Beautiful April Garden

April may be the prettiest month in my garden.I recently had a garden party for the ladies in my church; over 90 people came! (Yes, we managed parking for everybody, and the garden came through completely undisturbed.) The weather was perfect, and we all had a great time. Everyone loves a beautiful garden. Would you like a brief tour? I will cover the woodland garden in my next post. Here are a few views around the patio and front garden:

Yes, that white flower in the front is Erigeron, also called Fleabane, a wildflower that is known as a common weed, though a very pretty one!

The following two images are of my first peony bloom, 'Shirley Temple.' I shot the top picture soon after the peony bud opened, after a heavy rain. The second photo is a few days later. Peonies are new to my garden this year, but not new to my heart, for I have loved them since childhood.

Columbine, purple salvia, Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' and a succulent called 'Blue Chalk Fingers.'

Penelope Rose is one of my favorites.

Romantica rose 'Orchid Romance.' I bought it because of its name!

This Voodoo Lily bloom did not open till the day after the garden party. Thankfully! The bloom smells exactly like a rotting corpse, and I was afraid it would spoil the party.

Foxglove 'Camelot'

Top row: Two views of Calibrachoa. Middle row: Blue Eyed African Daisy; Violas. Bottom row: Hybrid Columbine; Pink Dianthus.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. May you have a beautiful week!   Deb 

The Garden Awakens

The Garden awakens.March brings color back to the landscape, and I wander about, exclaiming over each new sight as though I had thought the dreary monochromes of winter would last forever. Spring is not completely entrenched yet. There are still many bare branches, but every day brings more plants out of their slumber. With a last frost date of April 15, we could still have freezing temps to spoil it all, but I hope not! 

I took all of these images today:Clockwise from top left: Loropetalum; Variegated Winter Daphne in pot under old camellia bush; Unidentified camellia bloom; Azalea Karume 'Coral Bells'

Forsythia blooms were disappointing this year. We had unusually warm weather at Christmas, and many shrubs began to bloom then, only to soon have the flower buds killed by frost. This happened to forsythias, azaleas and even dogwoods, so their performance this spring has been affected. 

The above two images are of mushrooms I found in the front garden.

The camellia blooming in all these woodland garden photos is called Gunsmoke.

By next week there should be even more dramatic changes in the landscape. Get ready for the garden party!