Bloom Day for May...and despite continued light frost (!), my blooms are coming along nicely! Here's my "purple haze" bulb area planted last fall...peak bloom has yet to occur, but we're getting there. The "white" tulips I thought I'd planted mostly look yellow so far, but we'll see if they fade out.
Light yellow tulips along the deck...these were planted several years ago, and continue to multiply and bloom very reliably.
These beauties came with the house when I bought it 10 years ago, and since I've been fertilizing annually, the clump has more than doubled in size.
This cute little thing was just planted last fall, and I already want more of them!
More blooms from bulbs planted years ago...this over-abundant yellow is why I went nuts for purples, pinks and reds last fall (I still like it, though).
Ah....nice flush of pinks, and they're just getting started...
....hey! Even my fern leaf bleeding heart is blooming...cool!
Another nice daffodil, and it looks like there's a mosquito in the middle! Very strange, but better on him than me :)
The victorious lavender that survived all that snow is looking as tired of cold night temps as I am, so I put an annual marigold in to keep him company...
...more annual action for bloom day, and it's the same plant I always put here. I don't know why, but I like this redundency...
...these three may just be doomed with cold temps at night, but I just couldn't help myself last weekend. Most people up here say the "safe" date for putting out annuals is Memorial Day, but every year I find it impossible to wait that long!
This year I "test-drove" my annual arrangements before I committed to planting (the silver stuff is dead from last year)...
...yea, I'm digging this...
....there. Now grow nicely and don't succumb to frost, please!
I'm going for a lot of pinks, reds and whites this year...no plan, just started picking up stuff...
....this rex begonia is really awesome, and I almost planted it here. But I really want to protect it indoors as a houseplant, cuz' it's too pretty to sacrifice.
I'm liking this arrangement too, this geranium was a "must-have" as well as the grass....
....I mean, just look at these blooms!
When I saw this 'Lavender Lace' cuphea, I thought "Hey! I think Chuck grows cuphea...cool!" 
So how about a pot all to yourself?
Now this arrangement was inspired by the cover of a spring edition High Country Gardens catalog, although I didn't like the vine they had included (it was green/white ivy, and looked wrong to me). When I shopped for my own version, these are my cast of players. My initial test drive was this...
....but the final group is this. I love it so far...
....from every angle...
....oh yea! See the brownish heuchera between the green grass and the coleus? It came back from last year, and as they all grow together I think this planter will be outta sight!
Got to have my geraniums every year...another plant that may be a tad passe', but I like them just the same.
I like this stuff, and the one I had last year was promptly devoured by something :( so this time they take refuge in a hanging basket.
I buy this black sweet potato vine almost every year, too...
....and look-a bloom already!
This is a new find-a double bloomer! I had this in a single red last year and really enjoyed it....
....nice!
This is one of the cast members with the aforementioned coleus, grass, and all. I'd never seen this oxalis before, and the color...wow!
So cute and tiny, 'Molten Lava' seems kind of harsh but I'm loving the look!
Even the pansies are looking extra-pretty to me this year (result of a long flower-deprived winter)...
....and this coleus! The hot pink is so loud it almost looks fake....cool.
Closeup of "sexy Rexy'...I really like these plants.
Even just sitting together in the flats, right out of the car, I'm amazed at all the color and potential. (Heh...you'd think I'd never gardened before or something! ;-)
Another bawdy, gaudy flower I like having around. My version of a garden "clown", since the real ones creep me out.
How much did all these Bloom Day newcomers cost? Well, my first stop was Walmart, and sticking to the sale items and smaller plants I got out of there with these two flats for $23. I was actually rather proud of myself....until....
....until I got to the local specialty nursery. These two flats were, um....
....well, just shy of twice as much-ack! Hey, at least one is a perennial! 
And look at these gigantic flowers on this nice dianthus!
See? It exploded into bloom in just 3 days! Well worth spending too much...right?
And this is pretty too...I know I'm rationalizing. It's a gift (and a curse)...
....but even the snapdragons have more splashes of color this year. And it's been a long, cold winter, and I really love flowers, I think I had a fever, and the sun was in my eyes. Yea, that's right, the sun made me do it....
...I mean, what good is summer sun without flowers to soak it up? Happy Bloom Day everybody!!
So under the watchful eyes of my "indoor supervisor" Gizmo...
.....and my "outdoor supervisor" Ms. 
The Korean Fir and the Double Mockorange are small, but acceptable to me....
.....as is this Meyer Lemon. Sure, bigger is better, but this is bigger than I expected from these folks.
Um...can you say pot-bound? I bring relief in the nick of time...
.....and a pruning. We don't want two leaders for a standard tree, but if I trim too much it won't thicken the trunk as well...
....there! Trimmed just enough to leave the closest leaf, then when the trunk gets a lot thicker, I'll prune it the rest of the way off.
All my newcomers get watered with this rooting hormone to stimulate growth and lessen transplant shock. (Though I don't use this for annuals.)
There! Now into the house with you until our temps reliably come up to stay. (We have an f-ing frost warning tonight! Still!)
Now for the bareroot delphiniums....um...are these "dwarf" by chance? I mean, look at these puny things! There are supposed to be three per bag, but all these combined don't even make one decent-sized plant!
Gee, there are four in this bag...is that actually supposed to make up for the size of these things? I think not!
....see how mini? Cute as a bugs' ear, and nearly the same size!
Ah, and here we have the lovely 
....then open up like little stars. I checked for fragrance but detected none, but hey, you can't have everything.
Then to throw a wrench in things, we had three mornings like this last week! Luckily, the damage and suffering is minimal...
...and this newly purchased Louisiana iris didn't seem to notice the cold snap at all.
Got some growth on my 
I have managed to get one bouquet of flowers for the house so far.....
...however this is exciting as well as frustrating: my largest bulb planting from last fall, "purple haze" is taking its' sweet time blooming! The upshot is that it appears they will all bloom in unison, just like I planned...
Hooray for spring!! 
...yep, it's this 
...so I figured it would help if I cut the grass and put it in a dish. Gizmo was interested right away...
Although it's taken awhile, I think Bentley is getting used to me being "the human" instead of my son. He actually comes up and lays his head on my leg when I'm on the couch.
Heh...he seems so comfortable, you could even say he likes me!
