Category: Garden Walk

“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.”  

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

Spring in May is glorious, even on the occasional cool day.  Flowers popping up almost as soon as the buds form.  A few anemones (pictured above) have survived, and remind me to plant some more this fall. And oh are the weeds just as prolific as the flowers.

With many years of injuries, work and illness, I have had to let my gardens go and the weedy over grown look of them shows the lack of care.  As the quote above says, we do have to give the things we love care if we want them to flourish.  So I am determined this year to start the process to slowly and methodically go through each garden and weed, weed and weed again before I add soil and mulch.  In particular I am focusing on the front and side gardens first.

 

 

And I am being careful not to overdo it and risk injury again.  Slow measured steps of an hour of work 4-5 days a week can get me to my goals faster than hours of work at one time, and not being able to move for days….or weeks.

I only began weeding the front gardens in May.  And in between raindrops, heat and resting my shoulder I have worked through these gardens…..and am weeding them again as the next wave of weeds has shown up.  

And even through the weeds as I look about, I am noticing so many flowering successes (like this perennial dwarf sweet pea above) in May despite the lack of any April warm up.

 

 

This is the early flowering front garden as it began to grow, and erupted in bloom in early May.  

 

 

Surprisingly Muscari were popping up everywhere in the front garden right on time in May, and looking lovely against the hyacinth.

 

 

Hyacinths, a favorite of mine, bloomed in the front and side garden and were gone within a week as May began hot.

 

 

I have not worked on the side garden, but it looked lovely as it started to bloom.  

 

 

The maple and ash trees in the back were beginning to leaf out pretty much on time as the first week in May ended.

 

 

Maple leaves…..

 

 

Ash tree flowers….

 

 

And the mailbox garden (after it was well weeded…phew) showing miniature daffs and Muscari growing in the first wave of bloom.

 

 

Pulmonaria was a great treat for me and the pollinators.

 

 

And my snapdragons, started from seed in early February indoors, were already blooming like crazy in their containers.

 

 

I snipped a few for a little May vase.  And added some of the Muscari still blooming.

 

 

I love using this little Polish pottery creamer as a vase.

 

 

It found a perfect spot in my living room near a window.

 

 

English primrose or Primula vulgaris has been blooming beautifully in our continued May warmth this past week.

 

 

These pinky-plum violet, I use as a ground cover, were fully leafed out and blooming not a week after May began. 

 

 

They started to fade, due to the unusual warmth, so I picked a bunch for a vase.

 

 

And added the reddish-purple primrose for a sweet little posy.

 

 

And I have to highlight the May blooming daffs that I love for their beauty and fragrance.

 

 

Most are white or almost white.

 

 

I picked several for an almost white vase.  And I had forgotten I had planted such a variety of white daffs in my garden until I was cutting them.

 

 

And blooming right on schedule was Leucojum aestivum or Summer Snowflake, a perfect addition to the white vase.

 

 

One white snapdragon and a bunch of Brunnera leaves were added for just the right touch.  

It has been an unusual spring, and a fabulous May even with everything flowering at the same time.  I don’t want to miss one bloom or plant.  I will add that our pollen count is over the top making me sneeze a lot more than usual.  But I don’t care…..it is such a beautiful, blissful time in the garden.

What is bringing you bliss in May?  Is there a special flower you look forward to seeing each May?

 

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