May Days

I've always been overly fond of the month of May, mostly because my birthday starts it off. But I also love it because it's just so darned pretty. It's such a lush and flowery month in the garden, full of gorgeous blossoms and fragrant scents. How can you not love it?

Here in central Ohio, May brings roses and peonies into bloom that tickle your nose with sweet scents as you walk by.

As the frost free date passes, it's time to fill containers.

The birds continue to frequent my yard. They especially love the branches of my climbing rose, and I often find them posing there. It sure makes for some fun photos. Soon I'll see more butterflies. They're just starting to show up here.

We've been lucky so far, with frequent rains to keep everything watered. Hubby and I both dislike the garden hose rodeo, so any time that rain does our work for us is a good day.

That leaves more time to simply enjoy the view. Really, isn't that the whole point of it all?

I sit outside most evenings with camera in hand, just waiting for something to catch my eye. I can feel my breathing slow, and my blood pressure go down.

These May Days are precious indeed.

Goodbye Garden, Hello Snow

I know it's November, but it's been a quick transition out of the gardening season! It was only a week ago that I spent a warm day out in the garden, getting it ready for winter. I'm so glad that I got my bulbs planted that day, because now my world is covered in snow and ice.

On that last garden day of the season, I also made sure to capture pictures of the final flowers for this year. It's hard to believe this was just a few days ago.

 There had already been several frosts at this point in time. But these were the troopers, those that continued to bloom despite the cold.

And where the flowers faded, the fall colors took their place. 

 Many times, the sun breaks through the clouds at sunset and illuminates my patio. I can't tell you how many times I've jumped up from the dinner table, grabbed my camera, and captured something special just outside the door.

Often times it's the sunset that catches my eye there. I wish there weren't other homes in the way of my view. I've been known to hop in the car and drive down to the pond to get a clear view if I see an extra pretty sunset coming.

I guess it's time to hunker down indoors till spring. Darn it, I didn't want to do that just yet! But I guess I say that every year. Hurry spring! Is it silly to say that when it isn't even officially winter yet?

What's Growing On Out There?

May is such a busy time for the northern gardener. We have lots of preparation and planting to do this time of year, but we are rewarded with the constant arrival of new blossoms. It's an exciting time of year for us! Let's see what's growing on in my garden this month. The lilacs are both in bloom, first the common ones, then the Miss Kim. Both are so very fragrant, but the Miss Kim is way more floriferous! My regular lilac bush is very small and has been for several years. Maybe someday it will grow.

I'm definitely enjoying the blooming of the the Chocolate Chip ajuga by the front walk. Normally it blooms in conjunction with the daffodils I've planted underneath them, and they look nice together. This year, the daffs came and went quickly, so the droopy stems don't really compliment the flowers beneath them.

Columbines are so easy to grow, these red and white ones seed themselves all over the place. The red doesn't really go with everything else in this area, but they don't bloom for long. I tried to remove them last year, but they had other ideas. The purple double columbines would be welcome to spread themselves around, but they don't do that. Figures.

The Kousa dogwood hasn't always been a favorite around here. It doesn't bloom reliably, and never gives me nice fall color. But one doesn't just dig up a healthy tree, so I deal with it. Maybe someday I'll get the nerve to just take it out and replace it. Maybe a Serviceberry would please me more. The bracts are starting to show, so I see it is going to have a good blooming year. But even so, it never blooms as prettily as a standard dogwood.

My alliums have popped up all over the place. I'm pretty sure I planted more this past fall, and I'm glad I did. They are like exclamation points for the garden!

Doublefile viburnum is looking its best this year, and you'd think it was a lacecap hydrangea if you didn't know better.

I particularly like the tapestry under my front dining room window. In this photo, you'll see Jack Frost brunnera, Silver Beacon dead nettle, and Starry Night violas. The dead nettle spreads itself around like crazy, but it's easy to rip out any extras. The brunnera and violas are great at reseeding themselves, but in a mannerly way.

I'm not exactly a hosta fan, and recently dug out a bunch of them to give away. However, there is one hosta that I love, called June. I think it's the only hosta that made me say "Wow" when I first saw it. It looks particularly lovely covered in raindrops.

Heucheras are another plant that most gardeners love, but don't really thrill me. I do have one, and it's the traditional, original, all green model, more commonly known as Coral Bells. This one I approve of, and so do the hummingbirds.  Yes, I know the purple and red are clashing. It's okay, the ajuga blooms will fade away soon.

The first rose to arrive is always Funny Face, a vigorous shrub rose that will bloom like mad all summer. I like that in a rose.

There was a surprise waiting for me out by the clematis lamp post. I wasn't expecting any blooms for awhile yet. Hmmm, seems to be the clematis that I tore out last year and replaced. Guess I didn't get all the roots. Oh well, it can stay. I don't think I could ever separate it from the others anyway. I remember it was called Clair de Lune.

My favorite surprise this week was a beautiful fragrance on the air one morning. I went about my business, wondering what it was when I realized that the iris must be blooming! I hurried to the back yard and found these lovelies. Now that's a real beauty.

See what I mean? There is so much going on out in the garden this time of year. Every day is a wonderful surprise!