Mid-May

Lupines and Weigela 'Pink Poppet' on the east side of the tractor shed.

Hello, all! I've been working hard in my gardens for the past week and things are starting to look more under control, after my feelings of panic several weeks ago. I have been completely renovating several of my major garden areas due to issues with thuggish invasive plants and changes I have wanted to make, so there aren't as many things blooming at this time of year as usual, but there are still a few bright spots in the gardens that I'd like to share with you.

This is not one of the bright spots, but it is an area that looks a lot better for being cleared out and raked smooth. I will not be able to plant anything in this main section of my Front Border for the rest of this year due to a nasty problem with Obedient Plant 'Vivid,' but at least it looks like a cultivated area now, not just sprayed, dying plants and large holes from where I dug out plants I was able to save. I'll move the Alliums after they dry up, and leave only the roses until next spring. 

Another part of my Front Border, with a few gaps, but still containing a few blooming plants to cheer me up.

This week I painted and installed these trellises on the east side of our decaying old Tractor Shed, on which I hope the sweet pea starts planted at their base will grow up. Next year I'll get an earlier start planting the sweet peas out with trellises already being in place. Something about these wood trellises reminded me of the "barn quilts" that are painted on the sides of barns here in the Midwest, perhaps the diamond-shaped insert in the center of each.

The tree peony 'Renkaku' that I planted last year had a big,
beautiful bloom on it.

Another tree peony, called 'Hoki', near 'Renkaku'.

Purple bearded irises, verbena 'Shauna Ann' and allium 'Purple Sensation' in the Purple Section of what used to be called my Rainbow Border. (I'm not certain what I will call it now that I am mixing up the colors -- perhaps the "Big Easy Color Border" might work? I'll think on it....)

I was also able to get my cutting garden in order this week and have been working on moving things around in the ex-Rainbow Border. Next week I hope to show some more irises that are just now coming into bloom, but that's it for now.

Hope your own garden work is starting to reach a manageable point as we near the end of May, the busiest month for gardeners. Thanks for reading! -Beth