Short review April 2025

Continuing the review, at the beginning of April, spring was still slow to start; the Corydalis were trying to join the snowdrops without much success. Another very early spring flowering, Physochlaina orientalis, boosted by the snowmelt, was waiting for the first pollinators.

Then, like it often happens in this area, a sudden rise of temperatures in mid April resulted in the overlapping flowering of many spring wildflowers: Corydalis, Hepatica, Helleborus, Jeffersonia dubia, Draba and Primula species, Pulsatilla….

Corydalis in their many forms and colors were showcased many times in the past, but ‘new’ for this year was a beautiful patch of Corydalis malkensis mixed with Corydalis solida purple, due to my unintentional replanting: a nice mix for our Corydalis ‘Wildheart mix’!

Their ‘relative’, Dicentra cucullaria (a cultivated form), had an exceptional good flowering this year. The white form of Jeffersonia dubia flowered for the first time, reason why I selected it for this article’s cover image. 

Erythronium albidum tried to flower more than its usual, Primula glaucescens usually struggling with the not-moist enough location flowered timidly while Fritillaria collina not only flowered well, also produced seeds for the first time later in the year. From the many nice seedlings obtained from the Helleborus ‘Cherry Blossom’ it is enough to show only one :)

 

Besides plenty of snow melt, there was also rain in April, and most importantly, no late frosts coming into May! Not too many sunny days, but otherwise it was a very good start of the ‘real’ spring.