April Garden Blogger's Bloomday

Rhododendron laramie had started to open it's flowers before the temperatures dropped, they might have been flattened by the snow if not for the fact the plant is tucked up next to some bamboo which kindly bent over and protected "laramie" from the weight of the snow. I wondered if these Lupinus rivularis buds would break open for this Bloomday, but the cold appears to have slowed down their progress.
Buds on my peony (Itoh peony, Paeonia 'Smith Opus') don't appear to be phased in the slightest by the cold, the foliage has mostly recovered too. 
Oh, and while it looks to be sunny and warm in these photos, it was actually 48 degrees and I was outside in between showers and hail storms. I guess I shouldn't complain though as the snow they said might return has not materialized.

Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’
Still going strong despite being flat on the ground Monday morning.
I looked and looked, sure that I could find a Magnolia laevifolia bud that had opened. Nope.
The Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae blooms are all at a jaunty 45 degree angle...
The Epimedium 'Amber Queen' blooms wisely waited until after the snow to open.
They're putting on quite the space invaders display.
Arisaema ringens is one tough character.
And freaky too!
I caught this moment a bit later in the day and it's too good not to share. That's Arisaema ringens surrounded by new growth on Epimendium wushanense 'Spiny Leaf Form'—lit by the sun.
Daphniphyllum macropodum
Seeds not blooms, but cool! Fatsia japonica 'Murakumo Nishiki'
There's something about the way the Nolina 'La Siberica' is folded around the Loropetalum chinense 'Sizzling Pink' that makes me think of an octopus.
Loropetalum chinense 'Sizzling Pink', close-up.
My second and third Daphniphyllum macropodum; solid green in the background, variegated in the fore. Interesting that with three plants I didn't appear to get any females as I've never had seeds set.
Stachyurus salicifolius...
Common name, willow leaf spiketail.
It's a good plant.
It's not blooming yet (obviously), but this fabulous whorl on the Echium wildpretii was worth sharing.
Asarum caudatum
Asarum europaeum
Out in the front garden now, Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow'.
Epimedium x rubrum
Hmmm... heather some something, I'm going with Calluna vulgaris 'I Wish I Could Remember'. Who knows, that's probably actually new growth not blooms anyway. Ha! To quote my friend Patricia, "what I don't know is a lot"...
Euphorbia rigida is in it's final days of glory.
It's all flopping post-snow, and the new growth in the center is coming on strong.
Daphne x houtteana
Poncirus trifoliata
The new growth of Mahonia gracilipes is bright enough to be a flower.
Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony’
Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Hindwarf'
The foliage is murky muddy ugh, but the blooms are bright and clear.
Just a couple more photos, the tiny tiny blooms of Pittosporum divaricatum.
And the big bright tropical bloom of Aporophyllum Shirley 'Sun Cactus'—blooming in the basement garden. Hopefully temperatures will return to spring-like soon and the basement garden will be liberated to the outdoors!