Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 2010

For weeks I've been watching my peonies begin to bud, and then to open slowly.

It's been such a lovely process and I've posted about it twice recently, Here and Here.

'Festivus Maximus' looks regal as she opens in all her glory:

The pink variety I just love, especially because she has increased her blooms to 3 after producing just 1 last year. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what her name is:

Lavendar has also been flowering near the peonies:

Friday was in the 90's with humidity and it felt like a furnace, so the peonies were a bit wilted by the afternoon.  But in the early evening we had a 20 degree temperature drop--in about 10 minutes--as a thunderstorm went through with high winds and hail.

I took some photos afterwards, and surprisingly, there was no damage to the peonies:

Now we move on to Clematis x. 'Nelly Moser' with Salvia Nemorosa 'May Night':

Below is Nelly's actual '1st' bloom--slightly muted compared to her 2nd bloom, above; and it has 8 petals. (I enjoy examining each individual bloom, especially when they are the first few to arrive!). This first one is long gone now.

Just yesterday another bloom arrived higher up on the arbor.  It was such a deep purple that I didn't think it was part of the same plant at first (I have several varieties planted together in some areas):

Today's photos show the bloom fully opened, though, and it clearly does belong to Nelly afterall.

Here is another 'unknown variety', growing on my mailbox.  It's developed just 1 bloom so far:

I have about 6 other clematis (one that I do know is Clematis x. 'Niobe'); all summer bloomers.  I was terrible about keeping records when I planted them several years ago, so don't have positive ID's for most of them.

Some of the Asiatic lily bulbs that I planted this spring have been blooming, and others are either in bud or well on their way:

There are some purples that will be opening shortly:

and whites (Lilium orientalis 'Casa Blanca') and orange tiger lilies (Lilium tigrinum) that haven't yet bloomed. Unfortunately there is some critter (or creature!) that has been gnawing the stems down on some of them, which I've written about in an earlier post. I've even used hot pepper wax spray to no avail:

Coral Red Honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' (Lonicera sempervirens), which I've written about in an earlier post, is still doing well:

Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), from my visit with dear garden blogging friend Janet (the Queen of Seaford) back in April, and which I've also posted about earlier, is going strong:

All 3 of the Geraniums (Johnson's Blue) survived the winter, (although Geranium 'Rozanne' did not make a reappearance):

Spotted Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum) spreads nicely while staying in large clumps,

while Lamium m. 'Anne Greenway' was just planted last year and is moving more slowly:

Dianthus, also known as 'Pinks':

'Victoria Blue' Forget Me Nots (Myosotis sylvatica):

'Blue Star' Creeper (Isotomoa fluviatilia):

'Techno-Heat' Lobelia (Lobelia erinus) thrives in the sun:

Pansies are still thriving in pots on my front porch:

*I would like to know the name of this perennial ground cover. I've had it for many years but like a lot of my earlier plantings (before garden-blogging), I didn't save tags.  It blooms in the spring but gets a bit leggy later so I cut it back. *A commenter suggested it might be Nepata, Walkers Low (Catmint) but I don't think that's what it is. If you click on the photos, then enlarge them, you can see the leaves and stems are light and wispy, and each of the tiny flowers have 5 delicate petals. Can anyone identify this for me?

**I am now CERTAIN that 'Anonymous' in Rehobeth Beach has correctly identified this as a variety of Veronica. Thank you!  I am thinking it fits the description for Veronica austriaca (Hungarian speedwell) based on photos I've just found. You garden bloggers (and readers!) are always so helpful:-)

Frances of Fairegarden has concurred that this is Veronica austriaca subsp. teucrium, and Frances is typically right on the mark. Thanks, Frances!

Similarly, this is a plant that grows into what looks like a bush. It goes dormant but blooms with these lovely yellow flowers in late spring and throughout the summer:

*Thanks so much, Rebecca @ In The Garden, for identifying this as Potentilla. I've always thought the flowers fell into the cinquefoil category but have never been certain of the what the genus is until now.

Creeping phlox is still hanging on but is almost ready to end its bloom cycle:

The 'Blackbird' Euphorbia plants have grown since I planted them a month or so ago, and the yellow flowers look even more pronounced:

Foam Flower (Tiarella):

and Lungwort (Pulmonaria 'Gaelic Spring') are both still blooming:

One of my varieties of Coral Bells (Heuchera) is displaying flower stalks:

Columbine is just barely hanging on now, and I expect it to stop blooming soon:

This aster (unknown variety) has just this one tiny bloom, a very soft, light blue:

Ajuga aka. Bugel Weed, is just about done flowering:

The Rhododendron's have pretty much finished flowering at this point, but here is 'Nova Zembla' before opening:

This spring we also planted 'Rocket':

'Royal Purple':

and 'Boursault':

Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is the only currently flowering plant of the (12) native plants I bought last weekend at the Virginia Native Plant Society's (local chapter) plant sale:

In April I ordered some native plants on-line, and I just had to show the Trillium before it fades away:

Wildflower 'Johnny Jumpup'  was included with the goodies from blogging friend Janet, and is still blooming:

I'll write about the native plants I bought online, as well as the rest that Janet gave me, in future posts. Meanwhile, please take a moment to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens, where bloggers from all over the world have posted what's blooming in their May gardens.

Today I am thankful for May, when everything is awake and alive in my garden.

Words and photos ©Thanks For Today, by Jan Huston Doble