This post is several weeks overdue, as the photos were taken a while back.  They need to be shared, however, as there were/are some amazing things happening in the garden.

You can’t escape spring even from inside the house, as the three clematis outside the french doors are blooming.  A pair of juncos is nesting in this particular vine, as well, so not only does it look good, but it sounds like hungry chicks!

The more double of the spring clematis.

 

You can see all three flower types of the vines in this photo–the more dainty single one on the left, the double one in the middle, both alpina clones.  C. montana rubens is to the right.

Montana rubens blooming extraordinarily well this year.  Some years it hardly blooms at all, and other years it is smothered in these luscious blooms.  Their beauty is magnified by the sweet fragrance.

You can really see the perfection of the blooms here.  They last maybe ten days.  The vine is attractive, too, with its darker leaves and reddish stems.  It can be a bit boisterous, but easy to prune back after flowering.

Here is an interesting contrast in the garden.  Two red Japanese maples, one with deeply dissected leaves, the other with the fuller classic maple shape.

For color contrast, the red maple and the golden hop excel.  The hop is becoming a bit of a thug, so we have to guide and prune it to keep it from overwhelming more delicate neighbors.

We have two stands of old-fashioned lilacs in our yard.  They bloomed well this year and very early.

These are blueberry flowers.  I have a couple of these shrubs blooming, so should get some good berry set this year.

A few of the forget-me-not volunteers in the driveway bed.  I love these little guys!

Two sides to camellia ownership.  First, the gorgeous, giant blooms.

Second, the mess!  I inherited this camellia with the house.  I’m not sure I would ever plant one of these big-flowered hybrids myself, since they struggle in the rain, which makes the flowers messy on the trees.  The small flowered species are more to my liking as garden shrubs.

A volunteer golden chain tree grows along the orchard bed next to the camellia.  It makes a nice transition.  I’m finding seedlings all through the new bark I put down last year.  I’ll move some of them to pots for bonsai and potted specimens.

These aronia blooms are really lovely.  This berry shrub is covered with blooms and should provide an excellent amount of berries for smoothies this year.

Another view.

Goumi flowers abound on my one shrub this year.  I love goumis because they are self fertile and prolific and completely trouble free.  The one challenge is the pit in each ripe berry–but I eat them fresh, usually, so it is less of a problem.

Here is a photo of one of the “rounds” I created around the existing plants in the orchard garden.  These are alpine strawberries and Jacob’s ladders.

A close up of the alpine strawberry blooms.  Berries are already setting on these charming woodlanders.

I’m very sad about my apple trees this year.  One of them didn’t bloom at all, and since they require a pollinator, it seems unlikely that I’ll get apples.  I planted two new trees this year, so in the future this may not be as big of an issue.  I saw very few bees this year pollinating the apple and cherry trees, so I took a paintbrush out and tried to pollinate myself.

Cherries have set, for sure, and there are also a few plums on the plum tree and a few Asian pears (above) on the mixed Asian pear espalier.

The bleeding hearts continue to bloom nicely.  This is the golden-leaved sport from sister Cate.

The standard form has become a very robust plant–like a small shrub!

The wall flowers that I started from seed last year look pretty good and smell even better.

Weedy as they are, I love these bluebells.  When we moved to the house, there were hundreds of them.  They’ve dwindled down to a few now, and I look forward to their show.

A few of the perennialized tulips along the driveway.

This beautiful shrub from brother Tim.  I let it grow up this year and tied it to the Jeff Tangen arbor.  It bloomed remarkably.  I will cut it back and hope for more flowers later in the year.