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A Connecticut Garden, May 2013 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

joenesgarden — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:19:25 +0000

A Connecticut Garden, May 2013 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Spring 2013 continues to take a slow journey toward summer. Chilly temperatures hold on – it dropped to 38 degrees early this morning – but weather forecasts promise warmer temperatures are moving into Connecticut. For this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, my gardens are dotted with typically early spring blooms and filled with promising buds.

Daffodils/narcissi have had a long run in our chilly temperatures. The last are standing sentry over the garden beds.

Soon their foliage will be completely masked by the very aggressive hay fern.

Nearby, Lily-of-the-Valley share a sweet fragrance.

An early nepeta adds colorful contrast to white blooming flowers and food for early pollinators.

Common lilac bushes are filled with color and scent.

And white lilac blossoms have opened and are larger than I've witnessed in years past. I wonder if last year's lack of flowering, likely due to the combination of early warmth followed by a later bud-destroying freeze, enticed the white lilac to shove out such large blooms.

Pansy pots happily brighten the front porch.

Jack-in-the-pulpit is popping up here and there in the woods.

And my pink dogwood has finally decided to send out more than one or two showy bracts.

Still, much of the garden is in a state of anticipation.

Chives are in bud.

Allium hints at things to come.

Iris stand ready to put on a show next to the ever patient Irving.

There's even anticipation spewing from the robin's nest in the rhododendron

where two robin parents take turns keeping their three eggs warm and sheltered until they hatch.

You just have to love May!

Now visit May Dreams Gardens to see May gardens in bloom all over the world. And, if you are kind enough to leave a comment here I will reply in a few days … taking some time to visit family.

Garden thoughtfully …

Categories: Bloom Day.
Tags: allium, chives, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, iris, Jack-in-the-pulpit, lilac, Lily-of-the-Valley, narcissi, nepeta, pansy, pink dogwood.

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut

joenesgarden — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:10:50 +0000

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut

Mid-way through June and it's again garden party day in the garden blogging world. On the 15th of each month, Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. She posts what is blooming in her garden and gives bloggers all over the world the opportunity to share what is blooming in their gardens. Whether you garden or not, the photos are wonderful and inspiring. In my Connecticut garden 2012 blooms continue to be about two weeks earlier than they were in 2011.

The Endless Summer hydrangea (H. macrophylla 'Bailmer' is already showing color.

Most of the iris have gone by but this Iris louisiana 'Black Gamecock' is still in bloom while my two types of iris ensata should open any day.

My favorite weird bulb, Allium Hair, is at her peak.

Nasturtium, self-sown from last year, are happily dressing up a long planting bed near our pool where I grow potted peppers, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce.

Some nasturtium flowers peak out from under their variegated leaves.

Rose campion in front of a blue spruce play nicely together.

Spirea Double Play Artist, a 2011 gift from Proven Winners, has grown quite a bit from its tiny 4-inch pot size and now begins to show its true colors.

Rose bloom has been spectacular so far this spring. The current star in my gardens is a shrub rose, Mystic Meidiland, that struggled for years in a different location. It's very happy now that it is protected from browsing deer.

Foxglove have also bloomed amazingly well. This bed of foxglove dresses up the edge of our front yard. The photo shows it's peak, on June 6. It still has color today, but is nearing the end of its show.

There's so much more – daylilies just opening, sage and salvia, astilbe and more roses, lamb's ear and lavender, yarrows, sedum and scabiosa – but now it's time to visit the other gardens on display at May Dreams Gardens . Enjoy the show.

Categories: Bloom Day, Bulbs, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: allium, foxglove, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, hydrangea, iris, nasturtium, rose campion, roses, spirea.

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Early bloom creates visual static: a Gardening Oops

joenesgarden — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:29:32 +0000

Early bloom creates visual static: a Gardening Oops

Welcome to the first day of June; GOOPs Day at joene's garden. GOOPs is the acronym for Gardening Oops, the faux pas, mistakes, how-did-this-happen occurrences that pop up in all gardener's lives. On Goops Day, the first of each month, I confess a GOOPs from my gardens and ask others to play along by sharing a GOOPs of their own. This month my GOOPs is related to the unusually early warm weather delivered to Connecticut this spring. It is causing many flowers to bloom at unexpected times.

Like many gardeners, I've worked to achieve a succession of bloom in my gardens. This is done by watching and studying expected bloom times of each perennial and blooming shrub, then planting combinations that provide bloom over a long period. When successful the results can be stunning. It's what gardening geeks like me work to create.

This year Mother Nature is playing «gotcha» with my planned succession of bloom.

During spring and summer I try to take daily strolls by all my garden beds to check out what's budding, blooming or needs deadheading and to look for pest problems and whether deer had an overnight snack. What I saw on one of these strolls last week stopped me dead in my tracks and sent a shudder down my spine. It wasn't a major disaster but serious visual static that garnered my reaction … I have very strong likes and dislikes when it comes to color combinations.

A lovely violet-colored iris (it was a pass-along without a tag) was in full bloom at least a week earlier than in previous years and there it stood in front of a rhododendron, in full magenta-colored bloom. I had to refrain from digging out the iris at that very moment. This combination actually creates a physical shudder down my spine, even when I see the photo. I despise it and it's not at all what I planned.

These two blooms have never simultaneously occurred in previous years. I looked back at photos from last spring; the rhododendron bloomed at the same time as nearby, and complementary-hued clematis, as I planned. The iris came into bloom shortly after the rhododendron flowers had fallen. This year the clematis blooms mostly faded before the rhododendron flowered and the iris open early. Yuck!

I love the iris and now wish my mature rhododendron shrubs were white bloomers, which would have avoided color clashes with other perennials. But it's easier to move the iris than change out the rhododendron. I guarantee the iris will not be blooming in this location next spring. I already have a new home in mind.

That's my GOOPs tale, do you have one? You can recount your GOOPs in a comment below or leave a teaser comment below and tell your GOOPs story on your own blog.

Mother Nature had her laugh on me this spring … she again reminded me I'm not in charge. Did she also have a laugh on you?

Categories: GOOPs-Gardening Oops.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, gardening oops - GOOPs, iris, rhododendron, visual static.

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