Everything's Late

We had a REALLY late freeze a couple of nights ago. Four nights before that...tornadoes. Very scary, but we were lucky. Didn't even lose power at our house. Many people lost much more, although the tornadoes that hit Dallas didn't register any higher than F1s. Winds were clocked at around 90 mph in some areas. I can't imagine what an F5 would do.

The storm made a great case for not planting Bradford Pear trees. Most of the down trees and limbs around town are Bradfords, a notably fragile tree. We have four mid-sized trees in our front yard: a 40' lacebark elm, a 30' Chinese pistache, a 30' magnolia and 25' Mexican plum, and they all did fine, although it was frightening for me to peek out between the blinds and see them bending sideways in the wind. Yeesh.

Anyway, moving along to the flowers now in bloom for April's Gardening Bloggers Bloom Day, for which I am also, and again, late...


Allium Schubertii

Brunnera 'Jack Frost'

Chives

Clematis 'Crystal Fountain'

Iris and Viburnum

Viburnum

Japanese Maple 'Matsugae'


Yarrow


Many of my Louisiana irises are budding and just about to burst open, so more pictures are forthcoming. My regular bearded irises are budding too. This is somewhat of a surprise to me since I divided and replanted (all 65 of) them this year, and really expected a reduced show. But hey, Mother Nature sometimes has other plans.

The Collin County Master Gardener plant sale is this Saturday. In addition to the fun of working the sale, I love shopping at it too - so many big, healthy plants at great prices. I'm hoping to score another Satsuma orange tree (but not kill it like I did the last one...)

I'm also expecting my shipment to come in from Garden Crossings. So...guess what I'll be doing on Sunday? What I love most: working in the garden!