Field Trip - Crabapples in Bloom

The crabapples are at peak bloom right now. A little early for Minnesota, but it's nice to have so much color this early in the spring. Our crabapple is a cloud of pink. Soon the petals will make a pink carpet on the ground. It ends up rather messy, but very pretty at the same time.

Last year I made a trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to check out their Crabapple Collection in full bloom. I didn't get around to posting those photos last year, and this year I didn't make it to the Arboretum to see the collection, so I think it'll be fine to post last year's pictures this year. Enjoy!

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As pretty as these photos are, nothing compares to actually walking among these trees, immersing yourself in color. I highly recommend you set aside a day to lose yourself among the flowering crabapples.

GBBD - April 2012

April 15th - Income Tax Day in the U.S. (Well, this year it's on the 17th thanks to the 15th falling on a weekend.) Hope you have your returns all sealed up and ready to mail, or have filed for extensions! I fall into the latter category... :\

Enough of that. On to the important stuff...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Let's start with the early-spring tulips.

My favorite.

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There are still a hand-full of daffodils blooming.

It seems the crabapples are blooming earlier this year, so I looked back at photos of our crabapple. It is blooming two weeks earlier than it did in 2010.

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The Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox (Phlox subdulata 'Emerald Blue')
happily creeping over the rocks.

American Dog Violet (Viola conspera)
Why it is called a dog violet I have no idea.

What yard would be complete without a
few (thousand) Dandelions? (Taraxacum officinale)

Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)

Grape Hyacinth close-up

The next plant technically isn't blooming yet, but it's the one I am most excited for: the Fern Leaf Peony (Paeonia tenuifolia)! These little guys were planted in 2008 and have more than doubled in size. Each plant has almost a dozen buds. I cannot wait for them to bloom!

Can't you just feel the anticipation?!

Christmas Cactus - Update #3

It's official: the Christmas cactus has finally stopped blooming. Not that blooming is a bad thing - we have enjoyed over four months of flowers from roughly Thanksgiving to Easter. The reason for my excitement is I have been waiting (im)patiently for it to stop blooming so I can prune and re-pot it. But I still have to wait another month before I can do that, so more waiting. Just wanted to give a quick update.

Pruning and re-potting posts to come later!

Pruning here

April Showers Bring Tulip Flowers

The tulips are so close to blooming. They have multiplied noticeably this year. This fall I am going to have to thin some areas out and replant them in the tulip-less parts of the garden.

We had a nice spring shower this morning, and I figured it was a good time to grab the camera.

Thanks to the rain, these tulips will be in full bloom in no time! I can hardly wait!

One Word Wednesday - Daffodil