Seasonal Page: May 1999

A Moist May (moistly...I mean, mostly!)

It has been a real struggle getting this page up in any sort of timely fashion. Part of it is because I've been rather busy with soapmaking... toss in end of school activities, a music commitment with rehearsals and the beginning of summer. Excuses! This has been a very rainy and cool summer so far, but some of these photos were taken during some stretches of sunny weather. Consequently, part of them are a bit contrasty to be their best. I hope you enjoy them anyway. I'll probably be a month behind for most of the summer! I feel like I did a better job of these seasonal pages last year as far as providing more copy... but this year is pressed so you mainly get pictures with short captions... and common names when I'm not confident of the Latin one (or its spelling) and don't want to take the time to look it up or write out the whole thing!

The photo above is of some charming Labrador Violets blooming against a backdrop of double English Primroses (probably "April Rose").

This is the Choisya ternata/Mexican Orange which blooms near the deck (evergreen shrub with white flowers). It's very sweet smelling, but cloying if you are too close... the way Queen Anne's Lace affects me. The bluish grass to the front is Blue Oat Grass... a favorite. The burgundy leaves in the right foreground belong to the Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon'... a prolific seeder! Eeeek! Easy to pull though... if you don't wait two years to do it.	My little plant nursery on the deck. Most of these pots are still there, but with more leafy growth and no tulips! The flat with the tags has germinating daylily seeds in it.
Hosta leaves look so much like geysers when they come out of the ground. I love these with their neighboring bluebells. This is near the deck bed and behind the Choisya above.	I really took this because of how adorable those volunteer viola faces are... aren't they pretty? A few years ago I planted a similar type close to the entry walk. These are at the other end of the blueberry bed and must have seeded from the originals. Their yellow centers were picked up by the fleeting blooms on the dwarf iris.
More of the Tulip 'Orange Bouquet' that I planted last fall. I still think it's another variety and someone made a mistake... a true clear red. I was pleasantly surprised by these and LOVED them! The wooly leaves nearby are the non-flowering Lamb's Ear.	Not as many blooms as last season, but even one truss of Rhododendron 'Grace Seabrook' would stop traffic!

The next rhody to bloom in the back is R. 'Hallelujah' ... it was really pretty this year and will look even better next after I finish weeding around it.	These are the developing seed pods on the Hellebores which were shown in March and April. They are planted in the Oak Bed behind the carport.
A familiar view of the Alley bed with the Clematis montana rubens in all its glory. The pink rhody to the left corner is a seedling I'd crossed years ago from R. 'Unique' and R. 'Fabia'. It needs pruning now so it doesn't slop over the pathway.	Here's a closer look at the delicate flowers of the Clematis montana rubens. You'd never know the deer nearly ate this thing to death when I first planted it on a fence in the back yard. It's more protected here by being close to the house... but is starting to get larger than I'd like. Gardeners seem to either be frantically nurturing or whacking with not much relaxing in between! :-)
When the flowers on the Flowering Dogwood first emerge, they nearly look coral. They lighten as they are out longer.	The charming Double English Primroses flanked by Labrador Violets. This variety is 'April Rose'.

Rh. 'Ken Janek' is so blushed and beautiful when it first emerges. It grows in the small bed set into the front walk. Eventually, I'll have to move some things out of here... this bush will spread. It is a R. yak cross.	A close-up view of the delicate flowers of Daphne 'Somerset' ... a close relative to the popular variegated 'Carol Mackie'. Sure wish you could smell these! This grows in the back bed very near the Rhody 'Grace Seabrook'.
The size of this viola is between Johnny-Jump-Up and pansy. I think it was a cross from a named viola I planted in the Ash Bed a few years ago... 'Better Times'? Sure is pretty. Probably would have trouble finding it now... everything has filled out so much.	Along the front edge of the driveway bed is this clump of Iris florentina... the iris from which orris root is obtained. The flowers are rather washed out and almost gray, but have a nice fragrance. They are also earlier than the hybrid bearded irises.
The orchard taken from the driveway. It was prettier in person than this photo.	Near the trunk of the cherry shown to the left are three Hosta tardiflora. They have small leaves and bloom quite late in the summer. The Forget-Me-Nots are kaput now (mid-June) but really shine in April and May.

I always show this azalea (probably a Knap Hill). Don't know the variety, but my mother brought it from our old home on Erland's Point and I've had a portion of it for years now. There were others more brightly colored than this one, but I still enjoy it.	With a backdrop of Choisya, the new leaves of Purple Smokebush are nearly as pretty as flowers. The real flowers come later... in June ... and look like a purple haze. Surprisingly, the deer will eat them!
A dry shade workhorse... this is Geranium macrorrhizum. The leaves have a strong geranium smell (which is rather satisfying). This is a volunteer.	The same plant with different shutter speed. Something went wrong, but I thought it looked rather pretty, so posted it. Might make an impressionistic desktop picture!
Another shade-loving hardy Geranium... G. monacense. This is a somewhat obscure species that is much like G. phaeum... "The Mourning Widow". The reason it looks like this is that the flash came on.	An interesting summer sky... after a LOT of rain! I took this from the driveway and that's the tree in our front yard that should be cut down.

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This page last updated on June 27, 1999.

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