Thursday, May 15, 2008

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!!

17 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Happy Bloom Day to you. Hey, don't you usually wait until a few days after bloom day to post? ;-)

Regardless, it was a treat to see your tulips and all your blooms today. You are right, summer just isn't summer without flowers!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

tina said...

Wow, you have many beautiful plants in your garden-despite a light frost coming. Here's hoping for the best tonight from rainy and warm Tennessee!

EAL said...

I can hardly wait to go on my own orgy of plant buying. But I better get all my mail order stuff in first. Don't you feel the fern leaf dicentra's foliage is really what's best about it?

Geraniums should never be called passe. They are wonderful plants.

lisa said...

Carol-Heh, odd to see me on time for sure! (Story of my life, but I'm ok with it :) As far as I'm concerned, a summer without plenty of flowers isn't even worth it!

Tina-Thank you! Enjoy your warm rain...I'm hoping our wet spring continues so I can find some morelle mushrooms this year!

Elizabeth-Heh, "orgy" is absolutely the right word! I usually start it with mailorders in winter, then an annual orgy in the spring...it's such a pleasant addiction! :) I agree-geraniums never lose their charm!

tina said...

Good luck with the mushrooms. We love them down here too.

Annie in Austin said...

I didn't even look for you right away, Lisa! You do have that reputation, Ha! Your white tulips look white on the monitor.

You deserve to go nuts when you're not quite past frost date in the middle of May. We always used May 17th at our West of Chicago house. I hope your stuff stays safe, it's all so colorful and bright!

The brown/gold/maroon planter is very cool... and now I covet the double callibrachoa.
I think you did the right thing putting that particular cuphea in its own container, too. That one is called Mexican Heather down here and it makes a round, full plant.

Happy Blooming Day!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Unknown said...

I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID ABOUT PINK! After reading your comment on my bloom day post, I realized my insanity... thank you! lol.

That 'Molten Lava' is gorgeous, and it looks so nice there in the middle of that pot.

By the way, you can overwinter that bronze spike/cordyline indoors as well. I brought mine in this year and kind of treated it like I would a draceana. It was fine, and I planted it back outside just last week. So you have two bring-indoors plants (that and the begonia) along with a perennail... makes those two nursery flats not seem so bad after all, no? ;)

B said...

Bloom overload! I'm so jealous now.

All your plants look like they're doing so well. My tulips and daffodils are reluctant to come up this year (I got a few volunteers) so I'll have to drool over yours.

chuck b. said...

Yeah, I didn't used to feel good about geraniums, but I've come around. Well I came around a long time ago. Two flats for $23! How come the pictures of the flat from the specialty nursery aren't clickable? Bummer about still having frost.

lisa said...

Tina-Thank you! I'm already on the lookout daily! ;-)

Annie-Thank you for supporting my rationalizations! :) "Mexican heather"? Cool! Happy Bloom Day to you too!

Kim-LOL! Well, pink is the new maroon, I say! Thank you for the overwintering tips....I'd planned to try and become a "cutting queen" this year to save money for next year...wish me luck! I usually have abysmal results propagating by cuttings, but I am determined to learn and conquer my nemesis! :)

Tam-Drool all you wish...sorry your bulbs are shy this year. I've had bulbs even "skip" years, making me think they're dead. Then they come back strong the next season as if nothing was wrong...strange.

Chuck-Yea, the cold weather feels as if it's lasting longer this year...even though it pretty much isn't. Funny thing with my blog pictures, they've always been hit-or-miss for click-ability, and I'm not sure why. It doesn't seem to matter if they come right from a computer hard drive or off photobucket, either. (I'm a tad clumsy with some computer skills, but not as bad as many from my generation.) Heh, mostly because I make my 25 yr. old co-worker and son the same age tell me how to do stuff! :) I even get them to write it down for me most of the time. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain..." ;-)

gintoino said...

Wow! So much color! I can't even tell you what's my favorite. I do like your geraniums, specially the first one. And the tulips, of course!

verobirdie said...

This walk through your garden is an eye candy! Thanks for sharing it!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Good job, you've converted Kim to pink! I love the pink/red/white combo too. Have you seen the new Coleus named 'Pink Chaos'? It's awesome. Your container grouping is definitely an improvement on the High Country container. Those hots & black are steamy!

Entangled said...

I came by to see if Purple Haze is blooming, but got really absorbed in looking at all the cool annuals. And especially that bronzy grouping inspired by High Country Gardens - that's going to be spectacular!

lisa said...

Gintoino-Thank you! This time of year I need a "color fix" :)

Verobirdie-Thak you!

Mr. Mcgregor's daughter-Hey, I think 'Pink Chaos' is the one I bought! Funny about Kim's aversion to pink...I always wondered how that was even possible ;-) Thanks for the kudos on the grass container...I like my version better too! :)

Entangled-Thank you! Purple Haze is coming along...I'll upload more pics asap.

Ki said...

Whoa, those lavender leaves look like 'weed' man! Love the bed pan planter.

lisa said...

Ki-"Weed"? Why, whatever do you mean? ;-) Heh, if it was, from the look I'd have to say it's "primo" and very sticky...just guessing of course. I like the bed pan too, pretty much anything that holds dirt id a planter to me!