Daffodil Tour Part 2

Daffodils backyard as of 4/21/19

 I can tell were getting into the thick of spring because there has been long hours being spent both at my job at the garden center but also around yard. I have been busy adding a new garden in the front and extending the woodland garden in the back yard. I think I planted over a hundred plants over the past two nights! This week in the garden Daffodils have continued to be beautiful and full of flowers. I have a couple of peak bloom times because the ones around the house come into blooms 1-2 weeks before the rest of the yard and because of this more types have come into flower. I also have a few very late ones which wont flower until closer to May. So here we have it, Daffodil tour #2

Daffodil 'Wave

Daffodil 'Rosy Cloud'

Daffodil 'Tahiti

 I have added a number of double blooming Daffodils into the new garden spaces. Doubles are cool however one must be careful in choosing certain types because sometimes the extra petals make the blooms floppy from being so heavy. Tahiti and Rosy Cloud don't look at all like the packaging showed. Rosy was supposed to have a double cup but is just a standard double, I still enjoy the blooms non the less. Wave was the exception that is exactly as pictured, but the question remains if it will remain that way next year as I have had daffodils un double themselves in year two in the garden, we will find out.

Daffodil mix

Daffodil 'Dinnerplate'

Daffodil 'Brooke Ager'

Not sure what type of Daffodil is in the mix to the far right but the flower on this little multi headed daffodil has flowers that are incredibly fragrant in a sweet way. Dinnerplate looks like Ice Follie but has huge blooms and Brooke Ager has blooms which are the closest to red I've ever seen so far. The blooms are on the small side but suits it well.

Daffodil 'Holland Sensation'

Daffodil 'Scarlet Gem'

 The final Daffodil to show is another multi headed Daffodil called Scarlet Gem. The blooms on these are small but like this in all flowers there are more flowers to enjoy. I have begun to notice Daffodils like these have some of the absolute best fragrance! Holland Sensation is a traditional Daffodil with white petals and yellow centers but the blooms are the largest I've come across so far.

Dwarf Rhododendron 'Rampo'

Magnolia 'Ann'

 I also wanted to show that there many other things starting to bloom in the garden as well including Rhododendrons and Magnolias among others. I have Rhododendron 'Rampo' and PJM 'elite'  both are the same kind but Rampo is a light purple dwarf type and elite is a standard sized one with rich dark blooms. I like them for their evergreen leaves but they have to be protected in winter or rabbits will eat them to buds. More importantly to me Magnolias are also showing off their blooms at this time and I think there is nothing better then a beautiful Magnolia tree with their fragrant large flowers. In fact Magnolias are my #1 favorite tree and would be my only tree if I had to pick just one. They really are special and a sight to see when in flower. I struggled for a long time to choose a variety as I only had room for one tree so I had to find one that was small enough and also had bright colors blooms I enjoy. After more then a year I settled on Ann as the final choice.

Daffodil Tour 2019

Daffodils are officially my favorite flower ever and as such I have plenty of them throughout my gardens. I estimated I have about 600 and I will certainly be adding more in the fall which is planting season for those. The reason why Daffodils are my favorite stems mostly from my childhood, every year when it was time to clean the gardens for spring I would help my aunt Ruthie clean hers gardens out as well and one of our favorite things to see the Daffodils coming up and blooming it was always an exciting time and it was quite a sight to see after a long Wisconsin winter. Now that I have gardens of my own I still have the excitement of spring color but its also very nice because rabbits, deer and all other critters leave them alone! I don't have to worry about fencing them or coming home to eaten stems. I can just sit back and enjoy the blooms! Whats even better is that they come in hundreds of different shapes, colors and bloom times I find Tulips are just not necessary to have anymore. Below you will find a few from my collection. Above are the Daffodils around my house with my dinosaur statute I've named Spike The Stegosaurus. These Daffodils near the house always bloom a couple weeks before my gardens farther out into the lawn. I have several more new varieties I have not even seen yet that I'll have to show later.

Daffodil 'Pink Parasol'

Daffodil' Peach Swirl

Daffodil 'Winter Waltz'

Daffodil 'Pink Charm'

Daffodil 'Jake Snipe'

Daffodil 'Tete a Tete'

Daffodil 'Scarlet O' Hara'

Daffodil 'Trepolo'

Whats interesting about this Daffodil is that if you google its name you will see its supposed to have a split center that folds back like a star and the petals should have two toned colors. Well it did look like this last year but this year it has reverted back to a normal orange cupped Daffodil. I still like it and the fragrance from this particular Daffodil is one of the best I've come across.

Daffodil 'Ice Follie'

Daffodil 'Marieke'

Above are two old fashioned favorites, Ice Follie and the typical Yellow trumpet, which is still one of my favorites. The Hummingbird Moths have been enjoying all these flowers the past few nights. They especially like the Hyacinths. I've had hundreds of other pollinators of all different kinds visit as well. They seem to be seeking out my yard from all over because it has so many flowers to choose from and most yards have little to none.

Hyacinths 4/9/19

 Hyacinths are also in full bloom this week and they smell fantastic. I love to sit on the porch during the evening when the scent of their blooms slowly drifts across the yard. They really add the final piece of the puzzle to a spring garden and they are just as critter resistant as Daffodils. Hyacinths have very full blooms in their first spring since they are bulked up by the grower when you buy the bulbs. The following years the blooms are a bit more loose but I like smaller more spaced out flowers better because they hold up better and look more more natural. Daffodil Fortissimo can be found in the farther backround.

Lenten Rose as of 4/9/19

Lenten Roses are also very nice looking right now. These have really quickly made the list of one of my top favorite flowers because of their spring blooms and their short leaves all summer and well behaved clumping manor the rest of the year. I tried a few more this year including a couple of doubles. The above isn't named because it was a gift from a co-worker and I am unsure of the variety but it is still my favorite for its blueberry-black colored flowers.

Lenten Rose 'Apricot Blush'

Lenten Rose 'Cherry Blossom'

Lenten Rose 'Wedding Party'

Forsythia 'New Hampshire Gold' Bloomed 4/8/19

The Forsythia just started  to bloom in the last day or so and its a beautiful addition to my spring garden. I remember my grandma in Alabama always talking about them when they were in flower. If your Forsythis isn't flowering or is flowering poorly and only on the bottom its because you have the wrong variety for our area. Most Forsythias unless you choose correctly are only flower-bud hardly to -8 but the leaf buds are unharmed leaving you with just a green shrub unless we have very rare warm winters. Do not get Lynwood gold variety for Iowa. Instead get New Hampshire Gold, Northern Gold or Northern Sun. These varieties were bread for colder areas. Spring is full swing in Iowa more plenty more flowers starting to pop as well. Magnolias are beginning and I'm seeing signs in my native woodland garden of flowers starting to emerge. I will have to make another post soon just to stay caught up! The 70 to 80 degree weather has put us much ahead of where we were at this time last year.