May Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring . . . why, Pilgrims, of course!  This old riddle may bring a smile to children's faces, but my question is what do May showers bring?  I certainly hope the answer is June flowers, because we have had our fair share of rain showers all this week, keeping me from completing garden chores and making me a day late for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  Not that I'm complaining, because we've certainly needed the rain, and the garden is loving it.  I did manage to finally sneak out between cloudbursts yesterday to take a few photos.

Before I share what is blooming in my garden today, indulge me as I show what was in bloom just last week:

Tulip time has virtually come to an end, but what a glorious few weeks it was!  I shared many of my tulip blooms on Facebook with a "Today's Tulip" theme, including these 'Double Maureens.'

A popular post was this combo of  'Queen of the Night' with the pure white 'Marguerites.'   So often my plantings don't work as planned--for example, the purple tulips that appeared after all the pastels in my roadside garden had finished blooming.  But this combo had perfect timing this year, and I'm liking it more and more.  It's a nice contrast to all the pastel tulips I have planted elsewhere.

One tulip I didn't share on Facebook was this species tulip, 'Lady Jane.'  They're not as showy as the hybrids, but the outer reddish-pink petals that open up to these cheery white faces are still special.

After waiting for two years, I was excited to finally have lots of blooms from my namesake--'Rosalie.'

Also eagerly anticipated and new this year, a tribute to my mom--'Princess Irene.'  Interestingly, 'Irene' is shorter than 'Rosalie,' which is just as it should be--I inherited my height from my dad:)

I shared my favorite tulip of all, 'Akebono,' in my last post, but here it is fully opened.  What's interesting is that these are all new bulbs this year and look different from the older ones I had.

Unfortunately, the older bulbs were all decapitated by the pesky deer just before blooming, but this is a photo from last year.  Notice the difference in coloring; I'm wondering if this was due to the warm temperatures we had that faded out the new blossoms this year, or if it's because I ordered from a different supplier last fall.  I prefer the more yellow blooms, so just to be safe, I'm going to order these from the original company next time.

The redbuds are already leafing out and sport only a few of the eye-catching lavender blooms that I love every spring.  What is strange this year and rather sad for me is that my crabapple trees never bloomed.  I look forward to the week in May every year when my driveway is a beautiful mass of pink and red.  The lone white crabapple bloomed, but the strong winds of last week blew off all the blossoms before I could take a decent photo.  But the lack of blooms on the other crabs has me puzzled and a bit worried.  There have been years when storms blew off the blooms almost as quickly as they appeared, and perhaps that is what is happened this year and I just didn't notice.  I hope nothing is wrong with them, but I guess there's not much I can do other than wait another year to see if they bloom again.

While the early spring bloomers have faded, here is what is blooming this week:

Bleeding Heart has been blooming for a few weeks now.

As has the Brunnera 'Jack Frost,'  one of my favorite bloomers in the shade garden.

Not as obvious but still delightful are the blooms on the Solomon's Seal.  I've been working on dividing and moving some of the hostas in this crowded area, but everything has been growing so quickly that you can't tell I've removed a thing.  This is going to be an ongoing process this year, I'm afraid.

The old lilac bush was covered with fragrant flowers again this year, but they're quickly fading.  The 'Bloomerang' lilac, however, is just beginning to bloom.  I'm still trying to figure out how to prune a re-bloomer like this; so far, all I've done is snip off the old blooms in early spring and late summer.

In other garden areas, the unnamed perennial geranium is full of tiny blooms.

The first 'May Night' Salvia is blooming in the sidewalk garden.  They don't seem to like their location here nearly as well as in the arbor bed, where I have new seedlings popping up everywhere.

Amsonia 'Hubrichtii' is sporting its blue blooms in the arbor bed.

As are the Amsonia tabernaemontana, whose blooms are really much bluer than they appear here. A few years ago I dug up and divided this plant from its original spot in the lily bed, where it had grown too large for the location.  I noticed yesterday that there were new Amsonia seedlings blooming in the original spot in the lily bed again, so apparently I didn't get all the roots.  Digging up that plant was a job I don't care to do again, so I may just give in to its determination and leave it alone.  We'll see . . .

I'm always happy to see the Phlox pilosa, or PPPP as friend Gail calls it, once again!  It continues to spread slowly through the butterfly garden, which makes me even happier.

Giant Allium, 'Purple Sensation,' I think, are a great distraction from the fading foliage of the tulips in the arbor bed, and also a distraction from the weeds, I hope.  Did I mention I also have a bumper crop of dandelions this spring?

While the spring bulbs are becoming faded memories, the show is only just beginning.  Swollen buds promise there are new blooms just around the corner.  It's a great time to be in the garden!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you each month by Carol who aptly named her garden and blog "May Dreams Gardens."  You can check out the links there for a plethora of blooms this May.