April Flowers

We've noticed a few new types of flowers in our yard this year, and we wanted to post them here to remind ourselves of relative bloom dates and note the identity of the ones we didn't immediately recognize.

For example, we're told these flowers are called 'dandelions,' and are delicious.

We noticed violets this year for the first time.  They're apparently edible, too, but we probably won't get to them, what with all the dandelions that need eating. 

This guy we might have seen last year, but couldn't find a record on the blog.  Looks like a Siberian Squill, which are apparently invasive, and not yet known in this area.  It sprouted from some dirt we had piled up alongside the garden.  Apparently we unearthed a bulb somewhere and unleashed this menace upon the landscape.  Oops.  At least it's pretty!

We've also got peach blossoms!  Neither our apricot tree nor our peach tree had bloomed since we've been here, but this year both did.  And while the apricot blossoms got wiped out by a snowstorm, the peach tree is small enough that we can probably cover it if (when) snow or freezing temperatures threaten again.

One type of crab apple is starting to bloom.  We haven't fully identified this cultivar yet (it matches Radiant or Robinson most closely, but there are so many possibilities!).  The Dolgo crab apple that makes delicious fruits is still pretty tightly budded.  The regular apples are just starting to bud, but the Bradford pears are about peak right now.

The feral Nanking cherries are already starting to fade a bit.  Meanwhile, our dwarf flowering cherries, which don't yet look anything like the linked picture, are still tightly budded, but if they make fruit, this will be the first year for them!  One of the wild plums is also blooming, but none of the others even look close (or the wild cherry, for that matter), which is good because it's still too early if we want fruit.  We're trying to temper our expectations of an epic stone fruit year, but it's really hard. Fingers crossed!

What's blooming on your homestead this time of year?