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!

Springtime and New Beginnings

This lovely iris is certainly enjoying its new beginning! After suffering similar winter (mis)treatment to the hosta and other plants that I recently profiled, this tiny gem was finally planted out in the front garden last spring. It seems to have gotten through our long winter just fine, and is rewarding me with more foliage and even a bloom.


I never really mention my day job here on my blog...but as some of you reading this already know, I have worked at a local ski resort as their marketing manager since graduating from college.  The last 3 or 4 winters have been especially long and hard for me, with 70+ hour work weeks from early December through mid-March or later.  (That seems like it should be an exaggeration, doesn't it?  Even as I type those numbers out, I wonder how such things are humanly possible...)  Obviously, a better work/life balance was needed.

I am happy to report that I start my new job tomorrow morning.  As with my previous employment, this new position will not really be a topic of conversation on my blog...but I will say that it's a regular 8:30am-5pm, Monday through Friday, office job.  As such, it fits in line with my quest for a more balanced life. 

I am more excited than nervous, but I would still appreciate positive thoughts on Tuesday, if anyone can spare a few to send my way.  I'm hopeful that, like the iris, I will flourish and bloom in my new environment!  To quote one of my father's favorite sayings:  Time will tell...