May, the Fairest of Them All

Every month has something to show in the garden. Even the winter months have interesting textures to show us. But I find May to be the fairest of them all.

Flowers bloom in earnest, the weather warms, and the garden grows.

 Excitement builds as vegetables are planted, containers are filled, and annuals go into beds.

Plants are generally green and fresh, and insect damage hasn't yet become a problem. You just have to love it! 

 The harsh, dry summer weather seems far away at this point.  It rains and rains, and everything is so green that it almost makes your eyes hurt. Maybe this will be a wet summer, it's hard to say at this point. But usually, the rains stop around June and from then on, it's a battle to keep things watered. 

 Now one of my usual favorite parts of May is when the roses begin to bloom. That first flush of blooms is always the finest. But the sad news is that our harsh winter really did a number on my rose garden, as it did in so many other areas. I'm not sure when I'll see any roses this year, if any. It's disappointing, but I'm trying to take it in stride. I've done a lot of tweaking to my rose garden, discarding the dead ones, and also those that are under performers. When my rose garden comes back to life, the theory is that it should look better than ever. In the mean time, here is what it looked like in years past.

Maybe one of the reasons that I like May so much is that it's my birthday month, and is followed quickly by Mother's Day. I can't say that I mind the attention. And it does tend to start out my favorite month with a bang.

I'm sure that others could make a strong case for their own favorites, but for me, it will be always be May, the fairest of them all.

November in the Garden

Years ago, I thought that the garden season ended with the first frost. I'm so glad that I was wrong.

Now I know better, because a garden can actually be interesting year round. Every November, I am surprised to find flowers still in bloom, even after they have been kissed by a few frosts.

Tonight we are expecting a killing freeze, so that will be the end of the these last flowers. It's always a sad day for gardeners. It will take more effort to find the "interesting" that I mentioned earlier.

Soon the fall colors will fade, and much of the landscape will turn to shades of browns and grays. It's a tough time for color lovers like me.

The winter interest I mentioned will be the dried grasses and flower stalks left behind. That's why it's important to use evergreens in the landscape.

I have to say that some of my ground cover plants are nearly evergreen, like this Chocolate Chip Ajuga and the nearby Dead Nettle, or lamium. Honestly, the lamium often sneaks out a flower here and there even in January. That's why I let it go a little crazy out front. It's worth it.

The last tree to lose its leaves around here is the ornamental pear planted by the city in the easements throughout our town. I look forward to this sight every year. I've always called it my clown tree, because it has so many colors at once. But someone else called them The Skittles Trees, and I like that even better.

November in the garden, who knew?

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!

A Spring Chill

I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, there was snow today in the northeast! But I am not loving the spring chill. Brrrrr! We are almost to our frost free date, so I just wish the warmth would come back. So far, it hasn't stopped any blooms from arriving. The chocolate chip ajuga I featured in my last post has reached it's peak bloom. Right now it's like a purple welcome mat being rolled out from my front door.

 I use a lot of purple in the spring, especially out front. My Polish Spirit clematis is already blooming near the purple welcome mat.

Also peaking nearby is my double purple columbine. I love this one!

More purple tones are found on the creeping phlox. Some may say that these are over used. But they are so reliable, and bloom for such a long period of time. What's not to love?

I found more purple in the back, alliums starting to bloom....

chive flowers, and

iris! I wish I could put the scent into this photo. These iris are so beautiful that they don't even need to be fragrant. But they are. Ahhhh.

All is not purple in my garden. The red columbines love to seed themselves freely about. I don't mind, I just wish the purple ones would do the same.

Finally, my doublefile viburnum is in bloom. After three years, I had almost given up.

Miss Ladybug likes the viburnum too!

I've been watching the roses to see which bloom would show up first. As always, Funny Face will be the first arrival, if it ever warms up.

Now I'm not a big hosta fan, but there is one exception. I love this June hosta, and have given it a place of honor by the front door.

So chilly or not, my garden insists on blooming like it's warm out!