There's something magical about April in the garden when winter's dormancy gives way to spring's promise. Join us for our monthly garden tour as we explore what's happening across our half-acre suburban landscape in Zone 6A. From emerging perennials to budding trees, we'll highlight the seasonal changes and share how our blank-slate property has transformed into a garden that evolves with each passing year.

The Garden Entrance: Setting the Stage

Our tour begins at the Gothic arch that serves as the formal entrance to our back garden. Here, we've created a beautiful vignette that combines:

• The Borghese fountain, recently uncovered for the season
• 'The Generous Gardener' David Austin climbing roses flanking the arch
• Betty Corning clematis intertwined with the roses for complementary bloom cycles
• Bobo hydrangeas (a compact panicle variety) on either side

This entrance composition demonstrates our garden philosophy of combining different plant forms and bloom times to create year-round interest. While the Bobo hydrangeas are still dormant (typical for panicle types which leaf out later), the Betty Corning clematis is already showing significant growth at its base.

Spring-Flowering Trees: The Garden's Architecture

Just past the entrance, our Eastern Redbud is preparing for its spectacular spring show. Planted in 2019 as a small five-gallon specimen, it has developed into a significant garden feature. Its branches are covered with flower buds ready to burst into bloom—one of redbud's most charming characteristics is how flowers emerge directly from the trunk and branches, not just from the tips.

Throughout the garden, we've incorporated various specimen trees that provide structure and seasonal interest:

• Prairie Fire Crabapple: Covered with buds that will soon explode into vibrant fuchsia-pink blooms
• Weeping Ruby Falls Redbud: A pendulous form that blooms longer than the species
• Carolina Sweetheart Redbud: Features heart-shaped leaves that emerge with mottled green and dark red coloration after flowering
• Diana Contorted Larch: Displaying its distinctive "rubbery" spring foliage that emerges before transforming into soft needles
• Jane Magnolia: Already showing color in its buds, promising a spectacular display

These woody specimens form the architectural backbone of our garden, providing height, seasonal interest, and habitat for wildlife.

Hydrangea Heaven: A Collector's Passion

Hydrangeas have become something of an obsession in our garden, with multiple varieties strategically placed throughout the landscape. In April, different types show varying stages of awakening:

Different Awakening Schedules

• Smooth Hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens): Varieties like Invincible Spirit II and Invincible Ruby are already pushing substantial new growth. These bloom on new wood, so their spring emergence is a reliable indicator of summer flowers to come.
• Panicle Hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata): Varieties like Limelight Prime, Quick Fire Fab, and Firelight Tidbit are just beginning to show signs of life. Their later leafing correlates with their later summer blooming period.
• Oak Leaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia): Gatsby Pink and Gatsby Moon are displaying emerging green growth. Since these bloom on old wood, we never prune these in spring to preserve flower buds.
• Big Leaf and Mountain Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla and serrata): Some varieties like Let's Dance Skyview, Let's Dance Can Do, and Wee Bit Innocent remain protected under covers. We're experimenting with winter protection to preserve old wood buds for early blooms.

Our "Hydrangea Room" showcases our love for these versatile shrubs. Here, we've created a dedicated space featuring a carefully designed collection:

• Back row alternating Invincible Lace with Invincible Sublime
• Middle row featuring Incrediball and Incrediball Blush
• Front border of Invincible Ruby
• All interplanted with alliums for companion blooming

This strategic planting demonstrates our design philosophy of using companion plants to hide declining foliage—as the alliums bloom, their fading foliage will be concealed by the emerging hydrangea leaves.

Perennial Awakening: The Supporting Cast

Throughout the garden, perennials are showing varying stages of emergence:

• Walker's Low Catmint: A staple in our garden, repeating throughout borders to create cohesion and providing a long season of blue flowers that can rebloom if cut back
• Autumn Joy Sedum: Already forming impressive rosettes, pushing growth earlier than expected
• Peonies: Emerging from dormancy with their distinctive red shoots
• Jacob's Ladder 'Heaven Sent': Showing its beautiful purplish-green foliage
• Meadow Rue: Different varieties including Cotton Candy and Lavender Mist beginning their growth cycle
• Cherry Truffle Heuchera: Displaying its rich burgundy foliage that contrasts beautifully with nearby Icebreaker Korean Fir

These perennials form the middle layer of our garden, bridging the gap between woody specimens and ground covers.

