Flowers in Bloom in April in Paso Robles?

April has brought a lot of flowers back in bloom. Almost everything that was blooming in March is still blooming, but many new plants are also beginning to flower. Among these are the irises. Besides this light purple iris, I've seen maroon, yellow, and other colors around the neighborhood. Browse Amazon for a wide selection of iris varieties.



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

 As you can see, hollyhock, a flower I've never tried to grow before, is in bloom. I planted it last year and had about given up on it ever growing. I almost confused the leaves with mallow and pulled the plants out, but I remembered I planted the hollyhock in these places and decided to be patient. I'm glad I waited.

Compact Jerusalem Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

I have also seen roses everywhere this month, though many were also blooming in March. I've always loved this garden of my neighbor's with its colorful rose trellis. She also has a multitude of  annuals below providing more color and showing some other flowers blooming this month. You can see her California golden poppies. irises, calendula, and those pinkish flowers to the right side I've never been able to identify. You may need to click the photo to enlarge it in order to see the detail. 

Below are some of my roses in bloom today at the end of April. The first,  to the left, is a Windy City miniature rose I bought a couple of years ago that does not require a lot of water. It is one of the taller miniature roses and can grow as tall as a yard high, maybe even higher. Like all roses, if you grow them without chemicals or sprays, the petals are edible. 

Below is a Cecile Brunner climbing rose. It will climb high and even climb your trees, and it can grow out of control if you don't keep it tamed with pruning. 

One of my very favorite roses is a tree rose that grows outside my kitchen window. I love its coral color.  Evidently, others also like this rose. I put it on a Zazzle "Thinking of You" greeting card, and it turned out to be a best seller. Maybe you would also like to have some. It's available as both a greeting card or note card and there are volume discounts if you buy ten or more cards, including other assorted designs. 

 Coral Rose Card, Thinking of you today.

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?

Related articles

• What Blooms in My Paso Robles Garden at the End Of May: Herbs
• My Light Purple Iris Finally Bloomed

Quick Botany Lesson in the Field in Early Spring

Every year after the rains, the weeds become lush and everybody but me around here starts thinking about chemical weed abatement. That's   why I intend to give the men a quick botany lesson in the field so they can identify the real weeds. 

I prefer to pull the weeds by hand as I have time, since it provides good exercise and lots of material for the compost heap (except for poisonous plants). When the men around here see weeds, they automatically think about Round-up and mechanical sprayers. I make one concession -- the path to the garden -- since I do have to get out there and be able to get the gate open. Other than that, it's a race to see who gets to the fields first -- me or my weed abatement man or husband.


John, our weed abatement man, bless his heart, doesn't seem to know what a wildflower is -- or for that matter, an herb or flower not yet in bloom. They are all weeds to him. He has two ways to deal with what he perceives are weeds -- the sprayer and the tractor. A couple of years ago I made rock borders around my garden areas and told him to leave them alone, since he sprayed my sage that year and I made him wash it off before it was too late. He sprays first and I notice him when he's about half through. It may be a race again this year, since the tall grasses have overgrown and covered up the rock borders. When we pruned and cut branches from the fruit trees last month, I dragged the large branches to border the area where I seeded the poppies so that John would not be able to easily get the tractor through before I could notice him.

Weeds Be Wildflowers by gardening
Many more gardening aprons online at zazzle

So that left Hubby to instruct. He, at least, did appreciate the beauty of the poppy field last year, so he's willing to be dragged out to learn to tell the difference between flowers and weeds. I took him to the herb garden, almost completely overgrown, to show him what a California poppy looks like. He confessed to having sprayed some along the garden path. I showed him that Poison Hemlock, which I want him to spray, is different. I also tried to teach him the difference between wild mustard and Flanders Poppies, and what lupine looks like before it blooms.

California Poppy Plants Not Yet in Bloom, © B. Radisavljevic

Just above are California poppy plants which will bloom soon. Below is poison hemlock, which smells sickeningly sweet if you pull it, and which will get to be six feet tall if you don't.

Poison Hemlock Seedlings,  © B. Radisavljevic

Below is a Flanders Poppy, beside the black pot. It will have lovely red flowers. There is a photo of a Flanders poppy in bloom in my Memorial Day post. Below it is wild mustard, which will grow to six feet in good soil and will send its roots deep.

Flanders Poppy Seedling beside the Black Pot, © B. Radisavljevic

Young Wild Mustard,  © B. Radisavljevic

Young Lupine before Blooming, © B. Radisavljevic

To the left is lupine, growing up and getting ready to bloom. I collect seed from the poppies and lupine each year, but I also let a number of them reseed.

Herb Garden in Early Spring, © B. Radisavljevic

I am looking forward to another field of poppies this year. It should appear in the herb garden (above), in front of the two tall shrubs (butterfly bush and sage), where you can already see their green tops, and for a long way behind them. The poppies are also growing all around the patch of ground above, so it ought to be a great view from my kitchen window later on. Meanwhile, I need to work on all those weeds that are trying to swallow the herbs, irises, and daffodils. Today I also planted some Lilies of the Nile in this bed this morning, but they are too small to see. How I love spring! 

For more on important weeds you need to pull in early spring, see my more recent post on California Weeds You Need to Pull Now.