1-2-3 Go Garden!: May 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

The End of May

This is my garden at the end of May. The first poppies have popped. The weigela bush is in its glory, covered in little pink trumpet-shaped flowers. And 'Ankums Pride', the first of the hardy geraniums to bloom, is showing its purple-pink flowers.

Two Allegro Poppies

The first poppy, of course an 'Allegro', bloomed yesterday, May 24. This is early for poppies to bloom, in fact the earliest date they ever have for me. (In 2010, the first poppy bloomed on May 24, also, but the norm is closer to the beginning of June. The latest date occurred last year, a very cold year, when the first poppy did not bloom until June 9. Does it matter when the first blooms are? I don't know. It matters to me, so I keep a record of it. Maybe someday it will help a scientist study Climate Change. But even if that never happens, it's still worthwhile to me to know when things bloom year after year.

Poppy Bud (About to Pop)

This bud that is about to pop will probably be the reddish-pink 'Manhattan'. The poppies may start blooming on different dates, but they tend to follow each other in a regular order.

Weigela and Bee

Zen Garden

The weigela bush in the backyard is entirely covered in small, pink, trumpet-shaped flowers. The pollinators love them. And the pink provides a welcome respite from the unrelenting backdrop of green that is my garden right now. (The tall irises had a great year last year, but have not done well this year. Normally they would be blooming at the same time as the poppies. Perhaps I should have divided them in the fall.)

'Ankums Pride' Hardy Geranium

I used to put an apostrophe in when I wrote "Ankum's" in 'Ankums Pride'. Then I saw somewhere that that is not correct -- but now I don't remember where I saw it or why it's so. I'm not even sure why I mention it. Maybe I should just end the post now and be done with it.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Shortcuts

Some cell phone snaps of baskets of flowers I bought today. (Using a cell phone is a shortcut. I really should have used a proper camera. They take much better pictures.) I am currently using the baskets to add some colour to the garden, as the tulips are finished and the poppies haven't popped yet.

In this first picture you can see a basket of flowers in 'hot' colours: pink (zonal geraniums), yellow (tickseed?), chartreuse (ipomeoa), and purple with variegated leaves (lamium).

The colour is not very accurate on the above photo, but you can see how lush and full the basket is. I got charged double for this basket as it sat in the cart, because the cashier felt sure there must be two baskets in there providing all those flowers. Luckily I caught the mistake and got a refund.

This basket of petunias and lobelia is definitely a shortcut to add some colour.

Some other plants I picked up were some Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' (my favourite low-growing plant for the front of a border) and a Hemerocallis 'Catherine Woodbury' that I bought to replace my original plant, which is getting weaker every year. I really love 'Catherine Woodbury' and I think it would break my heart not to have any. I also bought some Japanese Iris, which may or may not be a good idea. I should probably have done more research before picking up that one on a whim. They need lots of water, something my garden doesn't have.

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Monday, May 07, 2012

Mid-Spring

Just a few pretty photos of some blooms in the garden today.

Tulips

Daffodils

Dwarf Iris

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