Sunday 16 April 2023

The Month of April.........

..............gets its name from the Latin word aperio, meaning "to open (bud)," - plants are really flourishing and growing now.

 Erythronium revolutum - white beauty

 Erythronium japonicum "Pagoda"   

This month brings some capricious weather! April rains bring verdant pastures, but also umbrellas and rain boots! 

Fritillaria meleagris - snake's head fritilary 


April cold with dripping rain

Willows and lilacs brings again,

The whistle of returning birds,

and trumpet-lowing of the herds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Victoria Plum blossom

Will September herald plum pies and crumble? Not if the Magpies, Jays and Pigeons have their way, all of whom are busily feasting day by day on its blossom. 

The Aesculus hippocastanum - Horse Chestnut tree is opening it's palmate leaves, very soon I look forward to seeing this large tree covered from top to bottom with beautiful large white upright conical flower panicles. 

The Helleborus - Hellebore plants have been flowering continuously for the past three months, and even though they are now past their best they still remain attractive whilst busily producing new seeds within the flower heads.

 When April scatters charms of primrose gold

Among the copper leaves in thickets old,

And singing skylarks from the meadows rise,

To twinkle like black stars in sunny skies;

William Davies

 Alauda arvensis Sky Lark

via

34 comments:

  1. A fitting tribute to April, Rosemary. The woodlands here are now filled with spring ephemerals and the whole world is awakening it seems. It is a wonderful time of the year.

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    1. Sorry David - I have found your comment in 'spam'. Spring is such a special season for all of us who live in this northern hemisphere.

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  2. The weather in April has been strange. The springtime is late here, probably for all cold nights we have had lately. Beautiful pictures Rosemary and have a beautiful Sunday!
    Love Titti

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    1. It has been chilly here too Titti - the energy companies must have made a fortune out of us all this past winter💚

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  3. Your flower photography is always so gorgeous! We're finally warming up here and will be getting rain next week. In about a month, we'll have our own flowering fruit trees and shrubs to enjoy.

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    1. I am pleased that winter is done and dustered. The weather is currently very changeable here - sometimes lovely and warm and then very chilly all within the same day.

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  4. Hello Rosemary, I usually think of spring flowers as being white or some pale pastel, your garden seems already to have achieved the full spectrum of colors. For some reason when I first read your post, the Davies poem wasn't showing properly, so I had to look it up. His poems all seem to reflect a love of nature.
    --Jim

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    1. Davies appears to have had a hard life and probably took solace in nature.

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  5. Lovely gallery of photos. I was feeling very unmotivated over the winter months but as soon as the snowdrops and then the daffodils appeared I was ready to get out a lot more again. Spring is the best medicine there is.

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    1. I have been feeling similar Bob, which has been helped by the added burden of illness.

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  6. Your garden is truly lovely! Your photos are gorgeous! Thank you for sharing Spring!

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  7. Your garden is offering so much promise already of the pleasures to come, dear Rosemary! Hopefully it won't be much longer before you'll be basking in uninterrupted sunshine.

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    1. Hear, hear to that Pip - we need warmth, our energy bills are going through the roof.

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  8. Lovely photos as always, Rosemary. April is very different down here!

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    1. I think that April for you is more akin to October here.

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  9. These flowers are such a delight to see Rosemary.

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  10. So many wonderful flowers, and I see one of my little favourites, the blue Forget-me-not. An April Spring in your climate is such a treat. The little lark is sweet - I just googled to hear their song!

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    1. The Forget-me-nots are all over the garden Patricia they make so many seeds, but once they have finished flowering I have to cull them drastically. Even so there are still as many come up again the following year.

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  11. All the beautiful April flowers fill one with hope and joy. Our climate is similar to yours with the same flowers blooming here. How lovely to be in your garden and hear the lark's song.

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    1. The sky larks build their nests in hollows on the Common surrounding our home. It is wonderful to see them rise vertically with rapid wing-beats, hovering for several minutes and hear their spectacular song.

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  12. Dear Rosemary - Stable warm, sunny March and capricious April here. Sakura and other blossoms opened at once, tree buds appeared much earlier – strange spring. Nonetheless, their arrival is a good, uplifting thing. Among all the nice photos of yours, I love Victoria Plum blossoms and of course the Sky Lark. My Helleborus are still in bloom. Hope you’re doing well with your husband.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko - thank you for your kind enquiry - my husband is still improving very slowly week by week.
      Spring is such a beautiful period, but here, we there is still a sharp chill in the air - we need more warmth.

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    2. Thank you, Rosemary, for rereading my previous post and got it about my clearer, brighter vision after the surgery. Lens is not multifocal, so I’ll get a new pair of glasses in a month when I was given prescription.
      Slow but steady recovery is a good thing. When warmed up more, things will be all right, I keep my fingers crossed. Take care of yourselves.

      Yoko

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    3. So pleased that all went well for you Yoko - mine is not multifocal either, but I found that the reading glasses which I have worked even better following the surgery.

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  13. A delightful post. Love all those hellebores :)

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    1. The hellebores have been really good this year.

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  14. What a beautiful post Rosemary Every photo a winner. I especially love the Fritillaria photo. They are an elusive little flower in my garden. Here it is still, April, April der weiss nicht was er will.

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    1. Lovely to hear from you dear friend - Der April ist hier noch kühl, wir brauchen mehr Wärme.

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  15. I imagine that the magpies and jays are just as pleased as we are, when the weather warms and the flowers bloom :)

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    1. I am sure you are right Hels but I also enjoy having a few plums in the autumn too.

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