With cool and sometimes cold temperatures through much of April, blooms remain on native dogwoods (Cornus florida, below) that typically would have faded a week or two earlier. Redbuds, that began to flower a day or two earlier than dogwoods, are past bloom, and are beginning to leaf. Dogwood crosses (such as Cornus ‘Rutgan’ Stellar Pink) are not yet colorful, but flowers are developing quickly, with Chinese dogwoods (Cornus kousa) just behind.

Nobody’s complaining, and why should they since the spring flowering season continues to be splendid? No doubt, there’s rarely an exception when spring blooms do not please, but occasionally an ill timed freeze causes distress. Not this year, though a mild freeze or two have done minor damage.

While many flowers were early following a very mild winter, the schedule in April has gotten back on track (as usual) with evergreen azaleas (above) flowering late in the month, and the wonderful deciduous azaleas (below) beginning to show their first color. Undoubtedly, I’ll rave another time or two while these brightly colored and fragrant azaleas are flowering, and why they’re not more commonly planted is a mystery.

I notice today that red, orange, and yellow flowered azaleas are nearly as tall as the redbud they were planted next to, and while the scale is off when the understory shrub is as tall as the tree, the branches intertwine and to my thinking this works perfectly. Years after this initial planting, a range of colors of deciduous azaleas were planted close by, and while most are only a few feet tall, I anxiously await the day when azaleas in the area are fully grown.

A group of three Maresi viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Mariesii’, above) has become overly shaded over the years, but branches climb though a neighboring serviceberry (Amelanchier), reaching for sunlight. Flowers are more scattered than if the viburnum was in more sun, but there are enough that it is not disappointing, with flowering branches arching over one of the garden’s ponds.