Fertilizer Friday - April 30

Not only can't I believe the week is over, I can't believe the month is over! I'm looking forward to the month of May in the garden, that's when a lot of flowers in my front yard should start blooming. This time of year it doesn't take much to get me excited though. For example finding I didn't kill the Astrania that I accidentally dug into twice in the last month, a single leaf has come up again and this time I'll remember it's there. I was also happy to realize that both Autumn Sage (Salvia gregii) and Salvia 'Black and Blue' (Salvia guarantica) are coming back, both are borderline tender perennials here. I was disappointed that Echinacea 'Tiki Torch', Geranium 'Rozanne' and Clematis 'Henryii' didn't survive the winter. They should all have been hardy here and those were three that I really hoped would have returned, especially since none of them were cheap! The Salvias were inexpensive and in fact were both sold as annuals in the nursery I bought them from. Oh well, guess that's just part of the gamble we take as gardeners.

Getting back to things that made me excited was this Uvularia grandiflora finally, after about 5 years, bloomed! It's not quite as spectacular as I imagined, but still the fact that it bloomed at all makes me happy. I'm wondering if it was marked wrong and is a different type of Uvularia - any ideas?

Clematis 'Nelly Moser' seems to be up to her usual tricks. Just as I thought it was doing so well in its new spot, the vine is beginning to dry and the leaves turn yellow. This happens every year, although this year it has far more buds than usual. After reading about Nelly on other blogs I'm beginning to think it's a touchy Clematis that's disease prone.

Something interesting I found were these supposed Iris reticulata. The rest of the Iris reticulata bloomed in early Spring, these just sent up foliage. Now it seems as if a flower bud may be coming up. I planted these ones last Fall and they are all doing the same thing now.

Meadow Rue (Thalictrum) is still blooming. The Meadow Rue in the shade still just has buds.

Geranium endressii 'Wargrave Pink' has just begun blooming. This one reseeds everywhere, and seems to love the dry shade. It's hard to complain about a pretty flower that will grow in dry shade, so I usually let several of the seedlings grow.

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is a native perennial ground cover here. It dies all the way back in Fall and then in Spring comes up with these pretty white flowers.

Columbine (Aquilegia) is another reseeder that I would never complain about. I love how they are all different in my yard.

This Columbine popped up through the Hellebores.

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time each Friday. Visit Tootsie to join in or to see who else is "flaunting their flowers."