Garden Photo of the Day

Spring in Northern Indiana

Celebrating the season

small low-growing purple flowers

It is your GPOD editor, Joseph, here today, sharing some images of spring in my garden and around town where I live in northern Indiana.

light yellow daffodilsOne of my favorite daffodil varieties is ‘Cassata’ (Zones 4–8), shown here blooming in front of the house. This type is called a “split cup” daffodil, because the central trumpet splits and flares out to make an extra layer of petals. I love the way it opens yellow and then fades through soft yellow to cream as the flower ages, so the planting looks a little different each day.

light yellow daffodils dusted in snowAnd because it has been the coldest spring EVER, I got this photo of ‘Cassata’ dusted with snow. Luckily, daffodils are tough, and they’ve come back from the cold snaps without missing a beat. The cool temps have meant the flowers have lasted a long time too.

mass planting of bright yellow daffodilsNot far from me at Wellfield Botanic Gardens, the daffodil display is over the top.

naturalized planting of blue flowersAll over town I see naturalized spring bulbs, like this colony of glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii, Zones 3–8). Because this bulb comes up and then goes dormant so early, it can naturalize in lawns as long as you don’t mow too early, turning the grass into a carpet of blue.

large planting of tiny purple flowersGrape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum, Zones 4–8) make huge clumps in old gardens all over town as well. This was a planting next to a sidewalk in my neighborhood. Honeybees were out enjoying it in force.

small low-growing purple flowersPerhaps my favorite spring wildflower is Hepatica acutiloba (Zones 4–8), spotted here in a local park. I love how early blooming and incredibly variable it is. In this colony, the blooms ranged from white to pink to blue.

plants with variegated foliage and white flowersAnother early woodland wildflower is white trout lily (Erythronium albidum, Z0nes 3–8). Often the species of trout lily native to the eastern half of North America make a lot of leaves and not many flowers, but this patch I spotted on a recent bike ride was loaded with blooms.

flowers that are dark pink on the outside and light pink on the insideAnd of course, one of the best parts of spring is plant shopping! I drove up to my friend’s nursery, Arrowhead Alpines, and picked out some goodies like this little Daphne ‘Rosebud’  (Zones 5–7), which will go in the rock garden I’ll be planting soon.

 

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Comments

  1. garden1953 05/06/2022

    Lovely masses of flowers. How can people NOT garden??

    1. User avater
      simplesue 05/06/2022

      Well said! "How can people NOT garden??" I like that!

  2. User avater
    user-7007816 05/06/2022

    I live nearby in Michigan and we have also had a late, late Spring, but things are really beginning to pop now.

  3. fromvirginia 05/06/2022

    That hepatica is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.

  4. User avater
    simplesue 05/06/2022

    That's a great post of spring flowers, I especially love the Snow Glories and Hepatiaca!

  5. User avater
    cynthia2020 05/06/2022

    Joseph - thank you for sharing what is going on in your new garden!
    Re: naturalized spring bulbs... turning the grass into a carpet of blue
    I just moved to Chicago and there are a lot of front lawns with the lovely blue flowers.

  6. btucker9675 05/06/2022

    Love it all - especially that Cassata daffodil and the hepatica. I agree - how can anyone not want to garden. I have a neighbor who quilts constantly but could not care less about her outdoor property - she asks me constantly what she can plant and then just ignore, including not watering when it's dry. She thinks it's "weird" that I like planting and tending my gardens. Makes me sad when someone gives her a potted plant, she shoves it out onto her front porch, doesn't water it and then wonders why it's dead.

    1. User avater
      cynthia2020 05/06/2022

      Re: She thinks it's "weird" that I like planting and tending my gardens
      Oh, dear.
      Speaking of weird - where I just moved in, there is landscape fabric under the weedy lawn...
      Um, decided to ignore for now and create a new 5' x 8' perennial bed between two properties instead (no fabric on that area).

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