Looking for color on a(nother) dreary day.

 We are back to the usual wet and gray days we've seen so much of lately.  It was so nice to see some dry days last week after weeks of gray, wet weather.  I'm glad I enjoyed the sun while it was here because the rain is back.  There are many rivers with flood watches and we are just about double our average rainfall for March.  Between rain showers today I took a walk around the yard to see what has changed, it seems that there are changes overnight during this time of year.  The apple and pear trees and blueberry bushes are all very close to blooming.  I found flower buds on Clematis 'Nelly Moser' and 'Miss Bateman' and other Clematises seem to just be taking off growing right now.  The tulips all have buds up above the leaves now.  I found that a few plants that were "missing" are now making their way through the soil.  I also found that weeds are just going crazy too, I just need a couple of dry days to take care of them.
Here is a bit of color I found today:

 Enjoying the view of our neighbors Forsythia.  Some years he cuts it way down and we can't see it, so glad we can this year.  The ground drops about 4 feet on the other side of that fence so this Forsythia is pretty tall.

 I like the view of the path from this angle.  Daffodils and Tete-a-tetes are all blooming, but facing the fence, Golden Mock Orange and the pretty leaves of the White Bleeding Heart all pop.

 Finally the Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)  has buds starting.  They are so behind and seem much smaller than usual.

 Muscari is just about ready to be picked for little spring bouquets.

 Pink Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) is beautiful this year.  It has gotten so tall and is covered in flowers.  So far I haven't seen any Hummingbirds at it, maybe they don't like the rain either.

 Marsh Marigold in the pond which needs a bigger container.

 Navelwort (Omphalodes cappadocica) 'Starry Eyes'.

The flower from this Epimedium surprised me, it's so bright it stood out against the Crocus and Bluebell foliage around it.

Probably one of my favorite container plantings I've ever done.  It is so bright!

Looks like our next chance at a dry day is Sunday, otherwise it's rain all the way through next weekend.  I'm just hoping this spring won't be as wet and cool as last spring was.  It was hard on many of the plants (and gardeners).

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

April 2010 Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

It feels like Spring has now come to stay here. The weather has been beautiful with highs in the low 60's, perfect for gardening. With the longer days I've found myself out gardening until almost 7 p.m. a few days already. Each time I'm out it seems I'm discovering more good things; buds on the Alliums, lots of Hydrangea buds on all of the bushes, Clematises seem to grow overnight.
While we were driving home from my daughter's Lacrosse practice we started noticing that most of the trees either have leaves or are just leafing out. Every Spring that's one of my favorite parts, the trees almost seem to glow from the fresh new leaves. Right now the Crabapples seem to be the trees grabbing the attention for their blooms.
Here is some of what's blooming in my garden for this Bloom Day:

Forget-me-nots (Myosotis). When I was double checking the spelling of Myosotis I found that it means mouse's ear in Greek. I don't think I planted one of these, they've been reseeding in our garden probably since before we lived here.

Knautia (K. macedonia) has it's first flower open with lots more ready to bloom as well. This will bloom all summer and into the fall. It does self seed some too, but just enough for a few new plants to move around the garden.

Columbines (Aquilegia) I think are my very favorite Spring flower. They pop up everywhere and I let them grow pretty much anywhere they show up.

The Pink Ruffled ones are starting to bloom. They're all just a little different from each other, some have more ruffles, some bigger than others and all are a different shade of pink.

Meadow Rue (Thalictrum) was moved to a little more of a sunny spot last year and already seems to be doing much better. It's much taller than it ever was before.

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum) is having it's best year ever. It's never had so many flowers or bloomed for so long.

One of my new favorites are the Epimediums I planted late fall/early winter. I had read they would tolerate dry shade, and they sure seem to. The new growth is very bright, the flowers on this are like mini suns. This one is supposed to be Epimeduim sulphureum. It doesn't really look like the pictures I've found on the internet, but I still love it.

Epimedium 'Rubrum' has the tiniest flowers. I don't know much else about Epimediums, but would love to try them in another place of my garden. I'd love to know how much they spread or if they are aggressive spreaders. Where they are now I hope they do spread lots.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of each month. Visit her to join in or to see what other gardeners around the world have in bloom.