Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day For May 2008 - A Little Late!

It's been a busy time here at Our Little Acre, both in the garden, with my running, and of course, the wedding of our younger daughter, Jenna. (I promise to post pictures of the wedding soon!)

The garden just seemed to explode as May came on the scene. It was as if it experienced a month's worth of growth overnight. Perhaps my memory of past springs is fuzzy, but this one has been one of the best I can remember. Things look so good!

Just look what's blooming!

I love Lewisia (Lewisia cotyledon), and added a couple more to the one
I already had in my garden. These are 'Sunset Strain'.


'Rainbow Mix'
They grow well in the rock garden on the west side of our house. My Lewisia probably don't count for actually blooming at this time of year, since they're new. The one I already had isn't even close. But they were so pretty, I wanted to show them off!


I also have many sedums in this same rock garden and they also
do very well. I'm not certain which one this is.

The pink Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis 'Rosea') is blooming right along with the white version, which is much more vigorous. It's amazing how the underground runners can wiggle their way under, around, and through things like brick patios. I'd never be without it, though. The scent is amazing.

I've got two pink Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) plants and I'm always charmed by their puffy hearts strung all in a row.


Mom gave me a start of these Buttercups (Ranunculus acris 'Flore Pleno') several years ago. I have to keep an eye on them because they can be invasive, but they're not too difficult to remove, as they spread by above-ground runners.


The perennial Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) is lush and strikingly white, especially at dusk.


The citronella-scented geranium (Pelargonium citrosum) that I bought at the Lilac Festival continues to bloom. We repotted it and it's absolutely HUGE!


Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris 'Clementine Salmon Rose')


English Daisy (Bellis perennis) I've got this red-tipped one, as well as a white one and a pink-tipped one, and the blooms are huge, as far as English daisies go. The ones I grew from seed last year, that were blooming in January, are also blooming now, with much tinier red blooms. In the end, only three of those plants survived the winter.


The Fern-leaf Peony (Paeonia tenuifolia 'Rubra Flora Plena') is opening. I posted a picture of the 'Sahohime' tree peony earlier, but with its 23 blooms nearly all open now, I'll post a photo of it in a future post. It's an amazing sight!

The Manchurian Violet (Viola mandshurica 'Fuji Dawn') surprised me by surviving the winter in its open wet location quite well, even though Bluestone Perennials lists it as only hardy to Zone 6. In fact, it was putting out blooms before I saw much foliage. It's looking better and better each day and I noticed new little sprouts all around it from last year's seeds that dropped.

11-23-07

Triumph Tulip 'Leen van der Mark' is one of the later tulips in our gardens. 'Elegant Lady' was a later one also, and in its first year here, I was disappointed in the paleness of its color. Just above a creamy yellow white with very subtle and sparse pink shading.


This unknown cultivar pink fringed tulip hangs heavy with rain.
It's one of my very favorites.


Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum 'Apricot Delight') has been a blooming machine, with its buds that appear in apricot hues, progressing to lavender as it opens.


I love the uniqueness of Primula vialli 'Miracle'.


Columbine (Aquilegia) has been growing here at Our Little Acre for as long as I can remember. This purple one is one of the originals. There's a white one, amauve one, and a pink one that have been here for a very long time, too.


Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain' got a little bit of a slow start due to the kitties using that flower bed as a litter box. (It kept getting buried.) But it's off and running now, and as soon as everything in that bed is large enough to fill the area with foliage, the kitties will stay out and I can remove the cloches, upside-down flower pots, stakes, rocks, etc. that I've got in there to keep them out.


Geum coccineum 'Cooky' is an early bloomer and has always performed well for me. It's one of the first things I planted in Max's Garden two years ago. It will bloom all summer long.


The Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) has grown to be quite large and I might have to do some moving of it or other things. It looks rather out of place where it is. I suspect it may be the larger variety (P. biflorum var. commutatum)


Heuchera sanguinea 'Firefly' is one of many cultivars here in the gardens, but is always the first one to bloom.


The Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Cardinal') is wearing its green twigs for summer, but will return to the brilliant red when fall's cooler temperatures are here. Now it's blooming big heads of white.


Others in bloom are:

• Alpine Rock Cress (Arabis alpina subsp. caucasica 'Snow Cap')
  
• Daffodils of various sorts (future post)
• Lilacs (future post)
• Epimedium
• Primula vulgaris
  
• White daisies (Don't ask me which ones, but they bloom early and they're small)
  
• Tall Bearded Iris 'Immortality' (a rebloomer)
• Tradescantia x andersoniana 'Sweet Kate'
• Anemone multifida
• Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
• Ornithogalum nutans
• Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'
• Brunnera macrophylla (green)
• Vinca minor
• Coreopsis auriculata 'Nana'
  
• Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Rubra')
• Ajuga reptans (not sure of the cultivar - maybe 'Bronze Beauty')
• Strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa 'Honeoye')
• Ornamental Strawberry (Fragaria 'Lipstick')
• Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei)
• Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum)

I'm sure I've forgotten a couple, and I didn't include the annuals blooming, but that's a subject for another post. But it's obvious that the gardening season in well upon us! (See me smiling?)