Filed under: Gardening, Flowers, Garden Tours, How-To
April is full of rain, but it's also full of beautiful flowers. Here's a guide to what's blooming this month.
Spring has arrived in this USDA Zone 7 neck of the woods, as warmer weather makes its way slowly north. And choosing just a handful of flowering trees to highlight for this month is like trying to choose your favorite child -- It's difficult and a little risky.
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Kanzan cherries at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photo: Marie Viljoen
With Hanami Festivals scheduled all over the country, it is impossible not to talk about
cherry blossoms. Hanami is the Japanese tradition that celebrates every moment of cherry blossom bloom, from the opening of its earliest flowers to the falling of the very last petals.
The lush and frilly flowers of
Prunus "Kanzan" are the best known of ornamental cherries. But it's the earlier, more delicate cherry blossoms that tug at my wintered-out, blossom-starved heart strings. Pale pink
Prunus x yedoensis, rose-colored
Prunus "Okame" and magical
Prunus subhirtella, which blooms in late fall and again in spring, bring a lump to my throat. Keep in mind, if you want to grow these beauties, that cherries require full sun.
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Prunus x yedoensis in Central Park. Photo: Marie Viljoen
April is
magnolia month in the northeast. Their silky, sheathed buds are a hint of what's to come for much of late winter, and by mid-month, the trees have exploded in fat-petaled profusion. Early-blooming
star magnolia (
Magnolia stellata), with its supple white or pale pink starburst petals, is helpfully adaptable and will flower well in dappled shade as well as full sun.
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Magnolias in bloom in April. Photo: Marie Viljoen
It is smaller than its
saucer magnolia (Magnolia x
soulangeana) counterpart, which needs room to move. With over 125 species and dozens of magnolia cultivars with flowers shifting from white to pink to yellow to deep mauve, choosing just one for your garden is either a torture or a treat. If you are lucky you will have room for more. Have I mentioned that they are scented?
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Burgundy-flowered crabapple in April. Photo: Marie Viljoen
One of my favorite small trees is the
crabapple (
Malus species and cultivars). Their distinctive tangle of branches within an elegantly rounded top combine wildness with order, a compelling recipe for life and beauty in a tree. Crabapple blossoms are cup-shaped and profuse, and range from pure white to pink-flushed to burgundy-red. The buds open once the trees have fully leafed-out giving them an even fluffier appearance. Hardy, wind-tolerant and very pretty, all crabapples ask is that they are planted in full sun.
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Lilac in bloom in late April. Photo: Marie Viljoen
Of all the scents in the world of flowers, one of the most loved is that of
lilac (
Syringa species and cultivars). In my fantasies I sometimes plant an entire hedge of lilac, and wish more people would. The world would be a better place. Their panicles of minute flowers are rich with perfume and hang heavily from their slender branches late in the month. White, pale pink, lilac, purple and blue, from modest shrubs to small trees, lilacs can be planted as part of a border or as stand alone specimens. They do not like acidic soil, and require full sun for best bloom.
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Juneberry blossoms. Photo: Marie Viljoen
Native to the Northeast,
Juneberry (Amelanchier canadensis or
A. arborea) is a choice addition to a garden that values many seasons of interest. From their white froth of blossoms to their sweet red berries ripening in June, to the deep orange of their fall foliage, this is one of the most rewarding plants I know. Grow in dappled shade or full sun, and harvest the berries in early summer for delicious pies or jellies.
I could go on, but I have to stop somewhere. Planting a tree to ensure blooms in every month turns your garden into a botanical calendar, telling the time as surely as a clock. And watching a clock was never such fun, or as good for the planet.
Turning the clock back, check out our flowers for February and March.
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