What's in bloom in April?

Shakespeare tulips didn't last for  GBBD but just had to share!

If you're looking for some inspiration as to what to grow in your garden this April I've picked out  a few of my favourites that are blooming this weekend for Carol's  and Gesine's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  April is a month that can have its surprises and our record breaking temperatures in March didn't last. There was a dramatic turnaround just like my wardrobe and out came the hat, scarf and gloves.

We woke up to snow and minus figures on the thermometer that would make any gardener cringe at this time of year. Vengeance took its toil on many of the flowers as they battled with the snow, heavy frosts and then those April showers............of hail! 

Despite the chilly temperatures we gardeners are a very resilient lot and armed with horticultural fleece we don't let the weather deter us.........though we may have ended up with a few blemished blooms.

Here's my selection of Spring blues, mauve and purple and if you click on any of the blue url links within the post you'll be taken to a more detailed post on that subject.  

The winning plants for encouraging the wildlife these past few weeks have been:

• The old cottage garden Pulmonaria officinalis and the amazing aerodynamic bee-flies.

• The nectar rich Lathyrus vernus which the bees have been drooling over as you'll see in the middle collage picture below (middle collage photo taken last week but flowers still in bloom today).

Top row left to right:  Primula 'Greensleeves'  mix, Muscari, Aubretia

Middle row left to right: Brunnera 'Jack Frost', Lathyrus vernus and

Omphalodes cappadocica 'Starry Eyes' - Navelwort

Bottom row left to right: Pulmonaria officinalis, Primula denticulata, Fritillaria meleagris -  Snakes Head Fritillary.

Pulsatilla vulgaris  looking as fuzzy wuzzy as ever is in full bloom today.

Photograph taken just after 7am last week.

Forsythia, Silver Pear tree blossom  and some of the Cherry blossom are almost hidden now by the lush new spring leaves while many of the tulips still have weeks of blooming ahead.

These photographs were taken between 7am - 8am  Saturday 14th April...............just as well as by lunch time we had hail again!

Top left: lily flowering scented Ballerina tulips

Bottom left: Narcissus 'Pipit' - species, fragrant and multi headed 

Tulip: unknown variety

Top right: Euphorbia myrsinites – myrtle spurge, Pulsatilla vulgaris alba - Pasque Flower

Middle: Spirea ajuta

Bottom right - Erysimum cheiri - Wallflowers

But wait there's also Foliage Followup and we can't forget about all the wonderful foliage that's starting to emerge.  You don't have to wait until autumn to see the gold, russet, orange and pink colours when these are grown in the garden .........

Spiraea japonica 'Goldflame'

Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream'

with the most impressive just now being the Sobaria with its fresh pink feathery leaves.

Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem" shot at f1.8

Thanks for visiting today and I hope you'll find something of interest here that you can add to your own garden for April colour.   I would love to hear from you.  Please feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the comments section.

Interested in this topic? You might enjoy a few more articles I've written:

• Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April 2011

• Garden Bloggers Bloom Day  April 2010

Rosie is a passionate wildlife gardener, perthshire photographer and writer. She enjoys soaking up nature in her own garden and is easily distracted from doing the weeding by anything that buzzes, creeps, crawls or flutters. Connect with her on Google Plus  and Facebook. © 2012 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

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