“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” Chinese proverb
This spring has certainly produced adverse conditions for my garden. Cold, snow and floods not to mention the critters who have ravaged it. And now it is a miracle to see what sweet blooms are brave enough to show. Like the Leucojum above. I was surprised to see this starting to bloom in the white garden.
The majority of flowers blooming are those usually seen at the end of April, not the middle of May, but I am grateful for each 
and every leaf and bloom (like the sedum left and the Brunnera at the end of the post). These plants born of difficult circumstances, are such an inspiration to me. They act to encourage my creativity.
All of us need inspiration or a muse to keep our creativity flowing. And today our muse can come from so many things: people, places, books, quotes, animals and yes flowers. These muses will touch us deeply and spark our imagination. But how do you know you have found your muse? It is something you know that deeply inspires you to your very soul.
So what was my muse? For me it is nature, but more specifically it is my garden. The critters who live and visit us, the dramas that play out there and the wonderful colors, sounds, plants and flowers. Right now it is the flowers that encourage my creative juices. And the posts, pictures and poetry that are conceived due to these muses give me inexplicable joy and bliss.
So what is growing and flowering now in my gardens? I am linking in with Carol@May Dreams Gardens, where she hosts GBBD on the 15th of every month. I am also linking in with Denise@An English Girl Rambles for her Today’s Flowers weekly meme.
Daffodils are everywhere now. I have so many varieties. Some bloom early or late, small or large, one color or multiple colors, small flowers or large. But all are beautiful this time of year, and bloom from April through May. Daffs are perfect for early spring bloom because they symbolize rebirth and new beginnings. These are just some of the daffs blooming now.
Hyacinths are the quintessential spring bloom with magnificent colors and an intoxicating scent. Yes I have every color under the sun and each has a specific meaning. Hyacinths were said to be dedicated to Apollo, the Greek god of the sun who is the patron of the arts. Don’t they inspire you to create beauty.
I love when the hellebores finally bloom, and these are still blooming in May. Mine are getting bigger and making a lovely display after a few years. They are all Lenten Roses and I have no idea of their names. Helleborus niger or the Christmas Rose was called an Oracle flower because it was thought it could predict the weather.
English primroses are so hardy they can withstand cold, snow and critters nibbling on them. Look at how lovely these are. The flowers and leaves of Primula vulgaris are edible. The leaves can also be used for tea while the flowers can be made into wine.
The wonderful grape hyacinths are just beginning to spread their cheer around the garden. It is said children enjoyed squashing these flowers as they made a squishing sound, giving them their name ‘squidgies’.
I also wanted to show you some of the foliage popping up that will soon produce flowers. For now though I love to just look at the great shapes, colors and feel of the early spring foliage. I am linking in with Pam@Digging for her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd.
This is our native lupine starting to grow in the meadow. The foliage starts as purple and then keeps growing to green.
I love the daylilies growing with their spiky leaves. Of course the deer love the foliage and flowers too.
Hardy geraniums are greening up. The foliage is so different depending on the type of geranium.
Moss phlox or Phlox subulata has some buds forming as the plant forms a wonderful groundcover carpeting the garden. The foliage is great as a backdrop after the flowers bloom.
You can’t miss the unique foliage of yarrow. This wonderful native seeds itself throughout the garden spreading its gorgeous foliage and flowers.
This is Red Trillium or Trillium sessile. I love the spotted foliage which looks stunning against the unusual red flower. I was surprised to see so many of these as they are finally naturalizing. They make a great mat of foliage in the early spring garden.
This unusual foliage sends me screaming from the garden as it means the invasion is spreading. The invasion is horsetail or Equisetum telmateia. This weed is impossible to get rid of and spreads by spores. I have finally decided to just pull up the foliage in the spring and spread the foliage as a mulch on the garden bed. It is very good for the plants as it breaks down. This plant is prehistoric and has been around since the dinosaurs. Now you know why it is indestructible.
Astilbe is easy to spot as it begins growing. Its hairy, reddish stems and foliage give way to bright green leaves.
The first leaves emerging on the trees are these on the dwarf willows in the front garden. I love how the pussy willows mix with the leaves just in time for nesting birds to take cover.
So what do you consider your creative muse? What flowers or plants are currently making you swoon?
A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.
from Zen Shin Talks
Just a Note: Just wanted to let you all know that I will be offline from May 16th until at least Monday or later the week of the 19th. My surgery is scheduled for the 16th and fingers crossed, I will be up and around within a few days. I have many posts scheduled and ready to go, but I won’t get to comments right away. And I will be a couple of weeks behind on reading posts too.
Thank you for all your good wishes, and I hope to be out in the garden about 3 weeks after so I can plant my veggies and containers….my hubby has been a great help, and I know he will keep things going as I heal.
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Next up on the blog: Next Monday will be a Garden Book Review. And then another native plant profile at the end of the month.
I am linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Tuesday.
I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. My most recent post is up already. My next post is May 27th.
I can also be found blogging once a month at Vision and Verb. I will be posting again on June 3rd.
As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.
I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.
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