Thursday, April 7, 2016

Early April Scenes



No, that's not my garden above (!), but a beautiful scene from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, where my family and I were lucky enough to visit last weekend, on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The flowering trees were magnificently in bloom, the bulbs were flowering their little heads off, and everything was lushly green and growing.

St. Louis, about 250 miles south of us here in Iowa, is usually about two weeks ahead of us each spring, and this spring is no exception, even though spring has come relatively early this year in both locations. It was nice to see a preview of the flowers that will soon be blooming here (if not in such impressive quantities as in the MOBOT).


A scene from the MOBOT bulb garden. This was just one tiny corner of a huge area filled with
massive beds of flowering bulbs, spring perennials and annuals. It was lovely.

I have visited the MOBOT every spring (and at other times of the year too) for more than five years now, and every time I take away one main idea. Last spring it was "More bulbs!"

This year, it was "More scented plants!". I was really entranced by the many lovely scented flowers in the gardens: lilacs, hyacinths, and those of the many tender plants in their Linnean House (the oldest continuously operating display greenhouse in the United States), including jasmine, fragrant olive and numerous citrus. So I made a note to myself to try to plant more scented plants in my own gardens, and perhaps I can even grow some of the tender scented plants in the sunroom that I am hoping to build this year.

But back to Iowa. Here are a few scenes from my own modest plot. Things are just starting to get going this spring:

The border in front of our library. This south-facing border warms up earlier than almost
any other part of my gardens, so last year (inspired by my MOBOT visit) I planted a number
 of early-blooming bulbs here. Crocus and iris reticulata are done flowering, and miniature 
narcissus, grape hyacinths and Single Early tulips are flowering now. 
They seem to glow in the sunshine.


A closeup of the Single Early Tulips 'Flair'. These are supposed to be 14" in height, but I think they somehow became stunted,
as they are blooming on stubby, short stems. Has this ever happened to anyone else?


Some Libanotica Puschkinia or striped squill, with a leftover blue hyacinth on my West Terrace.


A 'Royal Star' magnolia. I don't think our recent light frosts have hurt the blooms on this small shrub that I planted in 2014.



A progress report on the new iris bed that I am making as part of the Peony Border: It will contain iris, alliums, poppies and perhaps some lupines, if they will take full sun here. I'm inspired by the magnificent May displays at Schreiner's Iris Gardens in Oregon, and I hope I can bring a little of that May magic to my modest Iowa gardens. I rented a sod cutter on Monday and removed the sod, loading it into our pickup truck and unloading it in one of our compost piles (hard, dirty work, but I hope the end result will be worth it!). I just have to dig in a thick layer of leaf compost and it will be good to go, and I can begin moving in divided irises and other perennials over the season, and planting bulbs in fall.

It's been cold and windy for the past few days, so I haven't been very motivated to work outside -- if I had to, I could, but it's still early in the season, and I garden for the enjoyment of it, so why not wait until sunnier, warmer days? (I guess I embrace being a fair-weather gardener....)

Hope you are enjoying some sunnier, warmer days in your own gardens. Thanks for reading! -Beth

19 comments:

  1. Hi Beth, Loved seeing the beauty at the MBOT - gorgeous! The flowering trees are gorgeous. We aren't too far behind; the saucer magnolias and stellatas (around town, not my own) are blooming beautifully. Our redbud is just starting to bloom and the crabapples will be coming along soon too. Your tulips are pretty even though short-stemmed. I have a few tulips blooming on the south side of the house. Have you ever been to Tulip Time in Pella? I go every year; not necessarily for the actual tulip festival, but whenever the tulips are blooming (oftentimes they bloom prior to the festival - global warming?). It's a gorgeous place with many thousands of tulips. Your new bed will be lovely, Beth. You have such good ideas; you're a great garden designer!

