May is an anxious time for me in the garden. I haven’t gotten the annuals in yet. And, the 12 yards of shredded bark have not arrived. So, the gardens look good from a distance, but up close, they are messy and there are bare patches where the annuals will go. Mind you, a little anxiety is good. It goads us forward. And I have no excuses to move forward because the watering system guy came this afternoon to hook everything up and repair the damage the snow plow did to one of the lines this winter.
Everything, of course, is early. The McFarlane lilacs are out, and so is the mock orange.
The cheddar pinks (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) are going crazy! I love how they brighten up this shady little nook under the old dogwood, especially since I haven’t shopped for annuals and baskets yet.
The old dogwood is host to birds, bees, and fuzzy clusters of tiny flowers. The kousa dogwood hasn’t quite arrived yet, but I suspect it will be gorgeous in a couple of days.
The Wild Spice Hansa roses have been blooming for a few weeks, though, they got nipped during a frost. Sill, nothing seems to deter them.
I was surprised to find a spiderwort (tradenscantia) blooming in one of the entrance gardens. I didn’t plant it. In fact, I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to get rid of the last vestiges left by the previous owner.
The heuchera and heucherella are looking really good. The entrance garden is further along than the heurchera in the Secret Garden, but the entrance garden gets full sun.
The tiny amsonia stars are blooming, too. These were a lucky find at a garden center a couple years ago. I think they were $1 per pot. I’ve certainly enjoyed them!
This little columbine kept coming back year after year, much as I tried to get rid of it. It, too, was left over from the previous owner, and now I’ve decided I quite like its pretty pink and white blossoms.
And how I wish that those saucers of clematis would bloom all summer! How can such delicate looking vines burst forth with such huge flowers. I remember the first time I ever saw a clematis blooming. I thought perhaps they were plastic flowers that someone had stuck on a piece of lattice. There are still a few bleeding hearts (dicentra) blooming.
Garden 337 