This spring has brought us a ton of rain but has also made things really nice for flowering. There are so many things in bloom right now that I may have to save a few for a future post. It's time to get started then! To the left is out tulip poplar tree in bloom.
Catmint 'Walker's Low' is one of my favorite plants for a number of reasons it looks good, it's easy to grow, and the leaves smell great! It also propagates easily as you could tell if you were walking around our yard, it's gradually taking over! Rest assured that is on purpose since it definitely doesn't spread enough for my tastes. Here I planted it just underneath a witchhazel. The idea is that the catmint serves as a green mulch keeping the ground cool and prevents the deer from eating my small tree because of the fragrance of the catmint leaves.
We have some by the front steps. The bees love it! This is a great way to keep door to door sales people away. All but the most determined will ever make it to the door die to the heavy bee population! Bees generally don't even care if you're there but people seem to fear the mere sound of their buzz.
The flowers are prolific and long lasting. They make the plant appear to be a mound of purple.
Here's a dianthus from the arbor garden. It's also on the edge of the self-seeding garden which is a perfect location for it, since I want more, lots more.
Meet Jethro! This is Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull' in bloom. Don't you like the tubular looking petals? Very cool.
A coneflower from our rain garden is budding out almost ready to bloom. This coneflower was a volunteer that I moved from the birdbath garden last year. I have no clue what the flowers will look like but the parent plant was a member of the sundown series so we'll see.
The daylilies are beginning to bud all over the yard.
Here is a view of the deck garden. This one was new last year but is quickly being filled with plants. Some from propagation like the catmint and others from a variety of sources. You can see catmint, penstemon, salvia, and some iris foliage in this picture.
Penstemon 'Husker's Red'
Heuchera 'Mocha'
I really like this penstemon although I can't remember the name. Time to go hunt down a plant tag!
Here's a closeup of a red penstemon bloom. Now where did that tag go?
Plox paniculata from
Gail, better known as Practically Perfect Pink Phlox.
Another favorite perennial of mine is salvia. It's all over the place in our garden. Can you ever
have enough salvia?Here in the front garden purple salvias are mixed with 'Snow Hill' Salvias. The 'Snow Hill' Salvias were planted a year after the 'East Friesland' in the picture. It's easy to see the difference! Please ignore the grass along the border of the garden. I haven't been out to edge in a while. Soon I'm hoping to add some stone borders on that edge.
Here's a glance down the front sidewalk across the salvias. It's a pretty nice plant don't you think?
Labels: Garden Blogger's Bloom Day
