The Most Beautiful Time of the Year

Fringe tree and 'Blue Barlow' Columbines.

Pagoda dogwood on left, fringe tree and Full Moon maple on the right.

On the east side of the house, my ornamental trees are putting on a lovely show: The Pagoda dogwood (now called Swida alternifolia, a new name for this genus) on the left was in full flower a week ago, along with the Virginia Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus). The 'Blue Barlow' Columbines under the trees present a strong contrast to the color of the full moon maple near by.

Such beauty is short-lived, and now the dogwood is setting seed while the Fringe tree finishes its cycle of bloom. But, the progression of flowers continues with lots of other plants.

Yellow iris in front bed.

Yellow iris and blue Camassia on the left.

Front bed by the driveway.

 

The bearded irises started opening around the first of the month, and continue to delight. One of the things I love the most about irises is that deer won't touch them, and they do well in almost any kind of soil. The bi-color 'Blatant' is one of the earliest to bloom, and it's still going strong, joined by the imposing 'Victoria Falls' in the back bed.

The bed in front of the house hasn't offered much of a display this year--I dug up and separated the rhizomes earlier this spring--but the bed by the driveway made up for it with plenty of yellow blooms, and another patch of yellow iris with blue Camassia 'Quamash' on the west side is very pretty.

Bearded iris 'Victoria Falls' on the left and 'Blatant' on the right.

A bicolor iris, unnamed variety.

Iris 'Wine Festival'

 

We've had some good rainstorms this spring, a much-needed respite from last year's drought, so other shrubs and trees are coming into bloom now. The Salvia 'May Night' with the yellow flowers by the side of the house looks so nice.

 

Salvia 'May Night' with yellow Coreopsis on the west side of the house.

Both of my Ninebark trees are starting to bloom too: 'Amber Jubilee' on the west side, and 'Coppertina' in the Badlands.

Ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee'

NInebark 'Coppertina' in the Badlands bed.

Close-up of 'Coppertina'

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' which my sister Silvia gave last year is also blooming well under the Seven Son Flower tree in back. I can't wait to see what the coneflowers in the bed will do this summer--last year the deer ate almost every flower here, let's hope this year they'll find something else to snack on.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'.

Peony 'Coral Charm'

 

I transplanted the 'Coral Charm' peony that had been waning for the past couple of years in the front bed to the Herb bed last year. With the help of lots of fertilizer it seems to have recovered enough vitality to produce one flower this year. Not a great show, but perhaps the beginning of its recovery?

First flower of Peony 'Bartzella'

My other peonies are just starting to open up, I hope they'll be the stars for this month's Bloom Day coming up next week. I hope my flowers last long enough to have plenty to show then!

The Merry Month Of May

The garden east of the house.

A closer look.

 

The merry month of May launched with some much-needed rain in the last two days of April, but the following cloudy, drizzly days have brought very little additional rain thus far. Still, the rain was enough to help the emerging foliage--my Japanese maples in particular appreciated it.

The flower beds to the east of the house are really starting to shape up into a lovely display with the pink-tinged foliage of the full moon maple 'Shirawasanum' on the right, the deep red of 'Bloodgood' beyond, the pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) in bud, the dwarf  Virginia fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicum) and Rhododendron  'Southgate Brandi' in the background. The dark purple flowers of the columbines 'Blue Barlow' growing underneath are starting to open.

 

Virginia fringe tree and Rhododendron in flower.

 

Earlier in the spring I re-edged all of the flower beds to the east of the house, and re-planted the Hakonechloa grass (Hakonechloa macra) closer to the front of the bed, in hopes that it will spread and make a better show.

 

Hakonechloa grass with hydrangeas.

Moving on to the back yard, the iris bed I dug up last fall is showing some blooms, though it will take a couple of years for the rhizomes to re-grow and bloom as profusely as before. These are the most perfumed of the irises that I grow.

Old-fashioned iris from my mom's garden.

My iris 'Blatant' had not bloomed for a couple years after being attacked by a beastie who ate some of the rhizomes, but it's blooming again this year. My other irises in the front garden are also blooming, just starting their seasonal display. I bought two new varieties last year, but thus far, neither is showing any buds--perhaps they are later blooming varieties, or just haven't grown long enough, who knows?

 

Iris 'Blatant'

Irises along the front walk.

White iris.

 The clematis that my sister Bea gave me is blooming beautifully. The two lilacs near the clematis haven't bloomed very much this year--too dry or too early for them, perhaps?

Clematis

The pale lilac Dutch iris have opened up, as has the red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler.' Our first humming bird sighting took place on April 25--the earliest date since we've been here--feeding on the honeysuckle! The males are the first to begin their migration north in the spring, and it was surprising to see two or three males buzzing the flowers together--normally they are solitary birds. These little hummers were probably heading to Canada and parts far, far, north; they travel amazing distances alone rather than in flocks, unlike most other birds.

Dutch iris.

 

A new acquisition, a red carnation, went into the expanded bed on the west--the plant looks a little beat up at the moment, hopefully it will settle in soon. I haven't finished planting this bed yet, I plan to put in the anise hyssop I'm growing from seed there along with some bee balm.

 

Red carnation.

Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)

After digging up the Spanish bluebells under the Zelkova tree last fall, separating and re-planting them, I 'd hoped for a better display, but the deer attacked the foliage and buds earlier in the spring, so I didn't get as much bloom as hoped for. Next year I must cover this bed with some sort of netting--the Muscari on the perimeter was also chomped down--such a shame!

 

New natural garden decoration.

