Jumping on the Bloom Day Bandwagon

This month I decided to follow in the footsteps of some of my garden blogging friends and participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, a monthly event hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.  I'm already late to the party so without further ado...

All of the Oakleaf Hydrangeas (H. quercifolia) are in bloom.  My favorite variety is 'Snowflake'. 

'Snowflake' has unique double layered flowers.  Based on my experience Oakleaf Hydrangea is tolerant of drought and poor soil.  This plant grows in one of the worst parts of my garden on top of a stone retaining wall.

Earlier in the week, I blogged about my blooming Clematis.  'Huldine' is pictured above blooming along with Hydrangea paniculata 'Dharuma'.

Here is a closeup of Dharuma's flowers.  What a great little H. paniculata for small garden spaces.

Leptodermis oblonga is an interesting plant.  It stays in bloom to a certain extent all summer but blooms heaviest in June.


Every shade garden should have a Spigelia marilandica or two scattered about.

Penstemon 'Dark Towers' is still blooming.

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' is kicking it off.

Early Hostas are starting to bloom.  This one is 'Daybreak'.

And this gorgeous monster is 'Guardian Angel'.  Every year I have to expand the edge on this bed to accomodate it's increasing size.

Lysimachia 'Alexander' is eye catching early in the season but gets ratty for me by mid summer.

Syneilesis aconitifolia is not generally grown for it's flowers.  Usually they fall over and I end up cutting them off but this grouping in my front garden has been catching my eye every time I walk by the window inside the house.

Corydalis lutea happily seeds itself around.  Here it has found a home at the base of Clematis 'Polish Spirit'

Don't you love it when I garden vignette turns out as planned?  The rose is Oso Easy Paprika.  Last year it barely bloomed so I never got a feel for how it would work.  Echinacea 'Hot Papaya' is just getting started and appears to be a perfect neighbor.  If I didn't hate painting so much the shed trim would be orange by now too.

A Geranium sprawls all over part of the patio garden and makes the perfect skirt for a Knockout Rose.

 

I love Aruncus aethusifolius, a dwarf Goatsbeard.  The lacy foliage holds up all season-long after the flowers fade.

With any luck I'll get my act together earlier for bloom day next month.  I don't claim to be a photographer and had to battle late afternoon sun to get many of the pictures.  And then just before the sun started to cut me some slack, the battery in my camera died.  I know, wah wah wah, right?  Happy Bloom Day everyone!  And TGIF!