Hello! I’ve had quite a time going through my photos from 2021 – there are a lot! Every season brings something different and interesting, so I can’t even say which is my favorite season. They are all wonderful in their own way. But in this post, we’ll look at the garden from April through June. As you can imagine, that’s a pretty busy time in the garden. Some of what you’ll see: Tulips, Allium, Bluebells, Lily of the valley, apple and cherry blossoms, and Roses – lots and lots of Roses! I hope you enjoy the tour. 🙂

April is definitely a time when we start to see a lot more happening in the garden. We enjoy seeing the two varieties of apple tree blossoms – one has very light pink flowers, while the other has bright pink flowers. Our cherry tree blossoms are also light pink, and start to show at this time. The Anemones have been going all winter and continue to bring a pop of purple color to the garden. I have a picture of the green leaves from one of my peony plants here, too: Paeonia ‘Hillary’ is an Itoh (hybrid). I think the green leaves are lovely. I guess I have a thing for ‘greens’ because I also have a picture of my Nootka Cypress ‘Pendula’ simply because it is one of my favorite trees.

I had to have a tulip block! I love tulips, with a special fondness for pinks. These pictures are all from April. I have to say that I planted a bunch more this past fall, so we’ll see how they do in a few months!

We’re still in April! Just a reminder, as shown in the photo with the birch trees and the hen house, that we can still get a hard frost (in May, too, unfortunately). As for flowers, in April we have Bleeding Hearts, white and pink varieties of Bergenia, Grape Hyacinth, Hyacinth, and Hellebores. The ‘heaven scent’ Magnolia tree and the Birch trees were planted at the same time in November 2020. While I confess that I didn’t really notice a strong scent, I found the Magnolia flowers to be quite pretty.

Moving along to May, we are still enjoying tulips. Other bloomers at this time: Lily of the valley, Columbine (or Aquilegia), lilacs, fully blooming cherry blossoms, and Erysimum ‘super bowl’ mauve. The Hosta were moved from the ground into planters this year, to decorate the new garden. They started to fill out in May. The plants in the veggie beds and the sunflower bed are all doing well and showing lots of growth. The Globe Artichoke plant, behind the mauve Erysimum plant, is one of my favorites for the unusual leaves and of course the artichokes, which flower purple when left to fully mature. I grow it because I think it is so interesting to look at!

Although still in May, the organic plant based food ‘Nature Safe’, which I use throughout the garden, would have been taken out in March to start feeding my evergreens, and the lilac shrubs. I really like this product, plain and simple. It took me too long to learn that feeding your plants regularly is *really* important. Some more blooms in the garden: Bluebells, Rosemary (did you know it flowers?) and lilacs. At this time, everything I’ve grown from seed gets acclimated to get ready for the move to outdoors. Here’s a look at how the garlic is doing, too.

Still in May! The lilacs have finally opened completely, while the Viburnum Opulus ‘Roseum’ is just coming into bloom – it starts out green and will eventually turn white. The first of my peony, an old fashioned variety, also starts to bloom (it is a deep red) and looks quite nice among the Bluebells. Tis the season for Allium, and Poppies. These orange ones, like all of the Poppies in my yard, were not planted by me. They were either planted by a bird, or more likely, by my compost. The pumpkin plants are planted in the ground and showing signs of wind burn (but they mostly survived this). The Bearded Iris were planted in the bed of the Birch trees in November, and I just wasn’t sure if they would survive. But they sure did survive! Here one is getting ready to bloom.

Our ‘Pumpkin Arch’ project was done in June. My husband made it for me based on a few requirements I had. He really did a great job and it is my favorite feature in the garden. We planted pumpkins and squash at the base of it, and that worked out really well. They didn’t reach the top of the arch this year, though, so I’d like to plant them earlier in the season. I plan to also cover the young plants with fleece to protect them from windburn (our area is really windy) and from frost. Maybe then they’ll reach the top of the arch!

June! The sunflowers are getting taller, the strawberries are ripening, the pumpkin plants are finally settling in to the soil and producing flowers. The lupins looked exceptionally fantastic this year. I didn’t do anything differently, so hopefully they’ll be as lovely again this year. I have three different varieties of iris in the collage above, but I only know the bearded iris name: Benton Storrington. And since this is early June, the black spot hasn’t gotten hold of the rose shrubs (yet).

The roses really take over the show in June, but they aren’t alone as also showing off in the best kind of way are the different varieties of peony plants that I have. Last year wasn’t the best year for my peony plants (some had been moved early in the season). I’m hoping they’ll be happier this year.

My oh my that’s a lot of flowers and plants in the garden! I made it a goal to work for a short time in the garden every morning before work. I have to say that doing that small bit (nearly) every morning made my life so much easier in the garden. I was able to stay on top of weeding – mostly – and I was able to enjoy working in the garden since it was just a short amount of time. I might not get out in the garden every day, but I do try and do small bits here and there to keep the weeds in check.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the tour. Until next time, stay safe and healthy!

In Peace,
Dana