Here we are at the 15th of the month again and time for Garden Blogger Bloom Day posts. I was actually surprised when I went out to take photos that there wasn’t quite as much in flower as I thought there would be. A lot of the late spring flowers are going over and the early summer flowers haven’t come out yet. Though saying that I am sure the Grevillea above is usually in flower earlier than this as it is one of the first plants the bees go mad for whereas this year they have lots to choose from due to everything being ahead of the game.
However on closer inspection there are a few nice gems around. The long spurred Aquilegias McKana, which I grew from seed a few years back, where really popular when I was recently visited by a gaggle of bloggers (is that what you call a group of bloggers):
ArtistsGarden,
Victorias Backyard,
Welsh Hills Again,
VegPlotting. They were also very much on display at the Malvern Spring Show which is unusual since they normally flower just after the show.
One of my real favourite flowers in the garden is the Mathiasella Bupleuroides ‘Green Dream’ (below). I love this plant, the flowers are just beautiful and the glaucous foliage is a wonderful foil to many other plants. Sadly it doesn’t appear to come from seed but I have been successful with propagating the plant from root cuttings so soon there will be even more in the garden,
It appears that my preference for strong colours is spreading through the year and is no longer restricted to late summer. The Sanguisorba below is really brightening up the gravel border and is very popular with the bees.
The Lazula nivea (below) grown from seed last year has really made an impact on the slope and I am trying to decide whether to extend it. The flowers en masse are quite striking and tulips earlier in the year looked great amongst the foliage but I wonder if I extend it across the border whether it will be too much.
In contrast to the Lazula are the Peonies which are looking very opulent and luxurious at the moment. I know some people would say that Peonies and grasses don’t work together but I don’t agree – I like the combination.
I do have a dilemma I really like the flowers on my Doronium (below) especially as, again, I grew them from seed but they are the only yellow flowers in the garden at the moment and don’t work well with the jewel colours that are emerging as a theme in this garden. I am thinking of moving them up to near the Iris siberica as the yellow and blue may work better than the Doronium and Peony which is the current combination!
I love Foxgloves but this year I seem to have dwarf Foxgloves. I think it is because of the very dry March and April we had which meant that the plants did not have enough moisture to put on some height.
Finally, here is a small delight which I discovered by accident last year – Asarina Procumbens. I grew it from seed, no surprises there, without really knowing what the plant would look like. It is quite cute as it crawls across the ground with the snapdragon flowers appearing along the stems. If you need some ground cover I would recommend it.
So those are the highlights of what is flowering in my garden in May 2011 very different to
last May’s GBBD post.
Thanks to Carol for hosting this monthly meme over at her blog May Dreams Garden
