Friday, April 10, 2015

A Few Spring Flowers





We're enjoying the lovely first month of spring here in Iowa; the weather has been a combination of warm sunny days (yesterday was nearly 80 degrees) and cooler windy days in the 50s and 60s, and flowers are popping out here and there.

A few tulips are starting to bloom, along with the daffodils and other early bulbs I showed in my last post, and the crocus and winter aconite are starting to fade out now. Here are a few other flowers that are blooming in my gardens now:

The first of the Darwin Hybrid Tulip in my Mint Circle bed.

A low-growing species tulip (perhaps 'Lilac Wonder'?)

Pushkinia libanotica (striped squill), scilla siberica, (wood squill) and hyacinths 'Blue Jacket' (and watch out for the fierce hunter approaching!).

Muscari botryoides album.

More Muscari with purple hyacinths in the background, in the North Border.

Violas planted with tulips about to bloom. I love their cheerful little faces!

More violas and daffodils. These bulbs among the violas are ones I tried to pull out after last spring, but I evidently didn't get them all because quite a few are coming back. Now I'm glad that I was so ineffective in removing them!

Some Fritillaria I planted a few years ago. I'm not sure, but they might be Fritillaria Michailovskyi.

The same tulips as in the first photo, but that one was taken yesterday and this one today. Right after first posting this post, I saw that the purple tulips have opened and had to post the new photo -- what a difference 24 hours makes!

I'm so happy that spring is here after the cold, gray winter. Our grass is finally green again and our skies are much more blue. After being deprived of color for four months, I'm enjoying every moment of spring's bright, happy hues.

And my husband and I are heading down to St. Louis (where spring is several weeks ahead of here) to visit our good friends and meet their little baby for the first time. I hope a visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden (the MOBOT) will be included in our weekend, and with any luck I'll have many photos of the magnificent spring flower displays there to share in my next post.

I hope that you too are enjoying the flowers that are beginning to bloom in your own gardens, now that warmer days are arriving. Thanks for reading! -Beth


14 comments:

  1. Oh! Those red tulips take my breath away. So colorful. And color is just what we need right now. It is so uplifting after winter in your case and after no winter, i.e., no rain and more restrictions, in my case.

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    1. Jane, I hope the water restrictions aren't hurting your gardens too much? I see from your blog that you have many beautiful colorful flowers in your gardens -- I hope that won't change.... :-( Thanks for reading. -Beth

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  2. Lovely spring flowers, especially that Frittilaria is a beauty. I wish you a lovely weekend with your friends!

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    1. Thanks so much, Janneke -- I'm glad you stopped by and have enjoyed the flower photos. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  3. I just love all your spring blooming bulbs! So pretty and the red are my favorite. I need to start planting bulbs again...mine are almost gone. Happy Spring!
    Miss Bloomers

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    1. Hi Sonia, I think that spring flowering bulbs are one of the few things in life that it might be impossible to have too many of. I plant what seems like huge numbers of them each fall and yet in spring, they still seem preciously few and far between. By all means, plant more bulbs! :-) Thanks for reading! -Bteh

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  4. The Spring flowers give so much pleasure as they begin to bloom. Enjoy your trip away with perhaps the opportunity to visit a botanical garden. Looking forward to seeing photos of your time away.

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    1. Thanks, Linda -- I hope for a beautiful day among magnificently blooming gardens when we head south today, and hope to have lovely photos to share. Thanks for stopping by! -Beth

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  5. I adore early bulbs and especially early tulips since I don't grow them....critters like them too.

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    1. I agree that deer are hard on tulips. I don't usually have too much problem with deer most of the time but I had to spray Deer-Stopper this spring on some of my tulips, the ones near the edge of our property, which seems to have helped. Tulips certainly are "deer candy." Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  6. So great to see the spring blooms! I love all the squill, and the tulips are so cheerful! We're a little behind you - my crocus are now just starting to bloom. It's so nice to see some color after the long winter months. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

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    1. I'm glad you are also enjoying some spring flowers after the long winter, Indie. It certainly does make life more cheerful, doesn't it? Thanks for stopping by! -Beth

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  7. Hi Beth, Your tulips are really beautiful. They are one of my favorite flowers. Have you ever been to Tulip Time in Pella? It's a really fun sight to see, plus there are fabulous bakeries there in addition to the thousands and thousands of tulips!

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    1. Hi Beth, it's been many years since I went to the Pella Tulip Festival, but your post about it last year made me determined to go this year, and I think we'll be able to go. I'm really looking forward to it, as tulips are one of my favorites too. Thanks! -Beth

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