May I Show You Some May Flowers?

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for May and we're transitioning into summer. How did that happen so quickly? The garden is bursting at the seams with color. Not quite like it does in June and July, but it's kind of amazing how many things are blooming when you consider how comparatively few we had last month.

So let me show you some of what I saw when strolling through the gardens yesterday:

Yes, there are still some tulips looking good in the garden. These were a purple and white mix I'd purchased at Lowe's last fall.

This Passiflora (cultivar unknown) spent the winter in the basement greenhouse, doing nothing but losing its leaves. Then about a month or so ago, it started putting out leaves again. How did it know that spring was going on outside, when it was inside?

May is Lilac season and my very favorite is this Syringa vulgaris "Sensation." I've got two of them, by accident. I'd gotten one in 2007, purchased after its bloom period was over. In 2008, I purchased another one and planted it before bloom time. When they both bloomed, I realized they were the same. Sometimes accidents turn out well!

Most of my peonies don't bloom until the first of June, but the Fern Leaf 'Rubra Flora Plena' (Paeonia tenufolia) starts off peony season in May. Next will come the tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa), then the herbaceous (Paeonia lactiflora).

The quirky, fluffy blooms of the Dwarf Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii).

I have never had the best of luck growing herbal rosemary, but this bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) does just fine for me. It's actually a heath, hardy to zone 3 and as you might guess, likes moist conditions.


My favorite of the annuals I'm growing this year is this Marguerite Daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens) in Madeira™ cherry shades. They're very much an attention-getter.

I learned about this Chinese Primrose (Primula capitata) from my mom and promptly went to Laurie's Naturescapes to get some for my own garden. I love the glaucous foliage and the lollipop flower form. It's hardy to zone 5.

The Pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) has been blooming in purple and burgundy for a month and is still going strong, but now it has some of its characteristic fluffy seed heads. I like these as much as the blooms.

Known as Silver Bells or Star of Nature (Ornithogalum nutans), this late spring bulb flowers with gray-green blooms.

Dianthus superbus 'Kawara Mix' self-seeds and its first bloom this season is from one of the results of self-seeding from last year, nearly two feet from the original clump.


I planted Anemone coronaria 'Harmony Mix' last year because the red, blue and white were so pretty. I knew they could survive our winters here in zone 5, but I wasn't counting on it. The white one made it, but the blue and red ones didn't. I purchased a new red one and blue one a few weeks ago, to give them another try.

Allium 'Gladiator' is in its third year here.

While it can spread vigorously, this Ajuga really glows in the spring garden. Its runners and resulting new plants are easy enough to tear out if they get out of bounds.

I've grown Centaurea montana for years, as well as the 'Gold Bullion' cultivar. This year, I added this 'Amethyst in Snow.'

Columbine is one plant that I never hear Romie complain about when I buy more - it's one of his favorites. This is 'Origami Red & White.'

There are many other things blooming, too numerous to mention. Let's just say that when I'm doing a walkthrough in the gardens, I'm humming, "Happy days are here again!"



Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is hosted each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Visit her website to see who else participates by posting photos of what's blooming on the 15th of the month in their gardens.