Spring 2010 at the Hoosier Gardener's landscape. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
When I pulled into my driveway about 6 p.m. on April 14, the scene and the scent took my breath away. The Viburnum x burkwoodii and V. juddii are in full bloom perfuming the air so richly that you want to immerse yourself in their fragrance. The Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and Japanese kerria (Kerria japonica) are in bloom with tulips and daffodils punctuating the scene with even more color and fragrance.
When I left Indianapolis on April 9, it was windy and cold, a welcome relief from the 80-plus degree days we’d been experiencing. The dogwoods were just showing color and the redbuds and serviceberry had begun to bloom.
I left April 9 for a five-day trip to the Netherlands as a guest of the International Flower Bulb Centre. There were about 30 people on the tour, including garden writers and photographers from England, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Denmark, United States, Canada and the Netherlands.
Scilla forms a blue river between plantings of daffodils at Keukenhof in Spring 2010. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
In the Netherlands, the weather was very cold and windy, typical of spring in northern Europe. We stayed in Haarlem and Zwolle, went to Keukenhof and visited gardens in Zwolle, Jansklooster, Dalfsen, Luttenberg, Ens and Bant. The accommodations and food were first class and I’ll write more about the trip soon. I took about 600 photos and shot video, some of which I also will post.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, spring has arrived in full force in the Indiana garden.
My Korean Spice Viburnum is very fragrant, too. I think there are some of these other viburnums like you have in my new garden plan? I hope so! And now you’ve made me curious about my Kerria. It had tight buds yesterday, so might actually be blooming today. This feels decidedly like summer!