Finding Time For Blogging

It's a challenge right now, finding time to keep up with this blog. And it's nearly impossible to go blog visiting like I would like to. When will Science develop a pill so we can forego sleep and get everything done? There's just not enough hours in the day. 

Here's a little bit of what's happening in my garden this week. 

I bought bulbs of this Nectaroscordum last fall after admiring them last summer. They're unique and fun and the hummingbirds love them. 

Nectaroscordum siculum 

Allium nigrum is so reliable, blooming every spring despite my consistent neglect. 

Allium nigrum

I redid this area so I could showcase a lot of my small plants like Dianthus.

Dianthus ssp. 

There are several plants blooming there including this Lychnis I bought last year from Dancing Oaks. I really like the fluffy, double flowers. They're small--only about the size of a penny but they're vibrant and plentiful.  

Lychnis viscaria 'Splendens Plena' 

In one of my shady areas, this little gem is blooming right on time. It's been very reliable for me.

Melittis melissophyllum  

I love Astrantias! 

Astrantia major 'Ruby Wedding'

The Chinese Foxglove I purchased last year is blooming. The flowers have an exotic look. 

Chinese Foxglove Rehmannia elata

The Cannas are perfection right now. 

Canna Zantedeschia aethiopica 

The Violas are such reliable reseeders. I love their little faces.

Viola babies

Another volunteer is this snapdragon. The lesson: If we're too tidy, we miss out on all these little surprises. 

Volunteer Snapdragon

Such tiny flowers on this Baby's Breath.

Gypsophila repens 'Rosea' 

I purchased Bear's Breeches (Acanthus mollis) at least ten years ago. It has never bloomed and over the years the area where it's planted has become increasingly shady. Imagine my surprise a few days ago when I noticed three flower stalks jutting skyward! Blooming in deep shade? Really? COOL! 

Acanthus mollis

Here are the first and second flower stalks.  

Flower buds on Acanthus mollis 

Creeping Campanula amongst the throng

The Honeysuckle is intensely fragrant. I love it!

Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' 

I always have at least one vase of it in the house.

Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' 

I'm particularly pleased with this vignette:

Heuchera 'Marmalade' with Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'),
various Sedums and a few blooms of Geum 'Flames of Passion'.

This Spiraea is starting to bloom. 

Spiraea japonica 'Magic Carpet' with Sedum 'Angelina'
and a volunteer California Poppy.

Pink seeds are dangling all over this Japanese maple.

Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' seedpods 

While several of my ornamental grasses are not even knee-high yet, Stipa gigantea is already towering and beginning its fanciful blooming display! 

Stipa gigantica

Finally, I have to share this cool gift from my friend Carol. She knows how much I love rusty stuff. Thank you Carol! 

Cool rusty lantern! 

Happy gardening, my dear friends!

May? Well, That Escalated Quickly

"Slow down!" This is what I'd like to say, not just to the cars speeding down my street, but to Mother Nature too. I love this time of year and I don't want it to end too quickly, dang it. Each evening after work I spend at least an hour walking the garden paths, unwinding and looking for opportunities to putter and create. Even when I'm not in the garden, my mind is ruminating on ways to improve a little troubling scenario--which is code for "bare dirt." 

I've been taking lots of photos. Here are the highlights.

Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue' is actually the second rose to bloom this year.
The first is Rosa rugosa. I'm not sure why I didn't get a photo of it.
'Rhapsody in Blue' is now a really happy plant but started from a humble
cutting, a gift from my garden buddy Carol.
It has a fabulous fragrance.

Years ago I "rescued" two clumps of Pacific Coast Iris from the roadside.
After the initial culture shock, they settled in and now bloom reliably every year.
They're so delicate and sweet. But tough as nails. Kind of like me.  Ha, ha.

Antennaria dioica Pink Pussy Toes is a newbie this year. 
It's one of those plants that I look at and say, "Where have you been all my life?" 

Astrantia major ‘Ruby Wedding’ is just getting started. Whenever I see it,
I think of Scott Weber, the exceedingly talented Portland gardener, photographer
and proud new owner of Lil Sebastian. 

Incarvillea delavayi or Hardy Gloxinia is also a newbie I couldn't resist while
rummaging through the plant offerings at a local nursery.
It will go dormant in mid-summer.
Now, I want to buy its summer-blooming cousin, I. olgae. 

Heuchera 'Paris' has remained in this same pot since I bought it several years ago.
It blooms all summer and the foliage is nice too.
Definitely one of the most reliable Heucheras for me. 

