Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2016

I'm a couple of days late for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I missed April completely so better late than never! Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts GBBD each month and it's always fun to check out what's in bloom around the country and around the world.

I've been posting "what's in bloom this week" almost every week, not sure if I'll keep doing that all year but it's been fun so far. Sometimes there's such a huge difference from week to week, and it helps remind me to get out and really look at my yeard.

Roses continue to be the big bloomers this week. I'll have to count one of these days but we have about 20 rose bushes along the front and north side of our yard.

A few of the new plants that I've added in with the roses this year are blooming, including these fern leaf lavenders.

Fern leaf lavender

In my partial shade retaining wall bed, the hardy geranium are starting to bloom. I've also transplanted a few pieces into the rose garden and they are doing well there too. I'm guessing these are Johnson's Blue, but hard to tell for sure.

Geranium

The foxglove that I planted earlier in the spring continues to bloom, now there are much smaller spikes around the main stem.

Foxglove

One blue poppy has a second bloom, and looks like a third will pop out too. The other plant shows no sign of blooming - hopefully next year.

Blue poppy with bonus geranium

Also these aquilega, which I found on super sale last month and couldn't resist. I deadheaded and now they're blooming nicely.

The flowers taking over my vegetable garden are still going strong, an unknown bearded iris, oriental poppies and lupine. 

Oriental poppies, lupine, bearded iris

I really like the color combo of the oriental poppies with a new gazing ball. See my reflection? More super sale aquilegia hidden just behind the poppies.

I've finished another section of the lower hillside, which I'll post details of later in the week. I couldn't resist buying a hot lips salvia, already in bloom. The blooms are red and white, although I think even just the red is gorgeous. 

Hot lips salvia

And a lewisia, which was very crowded in it's little nursery pot, I divided into five pieces. I'll confess I'm never too impressed with tiny pale blooms, but I love the leaves. 

Lewisia

Just below the sunny hillside is an area that I hope to build into a native meadow. The showy camas bloomed weeks ago, but blue eyed grass is peeking out now. 

Blue eyed grass

What's coming next week? More roses, I'm sure! Maybe my new penstemon that is next to the hot lips salvia. 

Progress in the rose garden, part 4

It's been a month since my last update on the rose garden and I've been busy weeding and watering. One of my goals is to reduce both of those, but I know I'll have to do a lot more until my new plants are established and grow big enough to cover the space. I hooked up soaker hoses this week but not sure if they will provide enough water in the right places, I may still need to hand water some plants.

Front fence, looking north

North fence, looking east

Bottom section. looking east

I added a few plants here and there: three each of chives (allium schoenoprasum), white lavender (lavandula angustifolia 'Nana Alba') and yarrow (achillea 'Desert Eve Deep Rose' and 'Desert Eve Red'), plus four creeping thyme that I grew from seed. 

I have more seedlings to plant, white calamint, blue calamint, pink nepeta and red and blue aquilegia - as soon as they get a little bigger. I'm worried about pests - there are definitely rabbits around - and keeping them watered enough when they're so small. 

White lavender

Of the ten ranunculus 'Purple Sensation' bulbs that I planted, only five have come up and they're not growing very quickly. The ranunculus that I had bought early in the spring bloomed nicely but now look dead. I'll see what happens this summer and next spring, but I have read that ranunculus just don't well here, it's not quite cool enough. 

Everything else is growing, slowly but surely. 

Munstead lavender, yarrow and Heron's Bill in the back

Hardy geranium

Fern leaf lavender

I had hoped that the peonies I planted in the fall would bloom, but I knew it was likely too soon. Could be another 2-3 years.

Peonies and white lavender in front

The roses are loving the warm spring we're having. They are already having black spot problems, we spray with neem oil and need to go snip off more infected leaves. But the flowers are gorgeous and the plants are generally healthy.

Wild rose at the very bottom of the lower section of roses, growing a little wild

In bloom this week: May 9, 2016

Oriental poppy, lupine and irises

Flowers are taking over my vegetable garden, and they are the stars of the yard this week. A giant blue bearded iris that had languished in a shadier, weedier section of the yard for years is very happy here. Lupine and oriental poppies are also flourishing. Delphiniums that I just planted last fall are still small, but in bloom.

Lupine

Delphinium, still a baby plant

Oriental poppy about to pop

Bearded iris

The roses are in their full glory, this time of year makes up for all of the weeding, watering and disease control! Roses are not low maintenance plants, but they are gorgeous.

I've planted a lot of lavender in the rose garden this year; it's all very small still, but here is one lace leaf lavender.

Lace leaf lavender

The one Dutch iris from last week has turned into a nice little cluster. This is also in the rose garden.

Dutch iris

Salvia, or at least this plant, was sold as an annual but this is the fourth or fifth year that it's come back to life.

Salvia

Next week: maybe a hollyhock? Nah, it's probably a month away still. They didn't bloom until very late in the summer last year, but I grew them from seed and was surprised to get any blooms the first year. 

Hollyhock

In bloom this week: May 2, 2016

There is no such thing as too many rose blooms

Before I fill this page with roses, a few other flowers that are blooming this week.

One blue poppy, this is meconopsis 'Lingholm'. I bought two plants from the Rhododendron Garden in Federal Way in March, this one is blooming now and has another bud visible. I can't tell yet if the other will bloom this year.

Blue poppy

Common camas, just planted earlier in the spring. The great camas finished blooming last week, this looks very similar but smaller. I hope to have more of both next year. 

Common camas

Aquilegia, on my sunny hillside - see the cottonwood fluff? No wonder so many people have allergies right now.

Wild strawberries, mixed in with the aquilegia. I planted these all over the hillside years ago, now getting rid of the grass that grew in and finding these still surviving. They get very tiny berries, hard to even pick. 

Wild strawberry

One Dutch iris, in the rose garden.

Dutch iris

Now, a few more roses!

The iris is not quite blooming yet, but getting closer. I tinkered with the succulents in the pot behind it, and also see the lupine getting ready to bloom on the right.