Barberries were foliage plants as far as I was concerned. The B thunbergii purpurea serve that purpose well, but now I am getting dainty little flowers as a bonus.

A trip to Dancing Oaks Nursery opened my eyes to new possibilities, and I came away with two new barberries. B replicata has narrow, reddish-purple leaves, and is, at present, festooned with many clusters of golden-to-orange blossoms. Plus, it is evergreen and thorny enough that the deer won’t touch it. My other newbie is still working up to blooming, so maybe next time.

Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioedes is just getting started. I tend to like most things best in these early stages. The blue haze these will become later on is pretty spectacular though.

The first of the iris to bloom are these short ones. I divided them and moved some into beds closer to the house, but the only ones blooming are these out by the fence line.

Don’t you just love it when volunteers place themselves right where you would choose to have them? I think we will eventually have almost a grove of Ribes.

The flowers on Poncirus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’ frost the seriously thorny bush before it leafs out.

And finally, my tulip bed is looking much better…but that is a story for another day. I will just leave you with this image of ‘Fire Queen’, and encourage you to mosey on over to May Dreams Gardens to browse through the world’s April blooms.

Loree, over at Danger Garden just asked if I would recommend taking the trek to Dancing Oaks. My answer is an enthusiastic yes. Here is my account of our last trip. Come to think of it, I think it is about time to plan another expedition.