Early Blooms in New England

• Photo/Art by Richard Brown

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  Gordon and Mary Hayward take a stroll amid the crabapple trees they planted in their Westminster West, Vermont, garden 15 years ago.

  

• Photo/Art by Richard Brown

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  Honey Sharp and David Lippman relax in the garden in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

  

• Photo/Art by Richard Brown

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  Woodland phlox create a beautiful ground cover in the Haywards' garden.

  

• Photo/Art by Richard Brown

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  Flowering trees -- redbuds, magnolias, and sand cherries -- vie for equal attention as they form a dazzling backdrop on the Silk/Emery Connecticut property.

  

• Photo/Art by Richard Brown

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  Tulips pack the biggest punch around the Silk/Emery terrace in Farmington, Connecticut.

  

Gardeners know winter really does end, and spring color always returns.

Pansies, daffodils, and forsythia commonly herald the vernal transition, but still other blooms also contribute to a stunning early-season display.

Here’s how three New England gardens host diverse plantings that strut their stuff in April and May.

Spring Bulbs

Garden designer and author Steve Silk loves to create lavish spectacles with bright-colored spring bulbs.

His wife, Kate Emery, shares his enthusiasm for eye-popping displays at their garden in Farmington, Connecticut. “We’re starved for color after winter’s monochromes,” Steve says, “so we’re not shy about using a bright palette.”

Each fall, Steve and Kate choose a different color scheme for the hundreds of tulips they plant. They strive to produce the most drama along the walkway leading from their driveway to a fieldstone terrace along the back of their Colonial-style home. One recent extravaganza featured yellow and fiery-orange tulips.

For photos and commentary, visit: clattervalleygardens.blogspot.com

Crabapple Majesty

The garden around Gordon and Mary Hayward‘s renovated circa-1770 farmhouse in Westminster West, Vermont, just north of Putney, relies on a sense of formality in its layout. An important aspect of this framework is an allee of crabapple trees. Serving as the entry into the garden, this symmetrical “orchard” invites visitors to enjoy a leisurely stroll.

In midspring, the crabapple trees they planted 15 years ago evoke an ethereal majesty when cloaked in their wispy blooms. “For me,” Gordon notes, “it’s an echo of my childhood growing up in an orchard in New Hartford, Connecticut.”