An Easy Decision (It Was Made for Me!)

So I've been debating whether to let my salvia argentea bloom... or to chop back the flowers and keep its pretty foliage around as long as possible.  I wasn't having strong feelings either way, so it was kind of a relief when I came home tonight and discovered this:

If the salvia had stayed upright as it began to bloom, the countdown to Decision 2012 would have been on. But since the plant was looked so ridiculous, leaning over the walkway like that, I decided to say adios to these not-so-inspiring blooms:

Note: After the dog walk a few minutes ago, I noticed that the freshly cut back salvia plant is now happily upright. And I look forward to seeing it live another year!

Anticipation: New Biennial Blooms!

I soon will have two new things to be excited about in the garden: Two biennials that I am growing for the very first time are about to bloom!

Both plants are architectural beauties, too. That's the downy silver sage (salvia argentea) above, and an angelica (full Latin name not included on the tag, so I'm not sure which one) below.

It's been a hectic week, as two of my favorite people (who also make up one of my favorite couples!) got married yesterday, and Steve and I have been busy with meetings and final wedding plans of our own. I did get a few flats of annuals today, though, and will hopefully have time to do some planting tomorrow at some point. Stay tuned for updates...

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May (???) 2012

The garden continues to change at a frantic pace...  with all of these June bloomers, it's no wonder I have to keep reminding myself that there's no need to panic. It's only mid-May, and I still have plenty of time to get the veggie garden started!

In the meantime, I need to stop and smell the (lovely, sweet grape-scented) variegated iris:

And marvel at a few Seussian allium blooms: 

And smile at the puffballs on the purple ninebark:

And think that the 'Caradonna' salvia needs to be moved next to a grass that stays golden all summer long, because it looks so nice next to the bright new grown on this switchgrass:

 And decide that the blue star gets too lost next to the powdery leaves of the sea kale:

And rejoice that the clearance, unmarked baptisia not only came back but also turned out to be the coveted 'Twilite Prairieblues':

Then head to the backyard and remind myself to collect the seed from the yellow-flowering collard greens--and to deadhead the white-blooming chervil:

And have the idle thought that the elderflower and the ninebark look pretty similar, with pinky-white flower tufts on super dark foliage:

And maybe even drool a little bit, knowing what it will mean that the blackberry is covered with hundreds of snowy white berries-to-be:

And then go sneak out of the house to make a quick Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day list, before I head back into the house to work a little more on my wedding invitation design!  For more of what's in bloom, head on over to May Dreams Gardens and check out Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post.

Other things in bloom here:  'Purple Dragon' lamium, various heuchera, last year's brussels sprouts, many dandelions, lungwort, 'Jack Frost' brunnera, Ozark everbearing strawberries, the last of the passalong dianthus, globe allium, sweet woodruff, yellow baptisia, passalong pink lamium, my rhododendron, Japanese bloodgrass (for the first time ever), sea kale, 'Sweet Kate' spiderwort, many purple salvia lyrata, 'Marcus' salvia.

Of note: Raspberries, cherries, peaches, and my tree peony are usually in some sort of bloom at this time of the year... but each of their bloom times have already come and gone!