April Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day

scan of april blooms
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For more about this technique, see Scanning Flowers.

With the cold weather this week, the garden has been in a state of suspended animation. No daffodils or tulips yet, though the former are budding and the the latter did add some leaf.

Small, low-growing spring ephemerals are about all that’s flowering. Various iris are past their prime, most having been damaged by temps in the teens. (Same goes for crocus.) Snowdrops are also past their prime on the south side, but in their prime on the north side of the house. Hellebores are peaking. Pulmonaria, primula and corydalis are coming on. Cyclamen continue to bloom, as they have most of the winter. Coltsfoot flowers show up here and there. Willows are still putting on a show.

This time of the year, foliage adds to the display. Old and new heuchera leaves. Lamium. Scotch thistle. Emerging sedums.

It was nice to do a little garden clean-up today. The soil is still a little on the wet side. Now I’ll say good-bye to the ground for awhile, what with a foot of snow predicted for Sunday and Monday.

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12 thoughts on “April Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day”

  1. What a fun way to present your garden “blooms,” Craig! I am always tempted to list some foliage, too. I’ve been a little surprised as to how little I actually have “in bloom”… the foliage adds so much interest that I always feel like there’s more in bloom than there really is.

  2. Silvia/Salix: You’re an artist. I’m sure you’ll turn out some fabulous scans. What I like about it is even a hack like me can get some interesting results.

    I should point out that I did the resizing in PaintShop Pro instad of the usual PhotoShop. It’s not as clean in PSP, and that’s where the interference patterns and other effect/defects came in, compared with the ‘extra-large’ original.

    One of the hardest parts was trying to get all the flowers in place. The iris and snowdrops were getting pretty mushy from the heat. I never did get a scan where everything was the way I wanted it.

  3. This is gorgeous – it’s so windy here today, that it would be impossible to take an in-focus shot. You guys are probably getting the system now (with white stuff). What a great idea this is.

  4. Very lovely bouquet of plants and flowers. Great scan with a old photo quality. We are way ahead of us in the variety of plants available to scan. Will stop by to see more of your scans. What brand scanner are you using?

  5. I just found your scanner photography posts today. Too bad… maybe we could have met at the reception for my solo show at Frelinghuysen Arboretum yesterday. If you live near Morristown, NJ, I hope that you can stop in to see some of my work. You mentioned my web site, which hasn’t really been updated in 2 years. Thanks. My first site was up in 1998 and I had been scanning flowers for a year before that. It IS addictive, but the nicest part to this project is the relationships developed over the years with the gardeners who continue to invite me to pick their flowers. Keep on scanning…

  6. Hi Ellen:

    A lot of garden bloggers have latched on to this process. What I like about it is that it takes a minute to learn — but a lifetime to master. The more I do it, the more I appreciate the work of folks like you.

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