millertime

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!!