Ah. Sweet April! You arrived! And despite our drought and extended rollercoaster of temperatures, the garden is shining bright and looking lush and lovely, no jokes about it.
It has been a stellar year for the bright red amaryllis, shown above. I have been digging and dividing many of the clumps about the garden but didn’t make it to this clump one prior to the bulbs sending up flower stalks. I have to say: I am glad I hadn’t divided them yet, as it is so amazing to see 40plus amaryllis blooms all at once!
After losing more than 100 antique roses to Rose Rosette Virus, I swore I would never again plant another rose. And then… I went to The Antique Rose Emporium’s fall rose festival in 2023 and…
I should have seen it coming.
It was right there in the name.
Twice!
Rose Emporium.
Rose Festival.
Yes, I bought three roses. One of those roses – Roemer’s Hip Happy – was selected because it produces an abundance of rose hips, which I want for herbal teas. Roemer’s Hip Happy (shown above and below) happens to be sandwiched between two clumps of red amaryllis. A very cheery color and texture combination.
Two of my original roses – the few that somehow avoided RRV – are especially lovely today, April 1st.
First up: Marie Pavie, shown below, is loaded with delicate soft pink blossoms.
One doesn’t normally think of roses when they picture pollinator friendly plants, but the bees were enjoying Marie this morning, shown below.
The second rose that avoided RRV is currently the focal point of the front flower bed. (Shown below)
I am still working to verify her name, but I am 99.5% certain she is Marchessa Boccella. The fragrance is outstanding! Classic old damask rose scent. Isn’t she lovely?
Another plant that is shining bright today is an unknown clematis, shown below. Yes. I have a lot of unknown varieties of plants in the garden. Keeping good records is no laughing matter! It is a skill set that I do not seem to possess. I plant here and there and everywhere, sometimes recording plant names, sometimes not. I have gardened this piece of land for 30 years now. A green thumb, I think I can say I possess. Organizational skills, I do not have.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. A unknown clematis by any other name would be as lovely.
On a serious note: Rabbits.
Those adorable fluffy little evil rodents with an affinity for locally sourced organic veg.
Peter Rabbit, shown below, is all cute and adorable, amiright? Alas. I have turned in to Mrs. McGregor, trying to keep Peter and his siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles out of my garden. For years, I scolded my dog for chasing the rabbits. But it has come down to Rabbits Versus Me Growing Green Beans. I now cheer my dog on, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, for I don’t know I am prepared to deal with the aftermath if she actually catches a rabbit! (Full disclosure: My dog did “clear out” a nest of baby bunnies earlier this spring. And by “clear out,” I do mean she, um, yeah. It wasn’t pretty. I felt really awful. For about five minutes. Then I remembered It is Me Growing Green Beans Versus Rabbits.)
Growing food is no walk in the park. Yes, it is highly rewarding; I have been savoring fresh picked mulberries the past few weeks as I watch the tomatoes get taller and sturdier and setting flowers. Homegrown tomatoes are on the horizon! But it is an endless battle between rabbits and squirrels and who knows what else visits my garden overnight. You win some and you lose some and you learn not to count your chickens before they hatch. And yet! I am eyeing the blueberries…
And the pomegranates…
And the figs!
Will I get a harvest? Or just be pranked?! Stay tuned for updates… But until then… One last photograph of my amaryllis because… Well, aren’t they lovely?! (Overheard shot, shown below)
All photographs taken today, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in my Southern Denton County, Texas, suburban garden.
the melodious garden 