Category Archives: front bed

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – May 2019

backyard bed, bloom day, bulbs, front bed, gate bed, loki bed, perennials, southwest bed, spring, the Lot

It has been awhile since I participated in Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens. But the weather was slightly overcast the other morning, so I brought the camera out into the garden with that goal in mind. This Spring on the Lot seems to be running behind previous years. When I attended a bare roots class the other weekend, our instructor commented we are about 2 weeks behind last year. Looking back at the blog at previous Spring blooms for May, that does indeed seem to be the case.

Out front in the south bed of the Lot, those classic red tulips are blooming. These bulbs were in the bed when we moved into the home. There are many not blooming beside and behind the overgrown yew which also was there on move-in day. I’m determined this year to mark area with popsicle sticks and dig them up in the fall and relocate them. The bi-color tulips are newer.

In this southwest bed are new tulips as well. The creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is also blooming. I’d like to divide it after it is done blooming and distribute it more evenly through the south and southwest bed.

Pro Tip: To get a discount on creeping phlox for your garden, visit the nursery after the phlox’s bloom time. The nursery will have sheered off the spent blooms, so it is harder for them to sell to the public. If you know what you’re looking for, you often get a bargain!

And then I got momentarily distracted by these less-than-perfect looking tulip blooms. I do enjoy a good quirky, bug nibbled flower.

It also had rained the night before, so there were droplets of rainwater still on the plants. Okay, onward!

Here the barrenwort (Epimedium) is in bloom in the east bed. I LOVE, love, love this plant. It is so magical…like foam flower (Tiarella) magical. Those little flowers look like they are floating, and check out the foliage! This is a rockstar for dry shade or morning sun areas in the garden.

In the back garden of the Lot, the bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) is displaying its stalks of suspended blooms. I have a lot of seedlings from this plant to give away in a neighborhood plant exchange this year!

Here is a service berry shrub in bloom. This shrub is a favorite of any robins nesting nearby. They absolutely love the fruit.

A closeup of the shrub. I really enjoy white blooms in the spring. Whenever we have rainy days and overcast skies, the white blooms of this shrub seem to glow. It’s a nice reminder when looking out the kitchen window that spring is indeed in progress.

This Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) colony, pictured to the left of St. Francis, began with transplants from Loki’s bed thanks to my gardening buddy Ms. A. I feel it’s filled in rather nice.

In the very back of the backyard garden, this barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) is nestled between the rain barrels. Again, the lighter color bloom brightens up this area on cloudy days. It’s often grown as a groundcover, though it has been slow to spread in this spot. I think I’m going to grab a few more of these during this year’s nursery crawl.

Gah, I love this plant SO much!!! It’s prairie smoke geum (Geum triflorum). There are geum cultivars available, but I’ve never found any of them as interesting as this native gem. I feel this could be one of those magical plants as well. That’s a scientific classification, right?

A closeup shot of the flowers. So fuzzy!!!

And finally in Loki’s bed, the very first lenten rose (Helleborus) to grace the Lot is in full bloom with new grow on the way. It gets larger and more beautiful every season.

But Wait, There’s More

There are more plants blooming on the Lot I haven’t pictured above. A whole bunch of grape hyacinth bulbs (Muscari) and violets are adding purple dots of color. Cranesbill (Geranium) and more lenten rose (Helleborus) are also in bloom. A few primrose (Primula vulgaris) are still blooming. The brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’), lungwort (Pulmonaria), and rock cress ((Arabis sturii) are all beginning to bloom.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – March 2018

backyard bed, bloom day, bulbs, front bed, house bed, spring

It is challenging being a gardener in Zone 6 at this time of year. It is especially challenging when you’re a gardener in Zone 6 this time of year and have had the opportunity to befriend gardeners in Zones 7-9. They are awash in spring blooms and you are still eagerly awaiting the first stir of early spring bulbs!

Well the Other Half and I not only saw our first robin this past week or so, but we finally have those ephemeral beauties showing up on the Lot. First to appear this season are the Other Half’s favorite spring bulb, the snowdrop (Galanthus). First the snowdrops by the house foundation popped up.

Those were closely followed by a handful in the backyard bed. Several days afterward, the cheery yellow winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) joined the party.

I really enjoy the splashes of bright color brought to the garden by this little member of the buttercup family. Here is it again in another part of the backyard bed.

And shortly on the aconites’ heels is the crocus. We have purple, yellow, and white with purple stripe variations on the Lot.

In the front south bed the daffodils (Narcissus) are breaking ground…

…and so are the tulips (Tulipa) in the southwest bed!

Not just the bulbs are waking up. Some of the early-to-rise perennials on the Lot are stirring as well, like this lenten rose (Helleborus). Just purchased last season, this is the first time I’ll see the lovely sepals of Sandy Shore, part of the HoneyMoon Series by Walters Gardens, Inc. hybridizer Hans Hansen.

With the annual Smart Gardening conference behind me and the first signs of spring stirring on the Lot, the gardening bug is worse than ever right now! I can’t wait to get out into the garden and officially begin the season.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – December 2016

backyard bed, bloom day, fence bed, front bed, gate bed, southwest bed, the Lot, winter

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day has arrived on our frosty, snow-covered Lot in Zone 6a. At the beginning of last weekend the snow began to fall and did not stop throughout the weekend. At this posting we have settled into the winter routine, with the Other Half graciously clearing the sidewalks and drive with the snow shovel. The city has dug itself out and activities around here resumes as normal. The Lot is now covered in a powdery, white blanket which doubles as the poor man’s mulch to protect hibernating perennials from the brisk winter temperatures and harsh winds.

Snow Blooms

Full disclaimer right now; you are not going to see colorful flowers in this Bloom Day post. If you’d prefer those, and I wouldn’t be offended, head over to May Dreams Gardens to scope out some southern gardens. However, we do have some snow blooms to log, something that hasn’t happened since December Bloom Day 2013.

The Sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis paniculata) wasn’t around in 2013, but it has had a spectacular season on the Lot and continues to be beautiful into this month. I’ve left all the seed heads and vines in place (they’re just so darn purdy!), and when the snow fell it was light enough to create powdery blooms.

Check out the textures of the feathery seeds combined with the snow.

Always wonderful in the winter is snowfall upon stalks and seed heads of the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

The old rose at the southwest corner of the house is forming curious looking blooms resembling icicles.

Yes, I know. They’re icicles, but pretty neat looking, right?

The burning bush (Euonymus alatus) has a strong enough structure to hold the weight of most  snowfalls and therefore regularly provides winter interest.

Other plants on the Lot do not. Here’s the false indigo (Baptisia australis) looking less than impressive under the weight of the snow.

The maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) doesn’t look much better after more than a dusting of snow. I hadn’t secured the stalks together with twine as I had in years before.

Last but not least is this winter-themed hanging container I found while taking photos for today. UGH. You think you have everything in the garden put away for winter, and then you come across this!

So now a gardener goes back to her notes from the season and makes an attempt to bring the journal up to date. It’s a bit tricky to stay on top of the task during the growing season. However, this year involved a lot of Sherlock-ing some growing challenges, so I want to make sure I have those logged. Can’t wait to see what spring brings!