Bulbs: Nature's Spring Surprise

April's garden is punctuated by flowering bulbs carefully placed throughout the landscape:

• Daffodils: Various varieties including the tiny Tête-à-tête providing bright yellow accents
• Muscari: Beginning to emerge in drifting rivers throughout the garden
• Alliums: Their foliage suggesting the impressive blooms to come, strategically placed to grow through perennials that will later hide their declining leaves
• Scilla: Adding delicate blue accents beneath shrubs

Our approach to bulb planting follows a naturalistic pattern—small clusters scattered throughout beds rather than rigid rows, sometimes literally dropped and planted where they land for a more organic feel.

Evergreens: The Garden's Backbone

Even in a garden celebrated for its seasonal changes, evergreens provide essential structure year-round:

• Sprinter Boxwoods: Showing winter wind damage on their tips that will be pruned away
• Gold Cone Juniper: Displaying its distinctive form with new growth emerging in bright gold
• Hollywood Juniper: With its quirky, contorted branches providing architectural interest
• Weeping White Spruce: A distinctive specimen with a graceful weeping habit
• Icebreaker Korean Fir: A standout with its icy white new growth that appears soft despite its conifer nature
• Blue Feathers Hinoki Cypress: Beginning to display new growth with hints of its signature blue coloration

These evergreens create the garden's permanent framework, providing winter interest and serving as backdrops for showier seasonal elements.

New Garden Space: Anticipation and Evolution

Perhaps most exciting is our newest garden area—a space where a Limelight hydrangea hedge once stood. After gifting these hydrangeas to neighbors and friends, we've opened up this area for a new mixed border design.

This evolving space represents the garden's constant transformation and our willingness to reimagine spaces as our interests and skills develop. Planned additions include:

• A water feature from Decker's
• Japanese maples and evergreens from Iseli
• New hydrangea varieties from Proven Winners
• A diverse selection of shrubs and perennials

This blank canvas demonstrates how gardens change with their gardeners, evolving from functional privacy screens to more complex, layered designs as interests deepen and plant collections expand.

Roses: Resilience and Beauty

Throughout the garden, roses are showing remarkable resilience after winter:

• Lady of Shalott: Growing along the wall, already pushing new growth despite rabbit damage
• Woolerton Old Hall: Showing vigorous new growth along established canes
• Mary Rose: Recently transplanted but adapting well with no signs of transplant shock
• Claire Austin: Beginning to leaf out along its trellis
• Ringo Double Pink: Compact varieties showing first signs of spring growth

Many roses display evidence of rabbit damage from winter snow that elevated hungry creatures to just the right height for browsing. Despite these challenges, new growth emerging from the base and along canes promises another season of beautiful blooms.

Practical Design Elements: Repetition and Cohesion

A closer look at our garden reveals the intentional repetition that creates unity across the landscape:

• Foundation Planting: The front of our home features rhythmic repetition of Winter Gem boxwoods, Invincible Wee White hydrangeas, and Walker's Low catmint
• Color Echoes: The chartreuse of Ember Waves arborvitae picking up similar tones in nearby plants
• Structural Repetition: Obelisks, arches, and trellises create vertical elements that draw the eye upward
• Simple Island Bed: A central lawn island featuring just three elements—Walker's Low catmint, Winter Gem boxwoods, and Invincible Wee White hydrangeas around a river birch clump

These design elements create a sense of intentionality and cohesion that helps our diverse plant collection feel unified rather than chaotic.

Looking Forward: The Season Ahead

As we conclude our April tour, we're filled with anticipation for the rapid changes the coming weeks will bring. The garden transforms almost daily this time of year—buds open, perennials emerge, and the promise of bloom-filled months ahead keeps us eagerly returning to observe each new development.

Our monthly garden tours serve as both documentation of our garden's evolution and a reminder of the cyclical nature of gardening. From its beginnings as a blank suburban lot to today's layered landscape, this garden continues to grow and change with us.

What's happening in your April garden? Are you seeing similar awakening patterns, or does your climate put you ahead or behind our Zone 6A timeline? We'd love to hear about your spring garden experiences!

Thanks for growing with us!