Above is a new garden decoration--I found this weird-looking twisted juniper wood stump in the back woods a couple of years ago and wanted it for my garden, but wasn't able to detach it from the ground then. Last winter during one of my forays, I tried prying it again and it came out easily. Perfect to decorate the Herb bed! I planted some sedum and moss in it, and still have one pocket left for a succulent, maybe some hens-and-chicks or Crassulas?

 

Red Columbines

One columbine I planted in the back bed survived and is flourishing--I think it may be a dwarf variant of our native columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). But I also planted seeds of the native variety here a few years ago, and this could be one of them, it's hard to tell. I have another set of seeds of the native variety sprouting this year. Hummingbirds love this plant.

Yesterday my husband asked me how many trees I'd planted since we bought this property, and after counting, I was surprised to realize that we've planted thirty-six trees in our less than half-acre plot! That count doesn't include the shrubs like Viburnums, beautyberries, hollies and hydrangeas, or the cherry tree and arborvitae that were already here when we bought the house. Some of my trees will stay small in scale, but some will get much larger eventually--I'll post something about my trees soon: quite a few are exotic, and some of my natives are unusual, you don't see them planted in gardens very often.

More flowers to come on May 15's "Bloom Day," the peonies and roses are starting to bud.

Peonies, Roses and More

Itoh Peony 'Bartzella'

Bartzella

 

Late May is such a wonderful time of the year for flowers! Peonies, roses, clematis, azaleas, wildflowers, just about everything seems to bloom at this time of the year. After the recent rainy spell, my garden looks fabulous! That is, as long as you don't look too closely at the weedy lawn.

My peonies put on  a gorgeous show this spring: the yellow Itoh 'Bartzella'  produced seven huge, dinner-plate size blossoms. 'Duchesse de Nemours' is so heavy with blooms that even with grow-through wire supports, the recent rains broke off a few stems. The perfect excuse to cut and bring them into my house to fill a vase for sketching.

 

Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours'

'Duchesse de Nemours'

The pink peony in the front bed by the driveway was the first peony I planted in my garden, and it has been putting on a show since then. Peonies are long-lived plants, and usually bloom in greater profusion every year if they're happy in their location.

 

Pink peony in front bed.

 

Pink peony, alliums and shrub roses in bed by driveway.

Shrub rose 'Petal Pusher' with blue Fescue and yellow alliums.

 

The sunny bed by the driveway with the pink peony is fuller this year with yellow alliums, and the roses are now starting to bloom. I don't recall the tufts of blue fescue grass blooming so profusely before, they are stunning this year!

 

Red 'Double Knockout' rose by the front walk.

Ground covers by the front walk.

The red 'Double Knockout' rose by the front walk is lovely with its first flush of bloom, and will keep on blooming until the first frost, if not as profusely--I only wish it had some perfume! The rest of the ground covers and shrubs along the walk are lush too; the Persian carpet effect I wanted here is coming together nicely. The blue-green foliage of woolly thyme and Juniper contrasts nicely with the yellow-greens of the sedum 'Angelina' and a miniature golden Hinoki false cypress, and the fresh green of Greek oregano, accented with the clump of magenta pink dianthus flowers.

Clematis 'Etoile Violette'

 

My clematis 'Etoile Violette' took a beating last year when the climbing rose 'New Dawn' was blown down off the porch pillar during a storm. The rose had to be pruned back severely, which I don't think hurt it any. This year it looks as if 'New Dawn' will bloom a bit later, so the two will not coincide. I like the color combination of these three plants: the deep purple clematis with a golden Hinoki cypress and a dwarf Colorado blue spruce. 

 

East garden in the evening.

Moving along the east of the house, three Japanese maples provide shelter for shade-loving plants like the Rhododendron and two azaleas. The photo above was taken last week, the one below a few days later. The Japanese maples are a red-leaved 'Bloodgood', a full-moon maple 'Shirasawanum', and between these two, a small-leaved one I grew from a seedling found in the grounds of the office building next to the one I used to work in.

Same bed in morning light, pagoda dogwood on the left, fringe tree on the right.

'Blue Barlow' columbines with Fringe tree and Japanese maples.

 

The Virginia Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginianus) and Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) blooming at the same time with the columbines really made this area of the garden sing this year. The great blue Lobelias are spreading all over this bed, competing with the 'Blue Barlow' columbines. Later in the year the Lobelias will cover the bed with their blue spikes of flowers.

 

Dutch iris, 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle and double flowering Quince

In the back yard, the deep blue Dutch iris sets off the honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' while the double flowering quince continues to bloom in the long island bed. In the same bed, the elderberry 'Black Lace' and other plants bloom, waiting for the Asian lilies to make their entrance.

Clematis 'John Warren'

Elderberry (Sambucus 'Black Lace')

Pentstemon 'Electric Blue'

Foxglove Pentstemon

Last fall I transplanted one of the foxglove Pentstemons to the Herb bed and another to the back bed, where they are flourishing. Meanwhile, the Badlands shine with the same foxglove Pentstemons and the blooms of 'Coppertina,' a ninebark tree (Physocarpus opulifolium 'Coppertina).  The deer eat this shrub back every year so it doesn't seem to get any bigger, but they seem to have stopped devouring my other ninebark tree, 'Amber Jubilee' in another bed, allowing it to produce its first blooms this year.

Ninebark tree 'Coppertina'

Ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee'

I'd forgotten to show you my 'Kousa' dogwood, which has more blooms this year, despite the ravages of the 17-year locusts last year.

 

'Kousa' dogwood in back bed.

I can't wait to see what marvelous new blooms the season will bring forth soon!