May is the Month of new beginnings in the garden, colorfully illustrated by the 'Key Lime Pie' heuchera that is emerging from its cast-off fall foliage in the photo above. It's also a month of surprises, like this flowering stem that's sprouting from the red cabbage I neglected to harvest in the fall:
And then there are the surprise seedlings, like these baby hellebores that are popping up all around the peach tree:
Speaking of the peach, it was covered in blooms last month. I was a little worried because I didn't notice any pollinators hovering around it while it was flowering... but apparently they were just being a little circumspect with their activities. I now have evidence (YAY!) that they were there:
My friend Alli gave me a bunch of extra allium bulbs back in... 2008? And I was bummed when I didn't see any luscious, large purple allium balls bouncing around on the wind in 2009. I couldn't even remember where all I had placed them, but it seems like a few made it to the ground beneath the cherry tree:
A chartreuse-colored, miniature hosta (labeled 'Dawn' and purchased at a master gardener sale the first year I moved to my suburb) almost melted out of my garden last year--I think that a nearby ligularia was stealing all of the moisture from them. 'Othello' met his demise this spring (insert Shakespearean tragedy joke here) and I now have FOUR new 'Dawn' hostas happily sunning themselves as the feet of a 'Looking Glass' brunnera:
That's the end of the good surprises. So here's where I confess to my rookie mistake. Wait, before I confess, you tell me: What do you think is wrong with the photo below?
If you asked why on earth a 'Striptease' hosta is... er... getting a little fresh with (yeah, I couldn't resist) the recently transplanted variegated liriope, that's a very good question! And the answer is: I made a rookie mistake. I transplanted the liriope a few weeks ago, not remembering that I had planted the rescue hosta in that spot last fall. And since I don't have a current, accurate garden plan to remind me, I'll be relocating the liriope again very shortly. Ah well.
Let's not dwell on my mistakes, though. Instead, let's end this post with a few more photos of the beauty that is May in the garden. First, the regal 'Queen of Night' tulip, with various companions:
Second, the lovely smush of 'Hillside Black Beauty' bugbane sprouting up around the edges of 'Zweiweltenkind' goatsbeard--don't worry, I cut the goatsbeard back hard after it flowers, which gives the bugbane more room:
Last but not least, what would spring be without the sweet scent of woodruff? I know that this groundcover can be a little aggressive for some, but I adore it. Here you see it marching up to 'All Gold' hakonechloa, while some 'Pine Knot Strain' hellebores (the parents of some of the babies mentioned above?) stand sentinel above:
That's all for today. (But expect a drool-worthy post on the obscenely gorgeous lonicera sempervirens tomorrow!)
Happy May!
5 comments:
Ahhh, the black tulips in the bouquet? Colorblends has a blend of black and white called 'Tuxedo'. I wasn't overly impressed with that company but the orange tulips were magnificent. Love your woodruff. Have you dried any of it for that sweet hay scent?
I had to consult photos from last year to locate a few hostas that just seemed to take forever to come up this spring. Garden plan...it's called a digital camera!
Hostas are do make a late arrival in spring. I have planted things too close to them before. A simple lesson learned. Too bad I have to relearn that one every year or so. Ha.. Your garden is looking beautiful with all that lovely foilage coming up. I found some baby hellebores too. It is such fun to see them popping up. For several years I dead headed so much that I wondered why I didn't have baby hellebores because someone told me I would have oodles of them, Another lesson learned. Ha...
It's hard to remember where those Hostas are and how big they get. The Actaea/Aruncus combo is great, similar leaf shapes, but different sizes & colors. Aruncus doesn't like my garden, but for some reason it looks like it's going to bloom this year.
I enjoyed the texture and colour combinations of your photos. Those glimpses of your garden are lovely.
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