May Flowers and May Showers

The 'Globemaster' alliums I planted in my North Border last fall are making a good show this spring.

We're now entering the most beautiful time of the year, in my opinion: Late May and Early June. The foliage is lush and green, thanks to the rain and intermittent cooler weather we've been having here in Iowa. The alliums and iris are blooming, the peonies are gearing up and the roses are yet to come. I've planted nearly all the plants that I've bought so far, I'm nearly finished moving plants around, and I've (mostly) been staying on top of the weeds.

The weather is not so hot as to be uncomfortable yet, although we've had enough warm, sunny days that we feel we're enjoying a nice spring-to-summer transition. And it's been breezy enough that the usual May gnats aren't too annoying. In short, this has been a nice spring to enjoy being out in our gardens!

In my last post, I showed a few photos of areas I've been working on -- which don't look very pretty, I'll admit (you know, Work In Progress...). To make up for it, in this post I'll show only the beautiful flowers that I've been enjoying here in my gardens:

Pink irises and oxeye daisies in my North Border. The oxeye daisies want to take over all my borders, but they're so pretty I can't get rid of them. I'll deadhead them before they go to seed, even though I hate to remove their prettiness. 

This Verbascum 'Southern Charm' is becoming established in the North Border, after two years.

I've been planting lupine seeds in the shadier end of my North Border for two years and only have a few tiny seedlings as a result. I finally resorted to buying a dozen mature plants last month and two of them are already blooming. It's hard to be patient enough to save money in gardening....

This is my first rhododendron to ever bloom. We do not have acid soil here and I have to add soil acidifier to keep these acid-lovers alive. I just planted this last spring, and it's doing much better than the azaleas I've had for several years that never look very good and don't bloom.

My Front Border is a riot of oxeye daisies and irises, which I will definitely divide this fall.

More irises in the Front Border. I like these pink and yellow ones.

Painted daisies, more irises and oxeyes in the other end of the Front Border.

Baptisia in the Purple Section of the Rainbow Border. This plant has really established itself quite well here.

I really like orange flowers the more I see and grow them. These orange irises are looking pretty good this year.

I know most gardeners like window boxes and pots filled with assortments of flowers of different heights and growth habits (tall, trailing and fillers, etc.), but I think I might prefer simple displays of one kind of flower, like these pansies. Even this was adventurous for me, as I usually plant pure yellow pansies in this box. I'm enjoying the multicolored ones this year though -- I guess I like to live daringly.... :-)

I hope you are enjoying your late spring in your own gardens too, with rain when you need it and warm, sunny skies when you don't. Thanks for reading! -Beth