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 !

MARCH MADNESS

Dear March, come in!

How glad I am!

I looked for you before.

Put down your hat —

You must have walked —

How out of breath you are!

Dear March, how are you?

And the rest?

Did you leave Nature well?

Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,

I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the birds';

The maples never knew

That you were coming, — I declare,

How red their faces grew!

But, March, forgive me —

And all those hills

You left for me to hue;

There was no purple suitable,

You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April!

Lock the door!

I will not be pursued!

He stayed away a year, to call

When I am occupied.

But trifles look so trivial

As soon as you have come,

That blame is just as dear as praise

                            And praise as mere as blame.

                                           -Emily Dickinson

Spring arrived very early and well before its official calendar date  thus many plants awoke from their winter  rest.   Daffodils,  Japanese iris, hellebores, edgeworthia, azaleas and dianthus added their beautiful colors to the sea of green.  

March rain was ample and I didn't have to water even once.

                     

I love this early-blooming,  low-growing Japanese iris that appears in March and spreads its beauty through-out the garden.  After it blooms, I divide and share them with family and friends.

The fragrant yellow blooms of Edgeworthia are a welcome Spring sight.

I am so thankful to be living where I can garden all year.