 |
| White bearded iris. |
 |
| Yellow iris. |
The 15th of the month is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's "May Dreams Garden" blog.
The month of May is so beautiful in the northern hemisphere, a gardener would almost wish it could last all year long, except that then we wouldn't appreciate it as much... to everything there is a reason and a season.
I love bearded irises because of the beauty of their regal flowers and easy care. Today some are already past their peak in my garden, but most in my collection are still blooming. The core of my iris collection was given to me by a lady at the Virginia Native Plant Society's booth at Garden Fest, a weekend-long plant sale at Blandy Farm, the Virginia State Arboretum, held every spring. The rhizomes she gave me weren't native of course, nor were they labeled, so I have no idea of the names of these varieties. Other varieties that I've purchased over the years have names, of course.
One of my favorites is the white you see above--its lovely pure white falls and standards have pale blue beards with weird little tongues on their ends. The pure yellow and the purple and apricot bi-colors are also lovely
 |
| Bicolor iris with red 'Double Knockout' rose buds. |
 |
| Iris patch along the front walk. |
Last year I dug up and thinned the old-fashioned variety that once grew in my mother's garden in Falls Church, so this year my bed is a bit skimpy, but there's still enough bloom to admire.
 |
| Mom's irises. |
A few years later I added two more varieties: the blue 'Victoria Falls' and 'Blatant', a yellow and wine bi-color.
 |
| 'Victoria Falls' and 'Blatant' in the back yard. |
My Virginia fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) is a dwarf cultivar, and it was spectacular about a week ago--there is still some bloom there. Underneath the columbine 'Blue Barlow' has spread nicely.
 |
| 'Blue Barlow' columbines under Virginia fringe tree. |
 |
| Foam flower (Tiarella) |
This clump of foam flower also grows under the fringe tree--I usually keep this one under a wire cage because the deer love to eat it, but I remove it to take photos.
 |
| Clematis 'Etoile Violette' with 'New Dawn' rose. |
At the side of the porch my "Dawn and Dusk" combination of clematis 'Etoile Violette' and climbing rose 'New Dawn' is about to launch its fabulous display of bloom. I need to find a way to re-train the rose back up on the porch pillar where it once was before a storm blew it down, but the rose is so huge and heavy now, it's hard to control. I need a suit of armor to get in there to prune it!
 |
| Elderberry (Sambucus 'Black Lace') with Dutch iris and red honeysuckle. |
 |
| Dutch iris with red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' |
The Sambucus 'Black Lace' is just opening its bunches of pale pink, next to the purple Dutch iris. The red honeysuckle "Major Wheeler' has started to offer its red trumpets for the ruby-throated hummingbirds to feast on. At the end of April we saw the first of the migrating hummers visiting, and since then they've been coming by regularly.
 |
| Blue Salvia with Coreopsis and pink Dianthus. |
On the west side of the house my late spring/early summer perennials are starting their display. I have other flowers here and there, everywhere.
 |
| Pink Dianthus in front. |
Indoors two Phalaenopsis orchids are blooming. My sister Silvia gave me the white one some fifteen years ago and it bloomed regularly for a number of years, then went into inexplicable decline a few years back; it had not bloomed in over five years. After a lot of coaxing, it has finally been persuaded to re-bloom. The pale pink one was given to me by my other sister, Bea, and has bloomed regularly for about eight years.
 |
| White Phalaenopsis orchid indoors. |
 |
| Pink Phalaenopsis orchid. |
Currently my porch is full of potted plants--Mother's Day gifts--waiting to be set out in my garden. A lot of vegetable and flower seedlings I've been growing indoors are being hardened off here
 | |
| Plants of the porch. |
 |
| Hanging baskets on the front porch. |
I planted my hanging baskets last week, but it will take some time before they look like much. Here's hoping for good, lush coverage soon!
A few days ago I had a bit of a start--I saw a small snake crawl up through the wood slats onto the back deck and slither across the threshold of the sliding door. The color and markings looked suspiciously like a rattlesnake's but I didn't seen any rattle at the end of the tail. Just to be sure, I looked up photos of juvenile snakes, and was reassured to see that juvenile rat snakes do have these markings. So, I let this garden buddy slide away down the clematis vine the way he came. Rat snakes are a gardener's friend--they eat a lot of garden pests, particularly mice and voles, though they do go after birds' eggs too. This one was probably looking for some eggs in the birds' nests under our deck.
 |
| Juvenile rat snake on the back deck. |
 |
| Begonias on the back deck. |
My collection of houseplants is almost all outdoors now--the begonias and succulents always take a beating when they go outdoors, but recover quickly.
 |
| Green thumbs? |
This last photo is for fun--I have very soft nails and my thumbnails have been splitting down to the quick lately (even wearing gloves), so I decided to put some nail polish on them to try to stop the unraveling. The only nail polish I had on hand is green--my husband Herb thought it was a great sight gag!