I guess I bought a bunch of Allium 'Purple Sensation' last fall...

...because they're blooming all over the place.
Here, they're inter-planted with Phlox paniculata that will bloom in July. 

Camas (Camassia quamash) are just finishing up.
The native bumble bees really go for these native plants.
Makes me happy.

Melittis melissophyllum has really outdone itself this, its second year.
It makes me think of Barry, Canadian shade-gardener extraordinaire.
Thank you for introducing me to this lovely plant, Barry.

Phlox pilosa or as multi-talented Tennessee gardener Gail Eichelberger, likes to call
PPPP--Practically Perfect Pink Phlox is also all abloom.
Gail graciously shared this plant with me several years ago. Gail is awesome. 

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’ has really grown on me. It has seeded nicely all 
around my shaded pergola area so I guess you could say it has grown on me and the garden. 
 If I keep it watered, those sweet round leaves will make a nice ground cover all summer. 

I purchased Geranium ‘Birch Double’ last fall. It's not a rambunctious geranium 
but these flowers are so nice. 

Jacob's Ladder, (Polemonium caeruleum ‘Apricot Delight’) grows in a container under my patio covering. 
This way the rain and hail don't smash its delicate stems and flowers to smithereens. 

Verbascum 'Helen Johnson' is not delicate but top-heavy. It will
flop without a little help from mankind. 

I bought one plant of Silene robotii ‘Roly’s Favorite’ back in 2008.
One plant! 
I let it go to seed and its progeny have made themselves very at home in my garden.
The flowers are pink so, of course, it can stay. 

The progeny of Silene robotii ‘Roly’s Favorite’ grow much taller. 
Once they finish blooming, I'll cut the entire plant down to ground-level. 
It might put up a few blooms during the summer, otherwise just stay looking nice and green. 
For all these blossoms, it takes up very little garden real estate.

Speaking of pink, my Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolor’ is "blooming." This tree is also a gift from my garden
buddy Carol. It's in a pot. Eventually it's going to need a permanent home. 
I'm not going to think about that right now.  

Thalictrum aquilegifolium “Meadow Rue” has also seeded in my garden. 
Here is one of the offspring blooming with 
Weigela florida 'Variegata' blossoms in the background.

Last fall, I had to break the container to get my Mukdenia rossii ‘Crimson Fans’ out of it. 
I think it likes its new in-ground home. It's just starting to blush. 
If you look closely on the right, you'll see the blue-green foliage of a poppy volunteer
that I didn't have the  heart to pull out. 

I captured this photo just last evening. 
How perfect is the Japanese Blood Grass, (Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’)
with back-lighting from the evening sunshine? 

I am so proud of this artichoke plant. (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus)
I know they're "common" but these guys survived the record-breaking cold last winter.
I put a box over them which I'm sure helped but mostly I think they just wanted to live and make me happy.
They did and they do.
Behind it, against the fence is the winter-scarred Pacific Wax Myrtle. More on that later.

Rodgersia 'Bronze Peacock' is in its second year.
The leaves aren't very bronzy but there are no slug holes so it's all good.

Also in its second year, Syneilesis aconitifolia. Only three leaves. I'm so dang impatient. 
But at least it's healthy, right? 

The leaves on Parthenocissus henryana "Silver-Vein Creeper" make me sooooo happy. 
Because this guy is planted in a really shady spot, I wasn't sure if the "silver" veination 
would show up or if the whole leaf would look green. I needn't have worried. 

Brunnera macrophylla  ‘Jack Frost’ is another gift from Carol. Look at how robust it is this year. 

Beside the Brunnera is Hellebore 'Hot Flash' which I purchased for the foliage rather than the flower.
Underneath it is Oxalis crassipes.
Side note: The winter cold killed all my container plantings of Oxalis. (I had several.)
Fortunately the in-ground plantings were protected and survived. 

Sword and Lady Ferns, Fallopia (Polygonum cuspidatum ‘Variegata’)  and Lamium 'Ghost'
situated by my pond, under the Japanese maple tree. 

 Hosta 'Sum & Substance', Persicaria 'Red Dragon' and Aucuba japonica 'Gold Dust'
playing well together under the pear tree, with a few more pink Silene blossoms photo-bombing.  

Hosta 'Sum & Substance' looks better than ever this year.
This photo doesn't show how huge it is so you'll have to take my word for it.

Oh, almost forgot. 

Congrats to Eileen Hanley of Gatsby Gardens who is the winner of 

the random drawing for a copy of my book

Grace in the Garden. 

Thank you to all who entered.