Nothing like swelling buds to put you in a good mood!

Now, that is one of the cycle that I never see here. That is the beauty of Spring that you see mother nature working at Best :) waking the dormancy up.

That is beautiful :)

Jin

Snowdrops in May? that is cold. Enjoy your spring!!

I love flowering plum and cherry trees, lovely tree! It has taken a while this year to see spring, a good spring for snowdrops. :)

Karen, I’m so glad you’re finally seeing some signs of spring! It seems like your one of the ones that’s been waiting the longest! It must make it all the sweeter when spring finally does arrive! I can’t wait to see your roses! Lisa

We all love spring, but I think that those of you living in cold winter climates truly appreciate it in a way that they rest of us cannot. Happy May to you!

Rosefolly

I've been feeling so sorry for those of you that have been snowbound for what seems like forever. I can imagine that your appreciation of any spring flower, bush or tree must be exponentially greater. I wish you all a wonderful spring and blooming roses in the near future.

Woo-hoo! I remember that feeling of elation from back in my MN days. Time for a seasonal dance in the sunlight. I'm really looking forward to seeing shots of your Barden Bed, Karen! Carol

Yeee! Finally!

We here in South Michigan have finally broken dormancy and are charging full speed ahead with growth!

Yesterday, it got up to 86°F. It was HOT. Especially on the heels of damp, 40-something April days. Of course, last night was a tumult of rain, wind, and lightning. 4-5.5 inches of rain fell over night, and we have flooding that just about mimics the flooding we had first week of March, but not so severe.

Enjoy your spring now that it's arrived!

Steven

Thanks everyone! Steven, I have to imagine, Michigan has been getting all the weirdness we have. Of course everything is busy trying to do processes that usually occur over the entire month of April in the space of a week. Today I saw tulips, muscari, and hyacinth all in bloom in my beds. A much compacted bulb season this year, with temps in the 70s, after months of freezing cold. We had that 80 degree day too... this spring is an absolute sprint.

At work, the California grown tender roses have arrived in full, blooming glory. Meanwhile all the shrub roses, and the rest of the locally grown shrubs are sticks with tiny nubs of new growth.

I found this waiting for me at work, 20 roses mismarked as a crimson, Love’s Magic. I have a strong feeling that they are Love and Peace. Which would be great- we weren’t going to be carrying that, and my mom wanted one for Mother’s Day.

A few shots of the garden (east bed and front bed). Things are looking springy out there. The temps are reliably May-like, in the 70s, so dormancy is breaking fast, and the bulbs are all going together.

some bulbs, a honey berry, and the roses are looking like vaguely green sticks, instead of just sticks!

A bumblebee was busy pollinating the honeyberry for me! I’m hoping we have a nice amount of berries this year.

Minette is a happy lady!

The blooms are arriving in my garden. A few early iris, the crabapples are lovely, the muscari is holding up nicely despite the extra heat and my little Clotilde Soupert is opening her first buds.

My first Heirloom Roses order came- I got one of them in, before I sprained my ankle and was out of commission. You can kinda see the other pots (Baron Girod de L'ain and Yolanda d’Aragon) at the end there, the flash of orange is an iris.

Orange Tiger (I think).

Toots

Clotilde Soupert is just starting, and I’m hoping for my first Abraham Darby bloom by my birthday on the 20th.

Ahhh. Spring in MN. The garden is lookin' good, Karen! I love bearded iris and roses.

I am so sorry to read about your sprained ankle, though. Painful and annoying...and prone to repeats. Argh! I used to wrap Ace bandages around my ankles back in the day when I was running and when I was a garden designer doing precarious slope installations. Carol

Uggh. Sorry about your ankle. Your garden has made such huge progress in such a short amount of time. Cl. CS was my fist to bloom also. She can't help herself. Please post a pic of her open blooms if you like.

My Clotilde Soupert has buds on it, a survivor, even with some cold winters! Hope your ankle feels better soon...

I snagged a Clotilde S from ARE and can hardly wait for her to bloom! I hope the first buds don't ball. I've grown and adored her in the past and decided to put her on my keeper list. Love that fragrance!

I may have to pot her up on the porch because when the spring rain hits her compacted petals, she achieves a master level of ickiness. That said, when summer drought begins, she's gorgeous and (did I mention?) fragrant. Great remontancy! I used to grow Souvenir de la Malmaison under tree cover for the same reason. Umbrellas are very helpful when growing these light colored, petal packed gals.

I can hardly wait to see the images of your garden unfolding over the season, Karen. I am so excited about your Paul Barden Rose Bed!! Maybe someday, when our irises have spread beyond their bounds, we can swap a couple? Carol

PMR, I'm growing the climbing version under my eaves for this reason. She was the first to bloom. I never thought to grow her under tree cover!, but what a good idea.... maybe even up a tree? I love the image of your yard sprinkled with umbrellas... what we do for our roses! ; )

A few more beauties from yesterday:

Antique iris Flavescens. It’s so pretty and delicate!!

Clotilde displaying her glory! What a fair and lovely bloom she has. I’m so glad the squirrels are letting her be this year!

An antique broken color tulip, I think this is Black and White? It’s from Old House Gardens. There is my new little Madam Hardy, getting her wake up groove on. Plus.... perrenials that I cannot remember. We will see when they bloom.

Ooo, Karen! I spotted the Black and White tulip in the OHG catalog, too. It's spectacular! I think the company is offering B&W again this fall. I need to order some more Campernelle narcissus. Maybe a B&W will slip into my order. :-) Your Clotilde is lovely! I can hardly wait for my ARE baby to bloom. Carol

Thanks Carol! B+W is a pretty tulip- very dainty, seriously- it's a small little thing. I haven't gotten any broken color tulips for the broken color bed, but I'm hoping to get maybe Mabel this year to put out there, and definitely Estella Rjienveld, which is not truly broken color, but I adore the wild swirls of red and white!

I'm definitely up for some iris swaps down the road. My Orange Tiger grows like a weed, it will likely be ready to trade next year, and Cat's Eye too (assuming it is finally out of patent, I'd have to check)! That clump is gorgeous this year, even though it's the first blooming year.

In other news, My wonderful, dependable friend Henri Martin is smothering itself in buds. The first in ground rose to do so, as it is every year. I cannot wait!!!

I am looking forward to your Henri's bloom! He is such a richly colored and reliable gentleman, surely one of the best once-blooming OGRs available. Alas, my garden and driveway pots are packed. Carol