Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – April 2009
April is also poetry month so here is a poem that you probably have memorized.
The Daffodils
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed–and gazed–but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I found a group of garden enthusiasts who were kind enough to include in Bloom Day. As grandpa would say, “These are my kind of people.”
In the front yard this pink dogwood steals the show for weeks.
As it first begins to bloom, the flowers are almost red. When fully open. they will be a very bright pink.
Pink Dogwood Tree in my front yard was well established when I moved here two years ago.
Most of these tulip and daffodils, I think about 800 bulbs, were planted last fall and 
are from Colorblends. Mostly a blend of yellow, orange-apricot and red Darwin Hybrids. Like a sunset
, the color aspect changes over time: from bright to pastel. The combination is called Celebration. The daffodils are mostly Daffodil Flight Time.
The dafs will be back next year and some of the tulips, provided the gluttonous grey squirrel does minimal munching.
Also, There are some heirloom bulbs. One of the prettiest and smallest is Tulip Bakeri Lilac
Wonder. Showy lilac-pink flowers with deep yellow centers bob in the slightest breeze. They came up later than the other tulips, which, I am sure, is an attention getting device for these little bloomers. I love this little flower that looks like a lavender tulip until you get up close enough to discover the brilliant yellow inside. About 8 inches tall and a native of Crete. Suitable for zones 3-7. (My garden is in zone 6.)
AND THIS, which I forgot it’s name and I hope you will help me remember. They will be a great addition to your CollinsBrooke Landscape. They are about 3 inches tall and planted in the bed where I planted litttle early bloomers, like snow drops, crocus, grape hyacinth. In their second year, they are beginning to naturalize.
What gardener would honestly say they did not have a few brilliant yellow dandelions. Here we are demonstrating Grandpas Weeder to extract a volunteer in the lawn. The link will get you to more info about this sturdy, useful tool.
A few azalea blooms survived two hard freezes. But mostly this is the second year in a row that these spring spectacles have been frozen out.
These Alpine strawberries that have been blooming since March. Cool weather doesn’t deter
them. If the blooms freeze, there will be plenty more to f0llow. I tell all about the itty bitty berries in an earlier blog post.
There are a few more, a lone purple iris, white dogwood, and the beautiful little purple globes of the chives. But I am not at home and can not run out a snap photos.
A few poetic last words:
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Afternoon on a Hill”
So, let me say, thank you. It’s fun to be a part of this Bloom Day.
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb
I’ll Try the German Butterballs again next year, and give them better care.
-purpose potato. Excellent for long-term storage.
– Try fresh dill for garnish.
