A DANCING APRIL

"How many million Aprils came

before I ever knew

how white a cherry bough could be,

a bed of squills, how blue

And many a dancing April

when life is done with me,

will lift the blue flame of the flower

and the white flame of the tree

Oh burn me with your beauty then,

oh hurt me tree and flower,

lest in the end death try to take

even this glistening hour..."

- Sara Teasdale, Blue Squills, 1920

Each year my garden amazes me as it , like me, grows older. This April has brought forth many blooms due to an unusually warm Spring.  

We had a week of below freezing weather in late December/early January and many plants were nipped in the bud.  I thought my Lady Banks rose was dead but the warmth of April brought forth its lovely blooms.  This is an old Southern favorite that actually originates from China, and the only evergreen, thornless rose.

This April has not lived up to its reputation of being the rainy month.  

Another plant I thought was dead made a late appearance in a shady corner of my garden :  Kerria japonica, or Chinese rose.  It's cheerful yellow color is a Spring delight.

March and April are filled with dancing daffodils and tulips.  Colorful creeping phlox and dianthus add cheerful color to the Spring show as do the prolific Japanese roof iris.

And now onward and upward to the merry month of May and its many delights !