Is It April 24 or June 24?

As much as I enjoyed being outside in the sun (first day of sunscreen application for me!), I don't like too many days like this in April as it can mess up early May and flush things along too soon. The shot to the left is of the white Guinea-hen flower or checkered fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris 'Alba') in bloom in our gazebo garden. Native to Europe, this bulb is endangered in certain regions but can commonly be found in gardens and is available for fall planting. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritillaria_meleagris for more information on this neat plant. The straight species (Fritillaria meleagris) is conspicuously checkered with pink and maroon (I'll post a photo soon). I enjoyed using my new CANON Powershot today and was happy with the quality of photos. Nice shot of more hellebores (Helleborus) to the right. They'll finish up soon with all the heat but sure look nice when they're noticed!

Small crew again today. Marv and Terry were out "planting" more of our signs and securing them with Sakrete in their permanent locations. They've run in to some interesting things while digging and it seems that I always pick the spots with heavy clay, irrigation lines, power lines and/or a large rock! Janice cleaned up some garden spaces and arranged a nice cutting display. We hauled all of our annuals (that were recently potted up) from inside the horticulture center out to the yard for sunshine and fresh air. Some were really languishing inside and will probably get a little scalded outside. However, evening temperatures look ok for awhile and we don't have the facilities to keep full sun plants inside for very long. I did some shopping for supplies, sprayed Round-Up in some very weedy areas and treated our iris collections with grub control. Maury and Dr. Gredler both came in to help out as did Mary and Dave Hunt (two of our veteran volunteers). Nice shot of the blooms of 'Leonard Messel' magnolia below (Magnolia x loebneri) which is blooming a "smidge" early and is still subject to frost which is a very real possibility in the next two weeks. There's nothing as beautiful as a magnolia in full bloom, but there is nothing more unsightly than a magnolia that was in full bloom and was hit with frost making brown and shriveled blooms! The bottom shot is of 'Happy Centennial' forsythia in bloom today. This is a neat, compact forsythia and I've copied/plagarized some nice information regarding this shrub from the Missouri Botanic Garden website. This forsythia cultivar is a compact, spreading, deciduous shrub which typically grows 2-2.5' tall and spreads to 5' wide. Features slightly fragrant, light yellow flowers which appear in profusion before the leaves in late winter to early spring. One of the earliest blooming shrubs.. a true harbinger of spring. Ovate, leathery, dark green leaves are attractive throughout the growing season, but fall color is usually unexceptional.