It's Already May!

Spring is well underway. The weather still hasn't decided what to do with itself, and I am very often turning the heat up in the morning, but then sweltering in the afternoon as the blazing sun warms up the house.

So, the garden celebrated the first day of May by opening the first iris.

The First Iris Opened Today


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The magnolias are nearly finished, with the branches containing as many new yellow-green leaves as old pink and white flowers.

New Leaves


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Old Magnolia Flower


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And the magnolia is not the only tree to be exhibiting new leaves. The Deborah maple is turning from early spring bronze to summer green, while the Camperdown elm has fresh new leaves emerging. I always like this time of year, before the elm tree gets overwhelmed with insect pests that invade its leaves and trace interesting paths through them. The red-stemmed dogwood (it's a variegated one, but I don't know which specific variety, as it's one of the oldest plants in my garden, before I used to save the tags with the relevant information) is showing new leaves and new flowerbuds.

Maple Leaf Still Showing a Bit of Bronze


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Emerging Leaves on the Camperdown Elm


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Dogwood


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And while we're on the subject of foliage, I also like seeing the hostas poke their spiralling leaves out of the earth, before they grow to a size that rivals the juniper bushes.

Pretty Little Hosta Spirals


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Oh, and here is the obligatory "artistic" photo of a hosta leaf with raindrops on it. Look for more of these throughout the year.

The Obligatory "Hosta Leaf with Raindrops" Photo


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As for flowers in the garden, the pasque flowers have been blooming for a while, but still put on a good show.


Some Pasque Flowers Are Already Spent


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But The Plant Is Still Blooming


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And what would spring be without the daffodils and tulips? The daffodils I would say are just passing their prime, while the tulips are starting to come into their own now.

I haven't renewed the bulbs in a while, so a lot of the fancier tulips are small and delicate, and of course I have some older plantings of both tulips and daffodils that are so worn out they are only managing to push up leaves. I should really go around and dig those ones up and get rid of them, then I must make the effort to refresh the garden by planting more of the fancier varieties of bulbs this autumn.

Daffodils (I Believe These Are 'Flower Record')


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A Couple of Fancy Hybrid Daffodils


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Two Different Daffodils


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A Mauve Tulip


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Red Tulips in the Side Garden


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A Cluster of Purple-and-White Tulips


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Pink-and-White Tulip ('Ballade' or Similar)


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Moving on to other things, now, I have wanted to get rid of the Purple Leaf Sandcherry in my front garden for a while. A huge ant colony has made its home beneath this plant, and I want to deal with both issues by removing the bush and digging out the ants at the same time. But, wouldn't you know, the sandcherry has started blooming and now I don't want to remove the bush at least until the blooms are gone.

Purple Leaf Sandcherry


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Now, I didn't take a photo of the ants, because quite frankly ants creep me out. Strangely enough, I'm okay with spiders and snakes. If you are not okay with them, you might not want to see this picture of a hidey-hole we found in the armour stone which is the secret lair of a garter snake.

The Secret Lair of a Garter Snake


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Well, I think that is enough for now. I have to say I was checking out my compost bin today to see what kind of a crop developed over the winter. I am quite pleased. Hopefully the next time I blog here I will talk more about it. This post is quite long enough already!

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