Like Nanki -Poo in The Mikado, I feel like dancing and singing right now . We have had a whole week of beautiful sunshine and the garden is sprinkled with fairy dust and spangled with flowers.
I wish my blogging friends could fly in on magic carpets and join me here for an hour or two, as so many gorgeous flowers have rushed into bloom and tender young foliage looks almost edible.
Actually, some of it is edible. This year I am growing salads and herbs in containers on a table next to the new greenhouse. This will free up some of the raised veg beds for cut flowers and save my chef, AKA the Pianist, the journey down the garden to pick leaves. He doesn’t really believe in outside and the vegetable garden is a long way off.
The blossom trees are all wearing their party dresses. I love crab apples, this one, Malus ‘Princetown Cardinal’ is only three years old but is already looking fantastic.
Malus ‘Princetown Cardinal’
I grew some seeds of the lovely little Malus transitoria a few years ago and this year one of my little trees is covered in blossom.
Malus transitoria seedling.
Some of the planting in this garden is not quite what I would have chosen but this combination of Acer brilliantissimum with its shrimp coloured leaves with Amelanchier lamarckii backed with whitebeam, Sorbus aria works very well.
There are plum trees everywhere but when they are covered in white froth they are welcome.
Plum bossom
And in the orchard, the pear blossom is looking fantastic.
Pear tree.
I was going to write about my ten favourite April blooms today, but how to choose just ten amongst so many beauties is a problem. Never mind, I will save ten special blooms for my next post and in the meantime here are some of the other lovelies making my heart sing at the moment.
Let’s start with some gorgeous shrubs.
Camellia ‘Jury’s Yellow
Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ is deliciously fragrant.
Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’
Exochorda x macrantha ‘The Bride’ is not scented but it has lovely arching branches and masses of pure white flowers.
Exochorda x macrantha ‘The Bride’
I bought a pure white Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles speciosa a couple of years ago. At least I thought I did, but this is how it turned out.
Mystery chaenomeles
This one wants to be a shrub rather than a climber.
Chaenomeles speciosa
The large flowered daffodils are getting over now but I prefer the later flowering dainty ones like these.
The lanes round here are edged with banks of primroses and cowslips which seem particularly prolific this year. The delicate native primrose is unbeatable but I adore all primroses and have loads of different ones, here are a few.
We have had a long winter followed by endless rain and dreary days but this week it feels as if the garden is in a rush to make up for lost time. Everything is happening at a dizzying speed. I can’t remember who said that ‘every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment‘ but after living in a monochrome world for so long, this spring is astonishing and utterly delightful. I hope you are enjoying it too, and now it is time for me to catch up with everyone else and to see other people’s April delights.
Chloris
The Blooming Garden 
We have had the summery weather too Chloris, and the garden is singing! Love all your white blossom and colourful flowers. I have got an exochordia that smells lovely but looks a little different to yours – I will have to try and identify it.
Back to cold and wet again now, but never mind the garden is in full bloom.
Oh, forgot to say how lovely the new image of you in your new potting shed is! 🙂
Thank you, my dear dil keeps coming up with pictures for me.
Spring! Lucky you, we are in Autumn in New Zealand presently, my second favourite season after spring. What is the blue daisy called?
.The blue daisy is a reasonably hardy Pericallis called ‘Senetti’. It blooms for ages. The old name is cineraria. Senetti grows much bigger and bushier.
Astoundingly gorgeous,send the magic carpet now!
Thank you Amy. A magic carpet would be good, I’d like to pop over and see you too.
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Absolutely beautiful! I’d love to pop over for a quick visit via magic carpet!
Thank you. I think all garden bloggers should have a magic carpet.
I am vicariously enjoying your beautiful spring garden (I wish I did have a magic carpet), as I am still awaiting our warm days. At least the small bulbs are up. 🙂
Goodness, your spring takes its time, doesn’t it. It has turned wet and chilly again here, but the garden is still happily pumping out new blooms.
So much beauty everywhere! I know you must be soaking it all in. Love the camellia and sweet viburnum.
Thank you, the viburnum is deliciously fragrant.
I can feel your joy in the garden all the way over here in California! Our spring tends to creep in slowly and steadily without the sudden explosion of color you experience but I still have those moments, usually in early March, when I literally feel like twirling around and singing like some kind of silly Disney princess. I love the wonderful bulbs that bloom so prolifically in your climate, as well as the flowering trees and shrubs like the quince. Sadly, as our winters and springs grow steadily warmer with each passing year, all the stone fruit trees are showing an utter inability to cope with the lack of winter chill – no flowers and even the leaves are fewer and later.
I love to imagine you doing your Disney Princess twirl Kris. But your garden is so full of gorgeous blooms you need to do a twirl every day. This is my favourite time of the year, everything is happening so fast. It’s all so beautiful.
