April showers bring May flowers.
For most of North America, spring is very early this year and the year is unfolding in rhythmic consonance but the downbeat is ten minutes before concert time. In spite of April’s alternating waves of warm days and frosty nights, the garden continues to bloom anew each day, bringing cascades of color from both blossom and leaf. Every morning, a walk through the garden is an adventure – “who bloomed today?” Music is percolating in my studio, soon to be revealed – in the meantime, I share this photo record of a beautiful world opening petal by petal, leaf by leaf outside of my door and window.
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. Rainer Maria Rilke
Ajuga in Bloom
Daffodil and Foliage
Daffodil and Spirea
Daffodil La Traviata
Dicentra Goldheart
Down the April Hillside
Fern Head Unfolding
Gateway and Bloodgood Maple
Herb Garden in April
Kerria picta
Redbud Blossoms
Snowbell Blossoms
Up the April Hillside
Violets and Golden Lamium
Virginia Bluebells
Warm April Foliage
composerinthegarden 
Your garden is so beautiful! I especially like the gallery-style pictures you include!
Thank you, mesmagic, for visiting and for the follow. I love your bee posts!
You don’t just garden, you *garden* – this is art. Hardly surprising since you seem to live art.
I like the gallery format – the greedy in me finds more satisfaction in the larger format than comes with the slideshow in other recent posts – it’s because I want to look closely at all the terrific details of your garden. There is some much to like, but for some reason that fern especially speaks to me of spring.
What a generous comment! I agree with you about the gallery format; one of WP’s best features, I think. But sometimes if I have music going on too, I like to keep the post cleaner with a slide show. Thanks for commenting; I will consider doing a gallery again in the next garden post.
My yard is doing the same. Your garden is beautiful!
Thanks, Paula! We are still 2 1/2 to 3 weeks early here, even as the season progresses. I now have May/June Clematis blooming in April – very unusual!
wow–that’s crazy! We still have somewhat cool days and nights. Although things are up and out, they are moving slowly.
Lovely, lovely, lovely and even lovelier to read that you may be coming out with something new musically in a month or two. Can hardly wait!
Thanks, Eleanor. Yes, the music is cooking in the studio; hopefully will be done soon!
gorgeous and inspiring photos! I look forward to the music being composed in your studio 🙂
Thank you, Mimo! It is taking longer than I planned but I hope to release the first song by late April/early May.
Everything looks spectacular, Lynn.
How far ahead of normal would you say things are running there? By April 2, the daffodils in northeast Illinois were on their last legs. That’s about 2 1/2 or three weeks before they normally peak. I’d say that the native bluebells are running at least three weeks head or normal as well. Dogwood in south-central Indiana was at peak before the end of March.
Thanks, Kerry. I keep dates on the first flower open on everything in my garden. We are running about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ahead of normal, which is a boost for the eyes and the spirit but a little chancy for exposure to killing frosts. If this continues through the season, my hope is that we will get good rebloom on roses and daylilies later in the summer 🙂
The photos are all so beautiful, it’s hard to pick a favorite. I was excited to see your bluebells are blooming. That means they should be blooming around here soon, if not already. 🙂
Thanks, Robin! The blooms continue to accumulate and pile up-just hoping frost doesn’t knock them back!
What a grand garden! Spring is our reward for winter 🙂
Thank you! You are SO right about spring as reward.
The Virginia Bluebells look particularly beautiful, very delicate
They are a lovely native flower, a very clear light blue. Perfect woodland flower as they die down and go dormant for the summer.
Thanks for showering us with the beauties of your personal outdoor space.
Thanks, Frank, what a nice way to put it!
Thank you for showing us your garden. Lovely garden and lovely flowers.
Thanks, Chrisstov, and thanks for visiting.
Beautiful photos! Your garden is gorgeous!
Thank you, Rebecca – glad you enjoyed!
Glorious mix of color and texture! My fireworks are just beginning, so this was a lovely, lovely vision of what may come. Thank you and joy to you!
Thank you, Catherine! I hope you post photos of your floral “fireworks” when they start.
Found you through Eleanor’s blog. Oh I could sit in that garden happily for hours! Lovely
Thank you for visiting and commenting, I followed you back to your blog as well and loved what I saw!
beautiful shots. We are in the midst of a blizzard here in NS so very lovely to see your flowers today.
Blizzard in April, ouch! Please enjoy my garden vicariously 🙂
How absolutely stunning. This defies words.
Thanks, Lance, glad you enjoyed!
Love this post! The pictures are beautiful and I was taken by the Rilke quote and your analogy to music. Thank you! -Joe D.
Thanks, Joe – its all part of one spectrum for me. And I’m a big fan of Rilke.
Thanks, Vlad. I’ve been wanting to do some time lapse photography on flowers opening, leaves unfurling – it is such an amazing process. I just need to test the software.
Yes, plants CAN move really fast when they want to… Love the fern heads!