We scheme and we plan and we cross our fingers and we hope for a succession of blooms and then when everything blooms at once we say “Oh — Wow.”  There’s a brilliant carpet of daffodils still – if you squint a little it’s possible to imagine that some haven’t started to go by – and the tulips have started blooming in earnest – more abundantly than we thought after the deer graze and a little earlier than we intended. The tulips and daffs are beautiful together.

Late last July, Gail and Lilah made the final tulip order decisions – without me – and I have to say, they done good. For the Rose Garden, they chose Apricot Giant and Big Chief which I, without knowing what they intended, planted as a mix. It’s gorgeous! They did clash a little last week with the Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ but then they weren’t really supposed to bloom together…

The North Garden tulips aren’t all open yet but the ones that are, are a bit of a mixed bag. Apricot Beauty is a standby favorite and it didn’t disappoint. We mixed Amazone with it which is just starting to open and promises to be a deeper orange/green apricot that I think is destined to become one of my new faves. Cistula is supposed to be a pale yellow and it’s blazing hot (could it have reverted?) – but thankfully, it works anyway because of the daffodil echo. Dreaming Maid is more pink than the catalog pictures let on – we wanted it to be lavender and we’re still waiting on Formosa and Black Hero (which we know we love).

The tulip trials in the Cutting Garden are tu gorgeous. We wondered what color(s) Gudoshnik would be…

I’ve picked my winners in the lavender contest – Jackpot hits it and so does Violet Beauty so far – not all of the contestants have opened yet. Fringed Family (in the middle of the family portrait) is decidedly, definitely pink.

I have a winner for the yellows too:  I can see using Yellow Mountain in the North Garden next year…

And my choices for the North Garden, which were overruled and relegated to a Cutting Garden plot, are quite a nice combo so far too, if I may say, and definitely contenders for next year’s North Garden display.  Pimpernel is the red, Annie Schilder is the orange, and of course Spring Green is the excellent green.  Bleu Aimable – supposed to be lavender – is still biding its time. Perhaps this year, before they all go by, we’ll make a few combination bouquets and take pictures so that we’ll (with Lilah’s help again, of course) agonize less over the order come July.

Are your tulips blooming? Any surprises? Any favorites?

Hey, what’s that thing up there that’s all bright and making me feel kind of warmish? Could it be…? No… I don’t believe it. Yes – it’s true – the sun’s out! Yesterday’s gale dried off the daffodils and blew away the rain clouds and left us today with a bright blazing blue, a whole bunch of bliss, a new round of blooms and a heap of must-dos.

First on my list is get outside and stay there.  Indoor chores can wait because there are sights to be seen – like the daffodils hanging on to peak here and all of the spring ephemerals that are opening now and may blow out after a dose of nearly summer-like warmth. Next on my list are the garden tasks that don’t feel at all like chores to me when the weather is so dreamy.  We spent today moving perennials around, planting more roses, deadheading the earliest tulips, and hooping some of the peonies that have already set buds. I can hardly wait to get home and do all of that in my own garden…  But first, one more circuit of the property to entice a visit:

Hover over for captions and click on for larger view

Is it forecast to be nearly summer-like where you live too? What are your plants – I mean plans - for such a stellar weekend?

Last night’s rain may have made a few of the daffodils face-plant but it brought out that delicious fragrance of spring that put the visual beauty almost in the background.  Almost.  I would have closed my eyes – I did for a minute maybe – but there’s still so much coming out that I couldn’t help but do my usual mad circuit of the property sticking my face and then my camera up close to every bud. I’m not sure I’ve noticed anything more adorable than the Horsechestnuts emerging. Except maybe the Trillium, Mayapples and Epimediums. (If you’d like to know the name of the epimedium pictured below, please let me know – I did mean to write it down…)  And we’re taking bets on when the Agave ‘Spot’ will bloom.  Will it open before it reaches the ceiling?  And what color will it be?

And not only is spring still getting better but we’re well on our way in the gardens too.  Happiness is a shipment of plants and we’ve had a couple of exciting deliveries in the last few days.  First our dahlia cuttings arrived from Corralitos Gardens in CA – neatly packaged and perfect.  And today not even pouring rain could dampen our enthusiasm as we checked in our order from Sunny Border.

There’s just so much to look forward to… What’s next in your garden?