Dave's Garden - Spring '08
There's a period spanning about six weeks from late April through the end of May that I walk through the garden and say "it can't get any better than this." The striking new leaves of hostas, ferns, and Japanese maples, complemented by the thousands of flowers create a magical scene. 
However, a garden this size requires a lot of preparation to reach this point. Almost every free hour in March is spent removing leaves and debris from the beds, cutting back spent perennials, removing Winter weeds, and cleaning ponds. It's nasty, sometimes muddy work that sometimes seems like the end is nowhere in sight. And then, on a warming Saturday morning late in the month, you look around and see that everything is good again.
'Ivory Silk' Lilac
Ivory Silk is a tree lilac, meaning that once it is pruned to grow as a single trunk tree it will retain this shape without having to remove sucker growth from the base that other lilacs would have. The creamy white, fragrant flowers cover the tree in mid season. The shape of the tree is similar to the flowering pears, a tight growing upright oval. I have found no pest problems wth this tree, and I consider it a "must have" in the garden.
Encore Azaleas
I haven't been a big fan of azaleas until I planted a dozen or so varieties of Encore azaleas as a test of hardiness prior to their release to the public. Most azaleas have a short period of bloom, and without ornamental foliage they don't contribute much to the landscape when they're not flowering. I have selected the best repeat bloomers from the Encores, and I've been very pleased with their performance. Even though they don't bloom as regularly through the Spring, Summer, and Fall as they do in the Gulf Coast states they make an impact in the garden in two seasons with Spring and early Fall flowers.
Stellar Pink Dogwood
Native dogwoods, Cornus florida, typically bloom in early April before they develop leaves in our area. They are a wonderful tree, with outstanding flowers, red Fall foliage, and red berries that often persist after the leaves have dropped. I have several native dogwoods that I have planted in the garden, and a few that nature provided at the margins of the woodland. However, Cornus florida can be an ornery tree. It can be difficult to transplant, and it suffers from a number of disfiguring, though rarely fatal, foliar diseases.
Until recently, the primary alternative was the Chinese dogwood, Cornus kousa. Kousa dogwoods flower after the leaves have developed in late May or early June. Kousa dogwoods can't decide whether they want to be a large shrub or small tree, and are often multi trunked or very low branched. When they bloom they're an impressive tree, and they aren't harmed by any of the maladies of the native dogwood. In addition, in late Summer they develop large red fruits that often persist after leaves have dropped if the birds haven't plucked them.
With intentions on improving on the native dogwoods, researchers developed crosses between the florida and kousa varieties. Stellar Pink dogwood is one of the crosses introduced by Rutgers University. Stellar Pink, and other Rutgers hybrids, bloom in late April or early May. They are fast growing and very resistant to the pests that trouble the native dogwood.
Stellar Pink is a bit of a misnomer in our area, as any heat in the Spring will inevitably make the flower color almost white, with only a trace of a pink blush. I have seen Stellar Pink bloom in Oregon which has cool, rainy Spring weather, and the blooms are pure pink, but in the mid-Atlantic region we will almost always get enough warm weather that the flowers will be mostly white. Regardless of flower color it is an outstanding tree.
Japanese Iris
There are many varieties of iris, but I'm partial to the Japanese Iris, Iris ensata, because it grows in the shallows of my ponds. It will grow on dry ground as well, but it slowly spreads when planted in gravel in several inches of water, and it softens the edge of the pond. I have a number of different varieties, and they're all great, especially the variegated leaf Japanese Iris. The bloom is farily short lived, but the foliage stands firm through the year and works well in mixed perennial beds.
Flaming Silver Pieris
'Flaming Silver' is one of the varieties of Pieris, or Andromeda, featuring red new growth. Pendulous early blooms announce the start of Spring, and later in the season the foliage makes a colorful statement in the garden. 'Flaming Silver' seems to attract lacebug in my landscape to a greater degree than other pieris varieties, but it deserves a bit of additional attention.
Ostrich Fern
I have a number of variety of ferns in the garden, including Ostrich fern shown here. Ostrich fern spreads through the shady garden, although it is easy to control if it grows out of its desired boundaries. It prefers damp shade, but I've found that it flourishes in good garden soil, even if dry.
Star Magnolia
'Royal Star' Magnolia stellata is the earliest of the deciduous magnolias to bloom, often beginning in late February. The flowers are sometimes effected by late freezes, but in my garden this has seldom been an issue. Saucer magnolias bloom a bit later and seem to be more susceptible to damage from late frost. The "Girls", Jane and Alexandrina bloom a couple weeks later and are rarely effected.
Clematis
I like to use Clematis to weave between other plants. In this photo a Jackmanii clematis climbs upward through a Domestica Nandina, providing color when the Nandina is only green. Since the Jackmanii is not overly vigorous there is plenty of space in this large Nandina for a white Henryi also.
I use the more vigorous Clematis rubrum to cover the lattice and raling of the deck, although it needs to be pruned several times through the year to stay within its boundaries.