Just lately I have been embarrassingly late for most of the memes I take part in. I am determined one way or the other to post this month's Bloom Day post on time.
This April the garden is well and truly coming to life. Bright days, April showers and warmer temperatures are just what the doctor ordered. Many of the plants growing in my garden thrive in the rain, they have no option other than to thrive if they want to stay. Recently I was convinced that my garden was way further on than it had been in previous years but on checking back the past 2 years that appears not to be the case. I think I've heard one too many news reports on the UK's mildest winter. We are to expect wintry showers this afternoon.
Anyhoo, back to blooms, which after all is supposed to be the topic of this post. My favourite daffodil and some summer snowflakes around one of the Cornus are just starting to open. I'd love to get this particular group of bulbs out of there and into a far more prominent position but since they are left over from a previous incarnation of this bed they are well and truly rooted in with the Euonymus.
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Narcissus Thalis and Leucojum aestivium |

Around the garden the snakeshead fritilaria are blooming away. It is pleasing to see that they are now spreading themselves around the garden. I have discovered that in one clump there is signs of fasciation on one particular stem. The cause of fasciation is unclear. It could be a symptom of one or a combination of many factors. Environment, conditions, genetics, viral or even frost are just a few of the suspected causes. You can read more about it here on the
RHS Website. Even the usual chequered markings are somewhat different. Whatever the cause the odds are it won't appear next year. I have noted to observe this clump more closely next year.
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Fasciation Fritilaria meleagris |
I have checked all the other clumps and single self seeded stems and found only one more example of fasciation amongst them. Fritilaria meleagris should produce a single bloom per stem. Fasciation can take many forms, unlike the example above where there is 4 individual flowers give it more of a F. imperialis look about, this other example is where 2 flowers appear to be fused together. A bit like conjoined twins.
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Another example of fasciation in Fritilaria meleagris |
Next up is a plant I was given by a friend who warned me that it may set seed and become a bit of a pest as it does in his garden. However, that has not happened in my garden. After 4 years I still have only the one wee clump. Like Cyclamen it requires ants to spread its seed. Ants only ever appear here when the peonies are coming into bud and then disappear from whence they came when they open. Despite the fact that there are 5 peonies in the same bed as this wee plant I have as yet to come across any seed that may have germinated. I also grow the cultivar D. cuccularia Pink Punk but it flowers a bit later that this straight species.
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Dicentra cucullaria |
A group of plants that do well here are the Epimediums. They grow in both sun and shade here and don't let me down. I grow around 6 or 7 different varieties, most of them are still in bud but the first to bloom this year is Epimedium x warleyense Ellen Willmott. This special barrenwort is one of many plants in cultivation named after the respected plantswoman Ellen Ann Willmott. It is though essential to keep them watered well until they establish. I have fallen foul of this before and lost a couple of plants when I neglected to keep them watered their first year in my garden.
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Epimedium x warleyense Ellen Willmott |
April is always the time for the drumstick Primula. They bloom at this time of the year no matter what the weather. They do well here in both sun and shade. However, the ones on the shadier side of the garden bloom just a bit later, thus extending their usefulness around the garden.
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Prinmula denticulata Album, Rubin and Cashmeriana |
I love it when my garden surprises me. For a few years I grew some Iris bucharica in a pot. I needed to ensure optimum drainage in order that it survived. However a couple of years ago when I was completely fed up with having so many pots to look after in winter I decided it needed to prove it's worth in the ground. The front garden has the best drainage so tried it there. Last year, it's first in the ground it produced only foliage but this year there are a couple of blooms. Yipee!
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Iris bucharica |
The Euphorbia sent down to me by Frances @
Island Threads last year as small cuttings have thrived. All bar one is blooming right now. Thank you Frances.
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Euphorbia martinii, purpurea and Ascot Rainbow |
Euphorbia characius Silver Swan took a fair battering in the storms earlier in the year. It is suffering from extreme wind rock. A giant stake is keeping it vertical right now. I will wait until it finishes flowering before I investigate properly. I hope it just needs a good firming in. It has been in the ground a long time so am not wholly confident it would survive being dug out and straightened up. I've never had cuttings from this particular plant strike successfully in the past.
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Euphorbia characias Silver Swan |
Sitting here finishing off my post, those wintry showers have appeared. More sleet like than snow so there will be no blanket of snow to pretty up the garden. The first Camellia bloom is open, the others would do well to stay tight closed until this latest weather front passes. Gardening here in Scotland, no two days are ever the same. It was a T-Shirt in the garden day yesterday.
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Camellia japonica Lady Vansittart |
Lastly, I end this bloom day post with a shot of my freaky Lily. I say freaky because never in a month of Sundays would I have expected to see it in bloom so soon. It was planted at the correct depth - heck, I even got the tape measure out for once. I've not grown lily bulbs in this manner before so want to make sure I followed the planting advice correctly. I wouldn't say it has been kept in an exceptionally warm place or else the begonias would be far more advanced than they are at present. At this rate I'll need to find a replacement for the Lilies. Although just how I will replace them without disturbing everything else is beyond me!
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Lilium Ladylike |
I wonder who else has out of season blooms this April. Time to pop over to
May Dream Gardens to have a look.