Havenwood April Garden Tour

Narcissus, Primula, Hellebores, and Scilla for Spring 2025

Apr 15, 2025

*Scilla siberica alba* in well-drained upper ground of the Birch Walk today

Welcome to April at Havenwood!

Come take a little walk around our one-acre garden in northwestern PA, zone 5/6. Half of our property is in the shade and half in the sun, some wet and some dry, so we have a wide variety of plants growing in each season.

I am freshly home from the UK, and so it is good to see everything bursting into bloom. (See all of my travel photo updates here in Notes!)

After weeks of cold and snow while I was away, we are still behind where we were last year in our normal bloom schedule this spring. However the sun is shining today between hail storms, and the weather is set to warm up again this week, so soon the garden will be racing ahead.

Join me on a walk around for April to see which plants are up now in the garden…

Primula

I love primroses, and so they are one of the plants that I have been collecting in several different spots in the garden. They tend to like damp soils, so in addition to growing in our boggy areas, they are also happy at the bottom of the slope in the Birch Walk. I have collected several colorful forms that are a joy to see at this time of year, and remind me of the egg hunts that will be happening soon for Easter weekend.

There are a three main Primula species in bloom right now, with more to follow in May:

Primula vulgaris—the common primrose

Origin of the genus name:

The scientific name Primula is a diminutive of the Latin primus, "prime", alluding to the fact that this flower is among the first to appear in spring. The vernacular name has the same meaning: primrose derives from a late Latin form prima rosa, consisting of prima, "first" (feminine), and rosa, "rose."1

Primula elatior—the “ox-slip”
Primula veris—the “cow-slip”

According to the Woodland Trust:

The name 'cowslip' may refer to the fact that cowslips (and oxlips) are often found growing in boggy pasture used by cattle.2

*Primula veris* ‘Sunset Shades’ are a red version of the cowslip.

Near our St Francis garden, we have a hybrid primula that is one of the most floriferous in the garden. It has proved difficult to identify, as it was a passalong plant.

Narcissus

We have a large collection of narcissus in our Daffodil Dell, and many are rushing into flower this week:

Wide view of the Daffodil Dell this week.

Hellebores

This is our main Lenten Rose season, with all of our hybrids coming in to full flower around the garden:

White Hellebore near the pond this month

A few flowers on Hellebore Hill this month.

Scilla

In addition to the new white Scilla that we added in the Birch Walk this year (top photo), we have more blue Scilla in Hellebore Hill (above) and also as a warm up in the Iris bed. I decided to trial a few smaller bulbs, crocus and scilla, this year to see if they could co-exist with the space greedy bearded iris in this bed.

Other flowers around the garden this April:

*Pulmonaria* ‘Blue Ensign’ is a cultivar that I have been looking for over many years, and it is growing well this month in the Cottage Garden.

Lightly frosted but still beautiful, the star Magnolia, Magnolia stellata — Lightly frosted but still beautiful, the star Magnolia, *Magnolia stellata*

The red tulips with dark stems, T. 'Fostery King', are just beginning with Muscari latifolium in the Hot border

The richest of blues from Hyacinthus orientalis ‘Delft Blue’ at the front of the Daffodil Dell to set off the daffs. — The richest of blues from *Hyacinthus orientalis* ‘Delft Blue’ at the front of the Daffodil Dell to set off the daffs.

Anticipating the display by the Kitchen Garden tulips coming up now for May…

If you would like to have an overall framework of our gardens, just last month I completed a map of Havenwood and our open events coming up this year: