"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Friday, May 15, 2009

May Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

May seems to be the beginning of non-stop flowers in my garden.  It seems like so much is blooming right now and so many plants are full of buds getting ready to burst open.  Going out to take pictures for Bloom Day was exciting, not only seeing what is blooming, but what's yet to come.  I notice as I take pictures for the current Bloom day I'm making a mental note of what will be blooming the next month.  
But for now, I'll just enjoy what I have blooming today:

Lots of Columbines.  Lots!  Spanish bluebells are blooming in the background.

  This is one I bought a couple of years ago, but I don't have the tag anymore.  It is pretty short compared to most in my garden.

One of the many that have reseeded.  There seems to be a lot of purple in all sizes and shapes.

Bunchberry (cornus canadensis) is having a great blooming year.  It was slow in establishing, but it's spreading and blooming a lot this spring.

Coral Bells (heuchera) 'Firefly' is a hummingbird magnet.

Jacob's Ladder (polemonium) This one doesn't seem to have the grape smell, but it could be because it was wet from the rain.  This is a short variety with smaller flowers.  It doesn't reseed like my more common ones.

Weigela 'Minuet' is covered in blooms.  The hummingbirds love this one and I love it because it will stay small.  It's a very slow grower.

Deutzia 'Pink Minor' is just beginning to bloom.  I love the pale white and light pink flowers.

Syringa vulgaris 'Ludwig Spaeth' smells so good!  Most of the blooms are at the top like most of the lilacs I see around here.  Is there a trick to get them to bloom lower down too?

Snowball bush (viburnum but unsure what type)  This has gotten so big!  The blooms on this are smaller than some, I think it might be because it's fairly shady here.   

Up close you can see the snowball flower is still light green, but it is beginning to turn white.

Other flowers currently blooming: pulmonaria going on month 4, hellebores just finishing, Bleeding hearts (dicentra spectablilis), Pink flowering dogwoods, other Jacob's Ladder, deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls', daphne 'Summer Ice', tiarella, oxalis and more.
Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what else is blooming around the world.
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32 comments:

  1. Lovely flowers. Here it almost only tulips right now. Im longing for the smell of the syringa. Have one in my garden, a mix of an white and an purple.

    Greeting from Sweden

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  2. I like the Snowball bush. I like it green but well ... I haven't seen it white. Are they prettier in white? I like your white fence (or what do u call it?) in the first picture.

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  3. Beautiful May Blooms! I like the columbines. Happy GBBD!


    -Cathy

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  4. Nice photos Catherine. The snowball bush is lovely. Your weigela is way further on than mine - and how I wish we had hummingbirds in England!
    Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog. See you again soon,
    Nutty :)

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  5. Lovely flowers what a pity we don't have your humming birds. The Viburnum is looking good.

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  6. Ok...so on top of columbine...add snowballs to the list of things we can grow here as well! I love the snowballs...they resemble hydrangeas...but they get much bigger. I love the lilac...I can just imagine the fragrance. I WISH we could grow them here...but oh well. Have great weekend Catherine

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  7. Your columbines are making me really plan to get organized and plant some seeds next fall (isn't that when they have to go in? I always forget and then it's too late in the spring!), they are so lovely and intricate. Great to see them up close as you have shown, and then further away with their backdrop. Your garden is just bursting at the seams! You have planned it so well for constant interest. I have the same issue with my lilacs, I think they maybe only bloom on new wood, I need to figure it out because they are getting too high up to sniff! If I figure it out, I'll let you know. Happy Bloom Day!

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  8. PNW gardens fascinate me. We're both zone 8, but the gardening is very different because of our summer heat.

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  9. You have a lot of things blooming in your gardens, looks so beautiful!

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  10. The snowball is such beauty! Love your columbines too. What a wonderful space you got there, Catherine! Your hummingbird magnets are cool too!
    Just curious... Are your lilies ready yet?

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  11. I enjoyed strolling round your May garden Catherine. It is such an exciting time of the year isn't it ? I think that your snowball is viburnum opulus. It's a gem :)

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  12. I really like your Columbines. It's also really nice to see the picture at the top of your blog where everything comes together. Truly beautiful.

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  13. Your gardens is absolutely bursting with color and beauty. I think we have the same taste in flowers because I love everything you have.
    Is the pink flower pictured under your white bleeding hearts in your right column of 'Now blooming in my Garden' another Columbine? It is so gorgeous, frilly and delicate. Beautiful gardens Catherine.

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  14. Wow!

    It's all just beautiful!

    Laura

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  15. Great blooms - I particularly like the Cornus canadensis

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  16. Just lovely! Your colombines are great-so diverse indeed. I am going to look for my purple seeds and even if I don't find any from last year, I'll soon have some this year-I'll send them your way! You have many of the same plants as us here in Tennessee. My blooms on my snowball bush are small too-too much shade for sure, but that's okay. The blooms are awesome anyhow! I like them green too. I'm with your other commenters, that lilac is awesome.

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  17. Love your columbines and Bunchberry. Happy Bloom Day!

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  18. Your columbine look vigorous and healthy, compared to mine which always seem sickly. They get leaf miner so bad. Sigh.

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  19. So much fun to see all your blooms. The bunchberry is my favorite. Everything is so beautiful. I hope you have a nice weekend.

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  20. Hi Catherine, what a divine group of May blooms. The pink deutzia was lovely, most of the photos I have seen are the white. You have both, a good decision. :-)
    Frances

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  21. You could sell tickets to your garden - I'd buy one!
    The greenish white viburnum is my favorite this month!

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  22. You are like a garden encyclopedia! I love it when you post the pictures and the names of the flowers, as I am learning about perennials.
    Your flowers are beautiful. Columbines are some of my favorites, as are lilacs.

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  23. Lovely pictures. Happy bloom day!

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  24. Yes, lovely blooms! I think the columbines are my favorites, but that snowball bush is cool!

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  25. Thank you for all the nice comments! I've been visiting all of you to see your blooms today! Happy Garden Bloggers bloom day!

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  26. You have a beautiful garden!

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  27. It's hard to imagine the lushness of the Pacific Northwest. But we do share many plants - except that I can see from all the blogs that I am going to get some Deutzia. Beautiful photos.

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  28. What a lovely collection! I am envious of your Weigela 'Minuet' as I planted it too but it did not survive my garden! Yours looks so happy and I am sure the hummers enjoy sipping those beautiful flowers. Love the Deutzia too! So glad to have found your garden!

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  29. How nice your yard must smell right now! I love the snowball bush when the flowers haven't finished turning all the way white yet. The greenish shade is so pretty!

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  30. Hi Catherine. What a great bloom day post. I love your assortment of columbines. You can never have too many of them, can't you? So many things to look at right now. It's my favorite time of year ~ the beginning of something new to look at every day! Have a great weekend.

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  31. Catherine, Do you have a secret about being able to have the hybrid columbines return each year to your garden?? I have one that made it this year and I'm excited to see who it is! Otherwise, I'm very successful with the native variety (Colorado's State Flower)! It's very colorful over your way!!

    I just read your comment at Kathleen's about your sister's finches having babies. Did you get photos?? What a wonderful treat! Has this happened before?

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  32. Shady Gardener - I really have no trick with the columbines. I think I'm just really lucky.
    I never got any pictures of the finches while they were little. Between the cage and the nest itself you could hardly see them in there. Now they are flying around like crazy and are almost adult sized.

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