All my sages and my French lavender are in full bloom except for the tricolor sage and the clary sage, which bloom later in early summer. I also found a new sage in bloom in the flower beds at the Donati Family tasting room in Templeton - a compact yellow Jerusalem sage. Here are some of the sage and lavender photos. I was amazed at the wide variety of sage plants Amazon has.
French Lavender Behind Hollyhock |
Bee on French Lavender |
Common Sage, © B. Radisavljevic |
Black Sage, © B. Radisavljevic |
Spanish Sage Surrounded by Jasmine and Lambs Ear, © B. Radisavljevic |
Watermelon Sage, © B. Radisavljevic |
Butterfly on Gazanias, © B. Radisavljevic |
As almost always, gazanias are in bloom. It can be relied on for color almost all year. As you can see, this butterfly was also attracted to it. Gazanias are a wonderful ground cover and spread fast to make more plants.
Another plant that really spreads fast to fill in bare ground is lambs ears. The books say it's supposed to bloom in June or July, but it is beginning to bloom now, and I expect there will be full flower spikes by May.
Lambs ears have a wonderful soft
texture that almost feels woolly. Their very light greenish gray leaves provide a complementary background to almost anything darker and brighter, and its own pale purple flowers won't clash with anything, as you can see in the photo here.
In the photo to the left, you can see how the lambs ears act as a ground cover around the pink Sweet William flowers. It will spread to fill in any available space, and although some think of it as a weed, I prefer it to the weeds it smothers, and it's much easier to pull out if you want to use the space for something else. I started with just one plant several years ago on my Templeton property and when the gophers attacked it, I potted it. Then I started one plant from that mother plant here in Paso Robles about ten years ago and it's now in every single front flower bed.
One more plant I saw blooming this month around town is yarrow. A lot of businesses use it in their landscaping, often with roses or lavender, because it doesn't need much water. It's a lovely contrast to either lavender or sage. I plan to get some one of these days.
Although I haven't pictured them here, for lack of room, my light pink carnations are also blooming now. They started blooming at the end of February but are in full bloom now. The darker ones aren't blooming yet.
This is just a sampling of what blooms in April. Many of these plants will bloom for many months. I like to keep photographic notes on what blooms when to help when I plan my gardens. That way I'll know when to expect certain colors to arrive in my garden. In past years I've also had pansies blooming at this time, but I was physically unable to work in my garden when it was time to plant them this year. Remember, if you want a closer look at any photo, just click to enlarge it.
What's blooming in your garden this April?
6 comments:
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Beautiful photos!! Such a lovely variety. We are just trying to get going again this year, mostly vegetables and herbs, but not having a lot of luck with the cold that keeps creeping in. This week has shown some promise though...the parsley came back, beets, basil spinach and radishes are coming up and I have hope we might get one of the cucumber plants. We ended up buying several veggies already growing and we're adding flowers too, but I can't remember the names :/.
~ Leigh G.
Your coral rose is a beauty!
Ruth, I love that rose. Of all the roses my mom had planted, it's my favorite. Thanks for coming by to see it.
I agree that rose bush is gorgeous. It is fun to see how people from around the country garden.
So beautiful and gorgeous flowers.They help ease some aches.
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