Tra la! Yes, I do see the pixie dust. Wow, everything is blooming at once and it looks fabulous! We had a long winter, too–and the coldest April ever recorded here where I live in the Upper Midwest. The past few days have been beautiful, so I understand your joy. Your edibles look yummy! Happy spring!
Hapoy Spring to you Beth. We have gone back to cold and wet now, but never mind the garden is still working overtine to produce more and more blooms.
What an abundance of beauty! The magic carpet sounds heavenly. I had dreams of flying on a magic carpet when I was a child, probably from reading “The Little Lame Prince”.
Thank you Mrs. D. A magic carpet is the way forward, just time to have a look round each others’ gardens and a quick cup of tea then- whoosh and we’re home again.
Wonderful!
After reading so much about how unpleasant winter is in other climates, I can totally understand why the flowers that bloom in spring are so pleasurable.
Winter has been particularly long and challenging this year and spring flowers are the most exciting of the year. And they all cone tumbling into bloom so quickly.
With a climate like that, I can understand why! They want to get started and finish before the weather comes back! That is why the wildflowers are so splashy in the desert. They know that they have a very limited season in which to bloom; while the soil is still damp, but before it dries out like pavement!
How absolutely beautiful it all is..I wish I could fly over quickly to see it, but the photos are gorgeous too. I wonder, did all the extra rain make for a real special Spring?
Thank you Jane, I think you are right all that rain has helped make an extra good spring display. I have never seen the primroses look as good as this year.
I love your quote about spring. It is so true! I would like to join you in that dance. The photo of your whole garden is particularly lovely, showing how lush everything is, and all the trees bursting into bud.
Thank you Ali, spring does seem particularly beautiful this year, but perhaps this is after such a long grey winter.
Looking beautiful. It’s my favourite time of year, when every day you can see something else waking up and emerging.
I do agree, it’s my favourite time too, but I just want to say, ‘hang on, slow down’, it’s rushing on too fast.
What a wonderful array of colour. Things are certainly growing a pace now the sun has come out😁
Thank you , yes the April flowers have rushed to catch up and now the May blooms are hurrying into flower too.
Crikey! I almost feel overstuffed after an unusually large but extra tasty meal… 😁 But then again, I don’t think we could ever have enough delights in our garden and if you could source one of those magic carpets please book me a spot on the first one – I won’t take up much room. As always, you have a number of things I have not heard of but will look up for future reference. That pink viburnum sounds a real asset. Thanks for sharing everything – makes me feel quite restrained after ignoring several pretties in mine 😉
Well April is like that, just so much to enjoy and everything extra special. It is my favourite time of the year.
The degree of burgeoning still takes me by surprise – does it you?
Spring has truly arrived in your neighborhood. Around here it is just making feints. I envy your V. carlesii – such abundant blooms! Ours has just two flower clusters – not yet open.
The garden is in full April bloom mode after a week of warm sun. It has turned wet and cold again now, but that is April for you, as T.S. Eliot said: ‘April is the cruellest month’. It’s still gorgeous but you need an umbrella and a warm coat to enjoy it.
May seems rather arbitrary as well these days.
Oh my, how I wish I could fly in on a magic carpet, so many delights, I am breathless looking at them all….I would be dancing and singing too!I can imagine all the hard work that went into producing such a display, so I tip my cap to the head gardener! Glad to know the pianist won’t have to walk to gather herbs and salad leaves…..smiling at that! DIL’s drawing of you and Hector is fabulous…..please, please send a little of that faerie dust here! Such a fantastic post! xxx
Thank you Dina. The Head gardener and under- gardener are all rolled into one here. I don’t think you can call the reluctant man on the sit-on mower any sort of gardener. Still he’s a wonderful cook. Have you got rain again? I thought all the warm sunshine was too good to be true.
Strange how England and Iowa seem to be experiencing the same weather all spring — cold and wet, finally followed by some warmth, on the very same days…. We don’t have quite so many flowers here as you do, so it’s lovely to see all yours. Thanks for sharing them! -Beth
Thank you Beth. And has Iowa turned wet and cold again? It certainly has here. Still it was lovely while it lasted.
Thank you for sharing your heart’s song; now my heart is singing too! My magic carpet is malfunctioning at the moment so your great images of your garden’s explosion of spring color will have to do for now.
A pity about the malfunctioning magic carpet. I wish I could fly in and have a peep into your greenhouse. Spring is a magical time isn’t it?
Wow Chloris, send me the magic carpet. I think you are about a week ahead of me. It’s all looking really glorious there. Well done. Spectacular.
Thank you Karen. I am surprised we are ahead of you. Did you have the heatwave last week? That brought everything out practically in front of your eyes.
We had the heat. Then followed by the frost. Lovely sunny day today. Been a real yo yo spring so far. Have a lovely weekend. x
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