, this one really shows up. And the foliage is so pretty too.
I loved the mouse observation! They won’t touch anything that is free!! Who’d have thought they were so pretentious? My woodland favourites are the anemones and the violets. Pretty!
They can read Denise, that’s the problem. They sneak into the ‘pot ghetto’ where I leave the new stuff awaiting planting. And they scrutinise the labels. Anything under a fiver they scratch off their list.
What a fantastic selection. I just love your Ellen Wilmott Epimedium. Well, and pretty much everything else too ;-).
Isn’t the epimedium gorgeous? It really stood out from all the others at the nursery where I bought it.
a wonderful array of April bloomers. Our garden is also very dry which is not uncommon for where we live, but as you say it is not summer yet …
It did actually rain today. A few drops for all of a minute. There are huge cracks appearing in the earth.
Stunning blooms…you have captured their beauty perfectly…many I love to see here as well. I know what you mean about the futility of gardening sometimes…that is why I moved to plants that re native to my area as they do perform…and I add only those that have proven themselves to grow. Now I am dividing and moving some volunteers too.
It has to be the way to go Donna. It will be a cuttings factory here this year. The new low hedge around the lawn will all be produced that way, I hope. I reckon I’ll need about a hundred of them. It will save me a fortune too.
Amazing photos! You have a beautiful blog, I look forward to following your gardening adventures.
Hi Rosemary, thank you and welcome to rusty duck!
Wonderful photos. Everything looks so delicate! Your variety of blooms is awesome.
Hi Anna, welcome to rusty duck. I do watch in awe as these delicate things come back year after year. They are much tougher than they look!
I love the dewy tulip photo, Fir some reason epimediums won’t grow for us,
The cream tulips have opened now too. A bit like a raspberry ripple ice cream, or should that be strawberry?
Your garden looks gorgeous, I like everything! But particularly the Saxifrage.
Thanks Julie. It’s certainly come on in the last week or so 🙂
You have some lovely things in bloom, you like the same things as me. I don’ t know why I haven’ t got that darling little Trillium luteum. I am absolutely in awe of your stunning photographs; each one a work of art.
I think we do like the same things. The simple perfection of the species, as nature intended. Nothing gaudy. Says she, eyeing up the shocking pink azalea that is just about to make its annual appearance. Oh well, I inherited it.
I do love the saxifrage I can see why it gives you so many blog hits. Tell me is it a hardy plant? And does it spread well? I would love one in my garden and need it to do both these things! I have been amazed, having travelled today from the North to the South in the UK and how green and lush everything is down south…….we had a frost again this morning *sigh*
Yes on both counts. The saxifrage is a great spreader and has come back for me after two winters now. Mild winters though, it has to be said.
Hi Jessica…..
That was delightful……thank you♥️
Have a great weekend….
Cheers!
Linda :o)
You’re welcome. You too. 🙂
The photo of the primroses really is magical, Jessica! I quite agree about finding the things that do grow and then concentrating on them – I am hoping the technique works here in the opposite of a woodland garden…! It looks like quite a number of lovely plants do like your conditions very much 🙂
There are even more that don’t.. or that provide supper for the menagerie. Thanks Amy.
What a stunning collection, especially so early in the year. I am most envious of your Erythronium – there is absolutely no sign of the ones I planted last year. I suspect mice . . .
It’s a minor miracle that this one has resurfaced two years running. I’ve never had any success with them before. There has been an explosion of mouse holes over the last week. The David Austin pot and Little Nipper are about to be deployed.
Gosh Jessica, what a gorgeous gallery of beautiful flowers. Your photos are works of art, clearly a great combination of photographer and art director. My new woodland border (created when I removed a huge Garrya elliptica a few years ago) is doing well with epimedium and erythronium combining with wild primrose and narcissi Thalia. The new pink shoots of dicentra and the unfurling red acer leaves are complemented by a crimson camellia and the still fresh purple hellebore. It all came alive when sitting on my oak bench the other day I spotted a tiny holly blue butterfly. Later there will be ferns, astrantia and geranium sylvatica. Above it all is a sorbus hupehensis obtusa (planted in 1993 to mark the birth of my son) which has sea-green foliage in May followed by white flowers and then pink-tinged berries in the autumn which last until the fieldfares arrive. I would love to add a trillium, avoided up to now because of perceived difficulty, but it is all about right plant, right place and once you’ve cracked that gardening is just so rewarding. I wondered if you’d tried our native sweet woodruff, gallium odorata, as groundcover in your woodland. It does well in damp, heavy soil and because it is scented wildlife usually avoid it.
Oh that sounds beautiful. Wasn’t that Narcissus Thalia on Gardeners’ World this evening? It’s lovely. I will look up the sorbus. I have my eye on S. vilmorinii but that one sounds similar. The sweet woodruff I have just googled, definitely worth a try. Thank you!
What a stunning collection. I’m with you regarding small and simple. The little Narcissus you bought me last year have actually flowered and I’ve planted that border up in front of the house so it looks quite nice at the moment. Have also tidied up generally and it’s almost looking presentable! We must meet up before half term….x
I’m so glad those little daffs have returned. I have some that I’d given to Mum last mothers’ day that I planted outside and they’ve come back too. And thankfully shorter because outside they had more light.
I’ll email you, yes we must.
PS – I’ve only just noticed the rusty colour of your ‘RUSTY’ in the header…..I like. x
We had four real ones in the garden a couple of days ago. Not a speck of rust..
Great photos of your April bloomers. Your monthly post helps me with my wish list. I recently saw a yellow erythronium in the garden centre which I liked, but didn’t buy because I wasn’t sure whether I would be successful in looking after it. Yours is a beauty.
It seems if they find a place they are happy they really take off. I don’t think I’ve found that place yet, but every garden is different.
April is a wonderful month ! I enjoyed seeing what is blooming in your garden. Your photos are lovely! I am fortunate that that we have Trillium cuneatum, similar to your trillium except with maroon center petals, growing wild here. I created a new path in the woodland garden just so I would have better access to see them. This led to planting all sorts of other things along the path: native azaleas, hostas, hydrangeas and a fern glade…one thing leads to another, as you know!
I’m so looking forward to getting to grips with the woodland, there is so much potential. But to have trilliums growing wild, that’s something else!
I love your bloomers which are very different to my bloomers – I love how everyone’s planting differs which makes gardening exciting.
Absolutely Elaine. It’s what makes visiting gardens so exciting too, always coming away with new ideas.