Well, I can’t believe that I completely missed the date for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. Especially given that May is one of the most flower-filled months of the year. So given that I am so late I will just hit the highlights without a lot of reflection. The Peonies are well into their cycle with the species peonies and tree peonies just finishing up and the intersectionals (Itohs) just starting.
Many of the garden standards like Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Bearded Iris, Roses, and Clematis are starting up.
One strong growing plant with wonderful foliage in the monument bed is Virginia Waterleaf. Based on last year’s aggressive spreading, I’m planning to cut this back after flowering and before seeds set.
Right behind the waterleaf is an Enkianthus which holds myriad little bells at the moment.
Also a bit uncommon and quite nice is the Indian Aster.
In the alpine bed and troughs there are lots of saxifrage and androsace in bloom.
But I continue to find the Lewisia particularly attractive.
My favorite flower in one of the large troughs right now is a very compact silvery dwarf harebell from Croatia that naturally forms a cushion of flowers.
Well that’s it for this month given that I am already a day late. What a glorious time of year!
May magic
The first week of May seems to represent some kind of trifecta of garden flowers, garden chores, and garden harvests. It is at this point where we get to see the fruition of some of the things that we labored on on last year and meanwhile we are tasked to prepare for the coming season. While admiring the Lewisia
which have come through the winter beyond my wildest dreams, I noticed that the hepatica are already seeding like mad and if you don’t grab those seeds now, then you never will.
This week has also involved tilling and planting the garden, mowing multiple times, hauling in more mulch and compost, and extending garden beds to accommodate our ongoing plant lust.
The strawberries look great but we added another 25 plants just in case.
I was happy to see the emergence of one of our Arisaema taiswanense.
The Arisaemas are typically very late in emerging but I was getting concerned that these had not survived the winter.
One thing that was an especially nice happening this spring is the first flower on a Gentiana acaulis that I’ve managed to root in tufa.
There are a lot of other special happenings in the garden right now, like the double flowered trillium
and the new Callirhoe
but I’m leaving for the NARGS annual meeting in Ann Arbor in the morning, so I need to finish packing up.
Let me just share some species peonies photos before I depart.
This last one is the first time for flowering for us. It’s a real beauty…