May 2026 Bloom day

 

White iris

I's been such a cruel spring this year, with drought and wild swings in temperatures in my Zone 6B Virginia garden! The mid-April frost coming after an abnormally warm week not only blasted the emerging leaves and buds from my flowering trees, but the irises that were in spike as well. Only the patch of irises in the front yard, protected by the house, managed to bloom. As of a few days ago only the white ones, later than the rest, persisted. My peonies, which would be blooming about now, have only a few viable buds, and are late.

Me too--I'm late with this May Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog, because I was taking an intense in-person painting workshop for four days, and had no time to write or post my photos. What you see were taken last week and/or some days ago; welcome to my May garden, such as it is.

 

Amaryllis on the porch

 

The Amaryllis I got as a gift a couple of Christmases ago re-bloomed, and decorates my front porch. In the front yard a friend found and brought me some lovely rocks to build up a border edge for the bed under the trees, and I think it adds a little something to the overall look.

 

Front yard with new stone edging

I like to plant some annuals in this front bed in an effort to camouflage the dying foliage of the daffodils and have something growing there during the summer, but usually deer come and eat most of the plants anyway. This year I'm hoping to foil them with a new deer repellent, but its effectiveness remains to be seen. I bought a few new perennials to add to the Gaillardia I planted a few years ago--a blue-flowered Lithodora, and a blue Pincushion flower (Scabiosa) at the edges of the trees where they'll get some sun.  

Recently I planted three bare-root Astilbes under the dogwood tree to the left, but they'll take a while to emerge and bloom during the summer. I'll probably plant some Coleus later on when the daffodil foliage has died out completely.

 

Lithodora

 

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' getting ready to make a show

Blue Pincushion flower (Scabiosa)

My Viburnum 'Brandywine'  on the east side of the house did not sustain any damage, but the climbing rose 'New Dawn' and Clematis 'Etoile Violette' don't look very happy in the prolonged drought, with leaf miners blighting the rose. Neither does the Filicoides Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa filicoides). Only the dwarf blue spruce seems to have retained its normal lovely spring foliage.

 

Viburnum 'Brandywine' with blue spruce, Hinocki cypress and 

 

In the east woodland garden all three Japanese maples and the Virginia Fringe tree were blighted and are only now starting to put forth some foliage, but surely there won't be any flowers here this year. The flowers of the two Rhododendrons and the Pagoda dogwood were also blighted. Usually this part of my garden is so lovely during this season, but this year, only the 'Blue Barlow' columbines, which have spread everywhere, are blooming. 

 

'Blue Barlow' Columbines

Rhododendron 'Southgate Brandi' under Japanese maple 'Bloodgood'

I keep adding native plants to my woodland garden: this spring some wild ginger under the Carolina Silverbell tree, next to the Pink Turtlehead planted last year. And, I finally bought a reasonably-priced Helleborus niger, which I planted between the Japanese Full Moon maple and the Virginia Fringe tree. I acquired one bare-root plant of Trillium grandiflora I hope to plant as soon as I find some time.

Moving down to the back yard, the Foxglove Pentstemons are proving indestructible, and the Ninebark Tree 'Coppertina' in the badlands has some decent blooms, though not like in other years.

 

Foxglove Pentstemon

Ninebark Tree 'Coppertina'

 

A nice surprise in the back bed--one of the Snapdragons I planted last year survived the winter and is blooming--it seems taller this year, and definitely taller than the ones I just planted, which I think are exactly the same variety. I've learned that deer don't eat Snapdragons, so they're a  good choice for my garden. So is Verbascum. 

  

Snapdragons

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

The red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' has been very floriferous, and providing nourishment for the hummingbirds migrating north. The native red Columbines also attract the hummers.

 

Red Honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler'

 

Red Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis)

Another shrub that won't be flowering this year is the Philadephus 'Cheyenne'; the shrubs in that bed are so sad-looking! The Beautyberries died down to the ground and are just starting to re-sprout from their bases. The Honeylocust tree was looking dead, but seems to be sprouting some foliage now. Not worth photographing.

On the west side of the house the Salvia "May Night' is blooming with the round-leaved Coreopsis. The pink-flowered Sweetspire (Clethra alnifolia) behind the deer barrier is re-sprouting, but the Clematis I planted there last fall was eaten right down to the ground. Probably not a bad thing--this site is too hot for the 'Betty Corning' Clematis I'd purchased on sale. I bought a replacement, but I'm still trying to figure out where to plant it out of the reach of the deer, where the fragrance can be enjoyed.

 

Salvia 'May Night' with Coreopsis

Clematis montana 'Appleblossom'

The other Clematis on this side of the house has not performed well either--only a few blooms this spring. It badly needs pruning, but that will have to wait until after it's finished blooming.

This morning I spent an hour digging up a dead Ilex bush that was in front of the Clematis, preparing the ground for a new shrub--a dwarf Smokebush. It was back-breaking work in this heat (the outdoor thermometer is marking 96 degrees F as I write), digging up big rocks and the yellow clover taking over--I'm getting too old for this! I wish I could afford to hire two laborers to do this stuff for me, but my budget doesn't permit it, so I try to enjoy it, despite the backaches.

 

Dutch Iris

Purple Dutch Iris

 

The pale Dutch Iris flowers also got blighted, but the later-blooming purple ones are making a good show now. The Allium Moly is always dependable.

 

Allium  moly

 

 That's about it for now, awaiting rain. Thanks for visiting!

 

May Bloom Day

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!