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    1. Hi Beth, I'm so glad that your gardens are coming along for spring -- and yes, I love visiting Pella for the tulips. I went during the festival last year, but it was after most of the tulips had bloomed and was pretty crowded with all the other visitors. I may go earlier this year to avoid the crowds and see more blooms. Thanks so much for reading and for your kind comments! -Beth

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  2. Beautiful spring images of the Missouri Botanic Garden. When I see your garden I notice that it is blooming at the same time as here, we have cold and wet weather until now, with only a few sunny days. I love last photo, the view over the land is great and I can imagine the blooming Irises in front of the Peonies. It will be beautiful!

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    1. Thanks for your encouraging comments, Janneke. It's sometimes hard to imagine a future garden when it's still only hard clay... I hope you will enjoy some nice warm days in the Netherlands soon, and that we will too! Thanks for visiting! -Beth

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  3. You have a lovely spring in Iowa! I'm waiting for my tulips to bloom, as hyacinths are slowly dying.
    I'm mlooking forward to the end result of your new borded:)

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    1. Thanks, Aga. I'm glad to hear your gardens are awakening with spring, and I'm so glad you stopped by! -Beth

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  4. Beautiful trees in the botanical garden! Your tulips are beautiful as well, whether short or not. The new bed sounds lovely, and quite an endeavor. I'm afraid if I got my hands on a sod cutter, I wouldn't know when to stop. Grass is the absolute hardest plant for me to grow, and keep looking decent. Hope you have warmer temperatures soon, so you can enjoy gardening in your lovely space. _Janice

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    1. That's funny, Janice -- not knowing where to stop with a sod cutter. :-) I know the feeling, but then I think about having to maintain more and more beds, so I try to control myself (but there's always a need for one more bed, isn't there?). Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  5. What a gorgeous garden to visit! I've grown 'Flair' tulips the past couple years. It's actually the only tulip I want to keep growing, as it's so pretty that I will work and spray it with stuff to try to save them from the deer. I'm not sure what causes them to be so short, though. Maybe because of the warm winter?

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    1. Hi Indie, I'm glad to hear that you like 'Flair' and think it grows well for you. The stems seem to be lengthening as the bloom period goes on, so I'm not sure why they started blooming before they were full height. Who knows? Thanks for visiting! -Beth

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    2. Hi Beth, I had to come back here and tell you that my 'Flair' tulips are doing the exact same thing!! They are little short stunted things this year. I'm blaming the weird winter we had.

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    3. Hi Indie -- how strange that yours are doing it too! Mine did grow in length as they continue to bloom. Perhaps this cultivar is prone to blooming early, before the stems have lengthened? Thanks for letting me know it happened to someone else too! -Beth

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  6. I agree a gorgeous garden to visit especially in spring and your garden is lovely as it gets going....I am looking forward to seeing the new iris bed....we should be starting gardening later this week finally.

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    1. Hi Donna, Glad to hear that you will be getting going in your gardens soon -- I know it's so hard to wait. I hope you enjoy warm days to putter about outside before long. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  7. Hello Beth! How lovely to visit the botanical gardens and take in all that beautiful blossom! I love our spring here but I do miss a real spring with bulbs and blossom. I loved the tulips - such a beautiful color so it doesn't really matter that they came up shorter than they should. I wonder it it has something to do with a milder than normal winter and perhaps not getting enough chilling time? I just can't get enough of your beautiful views from your garden. I'm sure I would spend all my time just gazing and day dreaming, so it is a real credit to you that you get so much done in your garden!
    Have a lovely week
    - Kate xx

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    1. Hi Kate, thanks for all your kind words! I'm so glad you stopped by. Best, -Beth

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  8. So much beauty here, and I am in love with the sidebar picture of your home.

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  9. Oh I have always wanted to go to the Saint Louis Botanical Garden. Beautiful pictures! Yes my tulips have done that to me...I didn't get them in the ground early enough and they grew a few inches and then bloomed. Still very pretty! Next year I want to plant more and will start sooner. Your garden bed already has lots of little bloomers!

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  10. Oh that blossom! What a treat to have a trip to this botanical garden in spring. I look forward to seeing your new Iris bed in all its glory.

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