A Chilly May Bloom Day

When I was a girl, my father used to watch the local weather forecasts religiously.  I thought he was rather obsessed with it, even though he was a farmer whose livelihood depended on the weather.  As for me,  if it was cold, I put on an extra coat or sweater; if it was raining, I wore a jacket with a hood--what else did you need to know?

Fast forward a few many years later, and I have turned into my father. For the past few weeks, especially, I have checked the forecast every morning, looking at both the hourly and the long-range forecasts:  what time will the rain start today?  Is there one sunny day this week I can work in the garden??  We've had so many rainy days lately that farmers are beginning to worry if they can get their crops planted in time, and workdays in the garden have been few and far between.  I've been especially concerned about the Nursing Home garden where I volunteer on Mondays--we've had to cancel so many workdays recently because it always seems to rain on Mondays!

On top of the rain, the temperatures dropped to an unusual low this weekend with frost warnings for last night and tonight.

A few hardier plants were left outside to fend for themselves.

I went on a major plant shopping spree last week with my friend Beckie, and all those plants were sitting on my back porch and patio waiting for dry weather to plant.  When I heard the forecast for frost, I tucked most of the plants into the barn for protection and covered up my blooming clematis.  Fortunately, there was no frost on the ground this morning, and all the blooming perennials were fine.  But we have one more night to get through before I feel safe enough to bring everything out once again.

Oh well, such is the life of a gardener.  In a couple of months, I'll probably be complaining about the heat and the lack of rain:)  Since there's nothing we can do about the weather, let's take a look at what is blooming on this chilly and windy May Bloom Day.

Some of my friends farther north are concerned about their lilacs this weekend, but that was one thing I didn't have to worry about since they have already finished blooming here.  Little 'Scent and Sensibility' above was covered in pink blooms, and the 'Bloomerang' lilac did well, too.  But my old-fashioned, huge lilac was a disappointment this year.  There were fewer blooms than last year, and they weren't as large as usual.  I've decided this large shrub needs a good pruning soon, but talking to friends, I found I wasn't the only one with this problem.  It may have been a late freeze in April that nipped and stunted this year's blooms.

'Jack Frost' Brunnera is almost finished blooming, but a few tiny blue flowers still remain.

More small blooms that I love on the Solomon's Seal.

The Lamium is also sporting its purple blooms right now.  Plants in the shade garden seem to have doubled in size in the past week, making me wish I'd gotten busy and divided more of them earlier.  The Lamium and the Sweet Woodruff in the forefront, though, are definitely getting moved or culled soon before they engulf this poor hosta!

One of my favorite spring blooms is Amsonia.  Both the Amsonia tabernaemontana above and the Amsonia hubrichtii have done extremely well here, unlike my poor Baptisia which has fallen victim to some kind of varmint, I'm afraid.

Love these pale blue blooms!

Most of the garden is still in that lull between spring and summer blooms, so 'Purple Sensation' Allium really stands out among all the green foliage.

Not much blooming in the Butterfly Garden either, except for Phlox pilosa, which has made itself quite at home here.  This was a gift some years back from Gail at Clay and Limestone, who has gifted many with this practically perfect native.

The blue columbines I planted several years ago have not returned, but this reddish lovely has been a faithful returnee for several years.

It's also iris season.  All of my irises are passalongs, so I don't know their names,

 but I enjoy them nonetheless.

I have several of these lavender lovelies.

My favorite--this is the first time it's bloomed. 

 I'm pretty sure this is one that Beth of Plant Postings gave me; I love it!

Finally, one of my favorite blooms this time of year--'Nelly Moser.'  I'm so happy to see her full of blooms this year after a disappointing show last year.  She's the only plant I took time to cover up last night just to make sure she wasn't nipped by the cold; I can't wait to take off her covers tomorrow to enjoy her blooms again.

There are more blooms, as well--Nepeta, 'May Night' Salvia, and Bleeding Heart, to name a few.  But soon there will be many more, and as you can see, I'm anxiously waiting for the peony show to begin!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is celebrated monthly on the 15th and is hosted by the ever-optimistic Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  

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.

Fall Color Project: Memories of Autumn

Like so many people, I have been watching the news footage the past week of the horrible destruction caused by storm Sandy.  My heart goes out to all of those who suffered loss in this devastating storm, and I am counting my blessings.

Here in my part of Illinois, the only effects of the storm were strong winds that blew most of the remaining leaves off the trees.  Now only bare branches remain, whereas just a week before we were enjoying the last of the fall color.  Some years I have photographed some of the colorful trees around town or taken Sophie to the nearby forest preserve to enjoy a different fall perspective, but this year I had time only to document changes at home.  Still, there was enough vibrant color in my own front yard to enjoy.

The most brilliant display in fall is the maple tree that slowly puts on its autumn finery.  In early October a few leaves at the top began to turn, and by mid-October the progression of orange and red was working its way downward.

The golden leaves of the locust trees gleamed in the sunlight.

The best part about these leaves is that they are easily carried away by the wind, 

and I don't have to rake them.

After the summer's drought, I think most of us didn't expect much of a colorful display this fall.  But we were pleasantly surprised.  Even the crabapples this year were eye-catching.

Instead of the usual shriveled brown leaves, they sported leaves of gold.

One effect of the drought has been the sparse number of fruit on these trees.  The white crabapple, in particular, is usually covered with miniature fruit, but not this year.  I noticed yesterday that the few remaining tiny apples had already been devoured by the birds.

The old Hackberry is not an especially attractive tree, but it, too, added some color to the landscape.

Besides the maple tree, the most eye-catching color has to be the large burning bushes 

at the end of my driveway.

Usually these bright red leaves remain until mid to late November, but this year the winds have stripped them quickly, leaving only the small berries on otherwise bare branches.

When I think of fall color, I think of trees.  But the garden has its own share of color transformation.  The faded blooms of hydrangeas are complemented by rosy-edged foliage as well.

Some of the ferns turned a ghostly white, just in time for Halloween.

Solomon's Seal, aging gracefully.

Oak leaves are not particularly colorful as they change from green to gold to brown.

But for me, it is not the leaves so much as the majestic stature of this old tree that I enjoy in the fall and every other season of the year.

By the end of last week, the maple had completed its transformation, shining for a few days in its final blaze of glory before this week's winds stripped its branches bare.  With the chilly winds blowing again, autumn seems like a fading memory.  I hope that you are enjoying the last beauties of autumn wherever you are.

Thanks to Dave at Growing the Home Garden for sponsoring the Fall Color Project  once again this year.