Last updated on September 30th, 2012
I TURNED DOWN a trip to sunny Mexico this week…for 12 good reasons. First, how could I leave when my satiny, ‘Purple Triumph’ tulips and sweet, blue muscari (pictured above, in a bed of pachysandra), are at the height of perfection? And here, in a photo gallery, are 11 other reasons I like to stay home in mid-April (click each photo in the gallery for an enhanced view):
At the base of a stone wall, Tulipa ‘Lady Diana,’ with purple-veined leaves and eye-catching white, orange and red petals, revealed its loveliness just this week.
In the second terrace of the Serpentine Garden, purple-pink Tulipa ‘Van der Neer,’ a rare, 1850 Dutch hybrid, swims in a sea of blue-flowered vinca minor.
Vinca minor, cloaked in periwinkle-blue flowers, makes an enchanting garden all by itself.
In the Woodland Garden, one of several PJM Rhododendrons, with ethereal, purple-toned blossoms, flourishes beneath a canopy of maple trees.
The lily-flowering ‘Flashback,’ a tulip with pointed, lemony petals, blooms here in the Serpentine Garden.
Here, the “Pheasant’s Eye” daffodil, so-called because its yellow cup is rimmed in orange, blooms beneath the evergreen Thuja ‘Green Giant.’
Clumps of Muscari, the “grape-hyacinth,” sweeten the air in almost all of my April gardens.
The emerging asparagus-like points of a peony. These in June will become the large, blousy, perfumed peony ‘Sandra Bernhardt.’
Chaenomelis speciosa ‘Cameo,’ with double, apricot-pink blossoms. This flowering quince has a more upright habit than its equally stunning relative, ‘Crimson & Gold.’
Because its appearance is fleeting, one must enjoy Bleeding Heart, Dicentra spectabilis, while one can. For this perennial soon disappears — foliage and all — when summer heat arrives.
Pansy, with its mischievous face, is another catch-it-while-you can plant. This blue variety fills the two urns at the entrance to the Serpentine Garden.
What buds, blooms, and sprouts are you enjoying this April? And would you trade such beauty for a week of sun, surf, and sand? Let me know, in the comments field below.
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Adele says
Kevin, beautiful pictures. How lovely your grounds must be at this time.
As a gardener, I wouldn't dream of going away in April (or May)! Too much work to be done, and too much beauty to witness. For me, even the emerging fiddle heads in the fern garden are an excuse to stay home. I'd hate to miss anything here!
Chicago Janis says
Do your tulips come up every year? Mine bloom once, and then I have to replant the next fall. What's the secret to getting perennial flowers from the bulbs?
Eric says
Your masses of tulips are exquisite, Kevin! I especially like the purple/blue combo. Mind if I copy you?
Andrew Thompson says
Go away? Are you kidding? This is my favorite time of the year! The forsythia is in bloom (you should see the huge shrubs in my neighborhood), the crabapples have blossoms, and the maples are leafing out. How could I abandon this beauty?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Chicago Janis – My tulips do, indeed, come up every year. But then I plant the bulbs deeply (6-8 inches), and feed them both spring and summer with bone meal.
Eric – That's mighty flattering! And Vinca minor (pachysandra, too) helps hide the retreating foliage of tulips and other bulbs after their flowers fade.
Adele and Andrew — we think alike!
Carol says
Kevin, while I love tulips, daffodils and pansies, I am partial to Bleeding Heart. I'm so glad you included this as a reason to stay home in April!
Judy says
Kevin, are the Van der Neer tulips 'my tulips?' How I wish I could tiptoe through them right now! Your whole spring garden is magnificent!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Judy – Yes, the Van der Neer tulips have sprung from the wedding-gift-bulbs you gave me two years ago. How I love them!
Anna says
Hi Kev,
this is ur niece Anna, and I wanted 2 say hi!
if you get this message call me!
Betty819 says
The purple triumph and Van Der Neer tulips really are so similar in color..just the shape appears different. They are going on my wish list for the Fall. Rec'd my bulb catalog from Brent and Becky's last week and I'm drooling over so many varieties and colors.
ArtistryFarm says
Not I (said to the Little Red Hen)…!
Nancy Shelly says
Help! My garden is afflicted with lazy squirrels! The moment I begin to fill my urns and pots with pansies and combinations of annual and perennial bloomers, the furry buggers forswear digging in the ground for the ease of uprooting those plants. I’ve tried hot pepper; and even resorted to murderously half-burying little wooden skewers point-up in the soil. I live in town so land mines are out of the question.
Any ideas?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Nancy – Darn! I was going to suggest land mines.
Seriously, from what I’ve read, when all else fails supply the squirrels with their own source of food. That is, fill a feeder with seeds and nuts.
Also, provide them with a source of water. Thirsty squirrels are known to chew plants/roots just for the moisture they contain.