Mid-May 2013 Blooms

In this last week of May, I admit to having posted nothing for an entire month.  Let me remedy that by showing off what was happening in my yard two weeks ago.

I'll start with the annual disappointment:  clematis.

 

Why are these disappointing?  Well, this color is not particularly showy, as far as clematis go.  I've tried others over the years, but I can't keep them alive.  I think this one came with the house. Why else are they a failure?  The three blooms, plus the foliage (about 4ft off the ground) are the full extent of blooms and foliage for this plant.  That's it.

 

Moving on to happier plants, here's the baptisia in the terrace garden (straight-up Baptisia australis, no cultivar), in not-quite full bloom.  I love this plant, but have trouble photographing it to its advantage.

 



I planted the baptisia about four years ago (maybe five...).  Three plants, which have all thrived.  It's making babies, too, but they tend to sprout in the veggie garden where they obviously can't stay.  So I still have just the original three.

Here's a columbine in the "neglected terrace bed". 

Of all the columbines, this one has the largest flowers and the most upright blooms.  I think it is also the smallest plant.  I don't know how it does that.

Over on the patio, my jumble of plopped plants is taking over. 

Virginia sweetspire and penstemon blooming, along with Echinacea foliage.  Together, these plants have managed to outcompete the columbine and obedient plants that once shared this space.  The original penstemon was "husker's red", but its offspring are sometimes not red.

Also on the patio, some Wisteria "Amethyst Falls" in a pot.  Year three, and I still don't have the trellis it was intended to grow on.

Around to the front yard, now.  Mid-month, the peonies were just starting to open.

Along the front walkway, coreopsis blooms among the old daffodil foliage.

In the lower front border, two types of catmint and an iris.

That's "Walker's Low" on the right, and an unidentified passalong plant on the left.  Quite a difference in growth and flowering habits.  (Can't see the iris in there?  It's all the way on the right, also purple.)

Mid-month, the Kousa dogwood was still a bit green, but showy.  It is full-white now.

Along the driveway, blackberry flowers promise tastiness to come.

Other mid-may blooms, not pictured: more columbine (purple and A. Canadensis), geranium, bearded irises, viburnum, Centaurea, rue, strawberries, Tradescantia, hellebores.

January 2013 Blooms: Unseasonable

Before I post February Blooms, let's go back and look at what was happening in mid-January:

What's blooming in January?  Nothing "seasonal", that's for sure.

First, the rue has never stopped blooming:

Along the curb, this anemone is determined to be the first "spring" bulb to bloom.  Not crocus or snowdrops, but anemone.

Over in the side yard, what is this oddity?

Yep, a single dogwood bract.  In January.

 I think my "everbearing" strawberries have taken their name too literally.

Finally:  not a bloom, but noteworthy in this unseasonal post.  The weeping Japanese maple is still holding onto its leaves.  What a wierdo.

Almost Summer

I picked a mess of peas today:

It is so hot, the vines are nearly done. My experimental row of direct-sown seeds isn't going to amount to much, I'm afraid.

I brought the peas to a picnic this afternoon. They didn't last long.

Garlic scapes are ready now, too:

I'd wanted to bring garlic scape pesto to the picnic, but the day got away from me. On the agenda for tomorrow.

The girls and I had a nice picnic in the sculpture garden, though it was very crowded for the first jazz night of the season. A thunderstorm eventually chased us away, but I got home to find total dryness. Boo!

As I took a late-evening walk around the yard, some of the plants seemed to be glowing. The neon-yellow of the Oenothera missouriensis is much more palatable post-dusk:

Nearby, the kousa dogwood lights up the back corner of the house:

And in the front, the shrub rose does the same for the other corner:

I see the daffodil foliage is finally succumbing to the heat.

It's about time: I have things I need to plant there.

In the side garden ,the first daylily opened today:

I also saw my first fireflies (they're not very photogenic). Summer's here!

Happy December!

December First. The first day of meteorological winter. And my kousa dogwood is celebrating ... by blooming?

May Blooms

(or, Procrastination Pays)

The fifteenth of May, time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. I'm glad I made my Iris post yesterday, as the iris are done today. just a few purple ones left.

Meanwhile in the garden, shrubs and trees are blooming. Here's the Kousa dogwood, aglow in the side yard:


The Virginia sweetspire that I got as a twig last year is blooming, too:


Several flowers have appeared in the last several days. Here's goatsbeard, blooming in front of Amsonia hubrichtii:


Gaillardia:


Here are the mini blooms of the white rose in front:


And the rootstock of the dead rose in the side yard. The rose was dead before I moved in, so I never knew what it was. But I like the simple red flowers that remain:


All this has been a teaser, my peony is the main attraction today:


The geranium has been blooming for a while, but it is so cheery I have to include it here:


And the Centaurea montana is hanging on:


I have edibles blooming, too. Here are the peas (yay!):


Even the back alley is full of blooms. Honeysuckle is pretty uncontrollable here, but this time of year I don't mind, it's scent is intoxicating:


I don't know what this is, blooming outside my neighbor's fence, but I like it:


And on the other side of the alley, another unidentified flower:


Now, to address that subtitle, Procrastination Pays. I took most of these photos this afternoon, but didn't make the post then. Then, when I was cleaning up at sunset, I saw a new flower, Missouri Primrose, blooming for the first time this year:


I hope your May is full of blooms, too!