Garden Bloom Tour May 2015

It's already mid-May!  It seems like the past month has just flown by and in that time there has been a lot of transformation in my garden.  Some flowers that were blooming a month ago are gone now and others are still hanging in there.  The last of the tulips are slowly retiring for the year, the lavender is going strong and now other flowers and plants are just really waking up.  Let's take a walk through to see what's in bloom.

We'll start in the back yard with one of my faves, Coral Sunset peony.  This is its 2nd season in my garden and the second year that it has had just one bloom.  I need to assess its growing conditions to see if I can do something about that.

 This little bleeding heart got dug up by a squirrel; luckily I noticed it right away and was able to put it back.  It's been doing well ever since.

I don't know what this tiny flower is called.  I bought it last year and put it in a planter with a couple other tiny plants.

Last year my friend Katie gave me seedlings that she started in her greenhouse.  The snapdragons did wonderfully for me.  These overwintered and are just starting to bloom this year.  Unfortunately the foliage has some sort of spots on it but the flowers are doing great. I have fond memories of making the snapdragons "talk" in my grandmother's garden in Ronan, Montana.

Also from Katie are the two Columbines.  She got them from a friend and then when she had extras she gave some to me.  I love pass-along plants.

This is the first iris to bloom in my backyard.  I don't know its variety, I may have picked it up last year from a pile in a neighbor's yard.  Hopefully, blogging about my garden will help me keep better record of what I have and where I got it.  h.o.p.e.f.u.l.l.y.

One of my big box store rescue plants, this clematis is doing quite well.  I like to shop the clearance rack for good buys.  I try to choose plants that look like they will survive if they just get a little TLC.  Most of the time it has worked out for me and those that haven't didn't cost me very much. I got 2 of these and put them in different areas of the yard.  One plant is really starting to bloom, the other has just one bloom but the foliage is growing quite well.  Hopefully the flowers are soon to come. 

Clematis "Nelly Moser"

The last of my tulips are hanging in there.  The Elegant Ladies have been blooming for a couple weeks now. The drumstick alliums planted in the same pot are finally showing some buds, I didn't know they would come so much later than the tulips and was hoping to have had them both at the same time.  The weather has been swinging back and forth between showers and periods of sunshine for the past few days.  It has made for water droplets in some of my photos and gorgeous sunsets too.

Almost blooming are the Nigella damascena, known as love-in-a-mist.  LOVE them!  I've had the blue variety for about 20 years or so (they reseed a LOT) and about 3 years ago I saw some in magenta, purple and white so I collected the seed pods and added them to my garden.  Some people cook with the seeds: I haven't tried that yet.

Thank goodness I don't have veins like these beauties! Hirons Drugstore had 4" pansies 2 for $1 and I just couldn't pass them up. I got about half a dozen as fillers for pots, these are actually in a "window" box on the back fence. 

 Let's head to the front now to see what's blooming there.  On the way we'll see these little ivy geraniums that I potted up for a little splash of color.

Next up is this rhododendron that came with the house.  It has nearly been dug up at least a half dozen times in 23 years but each time it puts out some beautiful flowers and then I can't bear to dig it up.  It's a real small bush that will probably have only 8 blooms this year. It sits along the driveway near the other that was blooming last month.  What a statement they would make if they bloomed at the same time!

Don't know the name of this beautiful iris and quite frankly I don't even remember planting it in my garden. It has been here for several years now and is forming a good size clump.  Perhaps a bird gifted it to me from a neighboring garden?

Orange you glad to see poppies in the spring? They are still going strong!   I would love to get some pink poppies that grow as nicely as these but until then I will just keep enjoying the pop of color they add to my garden.

The California poppy is just starting in my yard but I see them all over town along the highways.

Another pass-along plant, this was gifted to me last month when my friend Aretha invited me over to see her V.E.R.Y. lovely garden and then started digging up plants for me to take home.  I got so many plants that day and most seem to be doing OK in their new home.  Thank you Aretha.  Oh, I don't know the name of this plant but I will find out soon. (Update: it's called astrantia) 

I picked up this hellebore at the Northwest Garden Nursery's open garden this spring.  It's the first in my garden.  I would have preferred a pink flower but by the time I got to the sale they were almost sold out and it was only about 2 hours after they opened.  I'll go earlier if I go again, I didn't know it was such a big deal. 

Winter Jewels(R) Cotton Candy Helleborus X hybridus '14

The forget-me-not is still blooming but it's starting to go to seed so I've been pulling some of it out.

My bearded iris are doing nicely.  I'm thinking of doing a post with just iris at some point so will just share 2 of them now.  The yellow one is called Melted Butter. It has not been a consistent bloomer for some reason.

Let's get some PURPLE. Scabiosa, lavender and camas flower.

Cusickii Camassia

This rhododendron came with the house.  This is a stellar year for blooms!  At one time the bush got quite large and I didn't like it covering up the window so we cut it WAY back and kind of started over with it.  Now I just try to keep it trimmed up each year to keep it in check. You can see my original iris bed just beyond the rhododendron.  (Update:  We removed this rhododendron in 2016 when we were preparing to paint the house.  I have new ideas for the front garden.)

I'm excited to have these foxgloves blooming this year.  I have tried them in the past and they never came back.  The flowers started out a little on the yellow side and then went pink.  I need to get out and try to transplant some of the many babies that are coming up all around the trio of blooming plants.

I am STILL WAITING for my passionflower vine to bloom.  It's been 3 weeks since I first noticed the buds and nary a one has opened yet.  This is my first time to grow the plant so I don't know its habits.

And lastly I will share this photo of what caught my eye as I was getting something from my closet yesterday morning.  The sun shone off these water droplets just so and my eye was drawn to it.  This honeysuckle should be blooming fairly soon and then it will be the hummingbirds that catch my eye in the morning. Looking forward to that! 

If you read this far I hope you enjoyed it!  You probably deserve special recognition for sticking it out with me.

I'm linking up with other gardeners to show what's blooming in May for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day with May Dreams Gardens.   

Thanks, and feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to know you stopped by.