May Bloomers

This time of year is so delightful in the garden. There are lots of photos so I'm going to keep my words to a minimum. 

Clematis 'Ernest Markham'

New this year (on sale!) Clematis 'Dr. Ruppel'
In my opinion, it has much better better coloring than C. 'Nelly Moser'.

This is Linaria triomithophora or Giant Toadflax.
There has been some discussion on FB regarding its resurgence.
Annie's Annuals sells it
but I was honored to receive a clump from my friend Diana. I love it! 

The purple flowers bloom up the stem. Even before they bloom, the buds are interesting.

Pink Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima rubifolia) and Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

Variegated Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum 'Harlequin')

Weigela florida 'Variegata' is intensely fragrant on warm days.

And the bees love the flowers.

The first little blossom on Rosa 'Jeanne LaJoie'

Camas Camassia qualmash

Looking down...

Meadow Rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium)

Painted Daisy (Tanacetum cocineum)

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' Flower and buds

Dwarf Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) in flower

Geranium 'Elke' 

First flower bud on Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'

Here it is in full bloom! So fragrant.

Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) 

Euphorbia stygiana, purchased in the spring of 2014. It's now over five feet tall.

Here is a photo of the Euphorbia's flower. Not much to look at but, oooh, the fragrance!
The delicious, honey fragrance is far-reaching and stops me in my tracks.

Silene...blooming all over my garden right now.

It goes to seed everywhere but I don't mind.

Variegated Silene ~ Silene dioca 'Clifford Moor' has been in this pot for several years.
After experimenting, and finding every other situation unsatisfactory, I found that
growing it in a pot is the best option.
Even after the blooms quit, the foliage looks nice. 

Has anyone else been dealing with spittle bugs?

I wanted to show you a comparison. On the left is Mukdenia rossii 'Crimson Fans'.
On the right, Mukdenia rossii 'Karasuba'. Notice the drastic difference in leaf texture.
In my opinion, stick with 'Crimson Fans.'

The main reason I bought this Hellebore was for the fantastic leaves.
Helleborus x ericsmithii 'Ruby Glow'

Last week we had a hail storm. Check out the damage on my Edgeworthia chrysantha...

... and my Tetrapanax.

Does your Tetrapanax do this? Drop its smaller, outer leaves? It almost looks like a crime scene.

Stachys lavanduifolia is starting to bloom.

Hosta 'Pineapple Upside Down Cake' finally found a home
under my Sobaria. Now if the slugs will stay away...

Loving the bluish foliage on the Rosa glauca above the Lychnis viscaria.

The super-easy to grow and very long blooming Geranium pyrenaicum 'Summer Sky'
does a great job mingling in among the shade-lovers.

After going into shock from being moved from shade to sun a few years ago,
my Carpenteria californica is finally going to bloom.

My daughter's boyfriend brought us this bird's nest that had fallen to the ground.
I put it in this basket and added three green rocks. 

Wakey, Wakey!

The garden is starting to wake from its winter slumber and guess what that means. The gardener is responding accordingly. What a mess to tackle! 

Raise your hand if this looks familiar.

As I tackle the clean up nightmare, I'm moving plants. Several that got too big last year needed better placement. The soil is a bit muddier than I prefer for such an undertaking but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? 

Here's a few plants that don't look too bad, all things considered.

Hebe 'Shamrock'

I wish it would keep that pretty pink blush all summer but alas this is its fleeting winter finery.

I finally got a halfway decent shot of an Edgeworthia blossom. Why is this plant so challenging to photograph? 

Edgeworthia crysantha 'Nanjing Gold'

Thanks to a very mild winter, we're headed for an early spring! I usually start seeing Honeysuckle buds in early May but there are actually a few already forming. 

Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' 

And thanks to that mild winter, the foliage on Geranium palmatum is gorgeous! I'm really hoping it'll bloom for me, finally. I sowed the seed last winter and since it didn't bloom last summer it's going to be either a biennial or perennial. Time will tell.  

The older leaves are as flushed as the aforementioned Hebe, see?

Geranium palmatum foliage

But the new green foliage is equally captivating in its design and markings. I'm thinking that even if it doesn't ever bloom, it's an acceptable foliage plant. 

Geranium palmatum

And then with the Sobaria, we've also got a pink blush, but this time it's not on the older foliage but on the new foliage. 

Sobaria sobarifolia 

I love the bowing heads of the Euphorbias. They're fixing to bloom!

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae

Euphorbia x martinii 'Red Martin' (I think)

Crocus 

A very rare "hooded" Crocus waving to the camera (Smile)

Pulmonaria 'Reginald Kaye'

Observing deciduous plants breaking dormancy can be so delightful. It's really quite miraculous when you think about it. 

Ribes sanguinium 'Pulsborough Scarlet'

Ribes sanguinium 'Pulsborough Scarlet'

Thanks to the mild winter, all but one of my Clematis vines are budding out on their stems. Even the vitacellas and texensis species clematis that typically die back to the ground. 

Clematis 'Ernest Markham'

Ditto for the hardy Fuchsias!

Fuchsia magellianica

And, the Berberis is so bright and cheery! I love those bazillion tiny yellow leaves.

Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea'

Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea'

Finally, my daughter Beth and I went to the woods and dug up a fresh clump of native grass to pot up for our indoor cats. They love it. The things we do for our furbabies. The pot is almost too heavy to lift. I think I went a little overboard. But that's how I roll. 

"Cat grass" Yummy!

Please tell me you're seeing signs of spring in your garden too!