Daffodils brightening our border

Last year I worked on refining the long flower borders along the main path into the garden.  I was very happy with the results throughout the season with the exception of April when it looked bare and lacking life.  See my past posts  here and here.

 I made a mental note to add more spring bulbs in the fall (which I did).  

The first variety just bloomed for Easter: Tete-a-Tete which is a cute miniature yellow blooming variety brightening at least one side of the path. 

Narcissus "Tete-a-Tete"

On the other path border I added early and late season blooming tulips which the rabbits had for breakfast.

Look at the difference between last April and this April. 

April 16, 2013

April 21, 2014

More to come as more varieties of bulbs will bloom soon.

Other blooms that started since last week are:

 Lungwort or Pulmonaria (zone 3-8)

Depending on the location in the garden, some clumps have more pink and some more purple. These early spring blooming flowers resemble ‘Virginia blue- bell's. 

Cut-leaved toothwort (native ephemere bloomer)  or Cardamine concatenata  (z. 3-8)

This is an Ohio spring ephemeral which blooms in early spring before the leaves emerge on deciduous trees and goes dormant by late spring to early summer.  I relocated it from our woods so that we don't miss its delicate bloom and placed it near a late growing perennial  by the house; it apparently likes the new home because it multiplied since last year.
This plant is still sold by nurseries as Dentaria lancinata. Although the leaves are toothed, the common name probably is in reference to the tooth-like projections on the fleshy rootstock. The toothworts are sometimes called pepperroots in reference to the spicy, radish-like flavor of the rhizomes which can be cut up and added to salads.