Thursday, April 15, 2010

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens
to view her beautiful post and see who else is participating today!

But for now, take another walk around my yard. You'll see things I've not shown before.
My gardens are becoming full to overflowing! :-)

wild ginger Asarum canadensis --- the plants

and the blossoms


A Spring Song

Old Mother Earth woke up from her sleep,
And found she was cold and bare;
The winter was over, the spring was near,
And she had not a dress to wear.
"Alas," she sighed, with great dismay,
"Oh, where shall I get my clothes?"
There's not a place to buy a suit,
And a dressmaker no one knows."


"I'll make you a dress," said the springing grass,
Just looking above the ground,



"A dress of green of the loveliest sheen,
To cover you all around."


"And we," said the dandelions gay,
"Will dot it with yellow bright."



"I'll make a fringe," said forget-me-not,
"Of blue, very soft and light."

pulmonaria 'Diana Clare'
L to R: Dicentra 'Gold Heart,' Pulmonaria 'Milky Way,' and Virginia Bluebells

"We'll embroider the front," said the violets,
"With a lovely purple hue!"


Dianthus 'Fire Watch'

"And we," said the roses, "will make you a crown
Of red, jeweled over the dew."


Redbud tree

Barbie's tree - Malus 'Sargentii' aka Sargent Flowering Crabapple
'Mohawk' Viburnum burkwoodii

"And we'll be your gems," said a voice from the shade,


tiarella 'Iron Butterfly'

Where the ladies' eardrops live ---
"Orange is the color for any queen
And the best we have to give."


looking back towards the raised beds...

Old Mother Earth was thankful and glad,
As she put on her dress so gay;


Bergenia

Primula - Chinese Primrose - 'Primadiente Rose'

And that is the reason, my little ones,
She is looking so lovely today.


tulip 'Shirley' (I think)
unnamed double daffodils

---author unknown

Happy Spring and Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day for April 2010! :-)

21 comments:

Shady Gardener said...

Hello readers and friends, You might have noticed that some of my trees and bushes are just barely budded... I just couldn't help including their pictures! ;-) SG

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Great poem and great post! I love the tiarella and the double daffs, oh, and the two-toned muscari...it is all so lovely! Happy Bloom day to you :)

Darla said...

Beautiful buds and blooms!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

What a lovely post, Shady! You picked a perfect poem to capture this great time of year. Beautiful color. Happy Bloom Day!

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Hello dear Shady Gardener,

Thank you for the wonderful spring posting. It made me smile to see things waking up in Iowa.

Do you ever visit the FABULOUS Prairie Pedlar in Odebolt, Iowa. Probably one of the best themed gardens I have ever seen and run by the best family, the Hogues, Jack, Jane, Grandpa, and occasional help from the children. I adore them.

Sending spring blessings your way,

Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

Hello: I grow wild ginger in my front flowerbed but I have not seen any sign of it yet. Thanks for sharing your blooms today. Valerie

joco said...

Oh Shady, what subtle colours. That Tiarella is like sparklers at Xmas time. And the Judas tree, with its flowers coming out of the trunk, Cercis silliquestrum? Is that your Redbud? Lovely against the sky.
All that and poem too.

BTW, are you still speaking to me? I realized that I had locked you out by mistake. Sorry.

Jean Campbell said...

that tiarella is so pretty.

Happy Bloom day.

Shady Gardener said...

Garden Ms. S - Your comments made me smile! That's exactly how I'm feeling this Spring. Just don't know what I'm liking the best! ;-)

Hi Darla, I enjoyed your post, too!

Hi Kate, Thank you. I'm sorry I've been outdoors so much lately (and indoors finishing a quilt top)that I have hardly been to visit anyone!!

Hi Sharon, I'm not sure when last I've been to Odebolt. How do you know this family? Do they sell your books there? You've made me very curious... and I'll have to look into a little "road trip" this Summer! :-) Thank you for your visit and your lovely comments.

Valerie, I'm quite a bit south of you... so perhaps that's why you're not yet finding your wild ginger. My Aunt MEA shared this plant (and others), so I consider myself fortunate to have it! :-)

Hi Jo, I'm so glad you stopped and left a comment. No, I'm not mad. But if you want to fix that situation, I'll head over before long. I now have ALL the necessary raking finished. If I do any more (and I most probably will), it will be because I want to. ;-) The last loads of leaves were carried to the ravine this evening before dark. Hope you're doing well!

Hi NellJean, Thank you. I have a few varieties. This one caught my eye. It takes a little while, but each colony is growing... :-) Happy Bloom day (and Spring) to you, too!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

What a lovely post! I enjoyed the poem and beautiful illustrations. I like those blooms on the ginger. I just planted some in the last year or 2, and haven't seen them bloom. I moved them this year after taking some things out of the bed. I hope they still bloom. We had a nice rain today, so that will help the different plants I moved to different spots.

Randy Emmitt said...

Shady,
That is one huge clump of ginger! Wow on the Shirley tulip!

joey said...

How delightful, Shady. Isn't spring grand!

Rosemary said...

Beautiful nothing more needs to be said.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Just beautiful. I particularly like the Muscari & the Pulmonaria. Such great colors.

Jim Groble said...

great pics. jim

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Sue, I would think the ginger would be fine with the move. Mine is only 3 years old, and it moved 5 hours away! ;-) They bloom so very early, be watching every day! I missed them last year!

Hi Randy, I'm loving the ginger. It's very happy! ;-) I have an Aunt Shirley... so having the tulip is appropriate!

Joey - absolutely grand! :-) I'm in love with it!!

Rosemary, thank you. I feel that way when I visit other blogs often! :-)

MMD, I'm very partial to the blues at any time. You should see the Virg. Blue Bells right now! Getting tall and quite floriferous! yea!

Thanks, Jim. I'm very excited to report that some of the ligularia seeds you sent me are growing in the mini-greenhouses! I will be planting the other seeds directly outdoors in a couple of weeks!!

troutbirder said...

Love the view of your raised beds. And the spring flowers are spectacular!!!

Shady Gardener said...

Thanks troutbirder! :-) How's your Spring going??

Sue Catmint said...

Hi Shady, what lovely clothes your garden has provided for mother earth. I guess the birds and the bees provide clothes for father earth - lol! love those soft shades of yellow and cream ... cheers, catmint

Corner Gardener Sue said...

So, it was you who told me to be checking my ginger. It is blooming! No one would ever know it from any distance away, but the leaves are pretty cool, and it's nice to know to look and see them.

I forgot to mention before that I have a Mohawk viburnum that I probably need to prune. It has two bloom clusters on a tall spindly stem.

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Catmint, Thanks for your comments - you made me smile! :-)

Sue, Isn't the ginger an unusual plant? The leaves ARE really striking, but those hidden flowers are very cool! ;-) How do you like the aroma of your Mohawk viburnum?