Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2017

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for May 2017.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, we are enjoying a spring with plenty of rain, and the garden looks more lush and full every day.

Our average rainfall for May is just a few drops over two inches, and already we are well on our way to five inches or there abouts for the month. Yes, we are ahead on rainfall for the year so far, too.

Looking around the garden, I am no longer freaking out thinking we are weeks ahead. We may be a few days ahead of previous years but the startling sprint of early spring has slowed down quite a bit.

And it appears our last frost of the growing season is behind us now. That means it's time to plant out the warm season crops in the vegetable garden, prep and fluff the flower beds and switch out the violas and pansies for flowers that will withstand the hot days of summer.

Would you like to see some blooms?  After you've seen the blooms, way down at the end of the post, you'll find the information on how you can participate in bloom day, too.

Ready.

Set.

Flowers!

My favorite columbine (Aquilegia sp.) is this little yellow one. Sorry about that streak of light across the middle of the picture.

This columbine color combo is more typical of the species, Aquilegia canadensis.

The columbines are blooming all over the garden in all sorts of colors, like this pretty white and purple combo.

This is the flower on Carolina Allspice, Calycanthus floridus.

No flowers yet on my new dogwood, planted last fall, Cornus kousa 'Summer Fun', but with foliage like that, who needs flowers?

Truly, I do not remember planting Ragged Robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi 'Jenny' but I am enjoying the blooms in a garden border planted with mostly late-summer bloomers.

I do remember planting this little rose, but have lost its tag and therefore its name. It was such a scrawny little snip when I planted it years ago. Nice to see it sizing up a bit.

Amsonia is in bloom. Blue Dog-Bane. Other than wanting to self sow around the garden, it is a nice plant to have because the foliage turns golden in the fall.

Peas are just starting to bloom. We are going to have peas to pick  before long.

And some blackberries, too.

We have wisteria, too, the native wisteria, Wistera frutescens. I cut off the seed pods to keep it from showing up in places it ought not to be, like any other place in the garden other than the one post I gave it to grow up on.

Here's another plant that I'd grow just for the foliage. Symphytum x uplandicum 'Axminster Gold' or you can call it Variegated Comfrey.

Daisies. You've got to have ox-eye daisies that just show up randomly in the late spring garden. Leucanthemum vulgare will self-sow happily, and I let it because it is easy to pull out where I don't want it to grow.

Peonies. Our state flower, but not a native.

Here's a Baptisia. I think this one is 'Carolina Moonlight'.

May means perennial sages are in bloom, like the ubiquitous 'May Night'.

And we are starting to see more clematis, like this short stemmed Clematis integrifolia.

And this is the first bloom on Clematis 'Rooguchi'. It's not as pale a flower as this picture makes it appear to be.

Spiderwort, why doth thou invade my garden? Because I once planted it in my garden. Now I pull out Trandescantia sp. any chance I get because it would take over if I didn't. This one will get pulled out today.

Another Baptisia. Probably 'Purple Smoke'. Not for sure, though, so don't buy one based on this picture.

I do like my hardy ground orchids, Bletilla striata.

And a few Japanese-style irises that are showing up here and there, sort of randomly. Hmmm... who did that?  Behind it you can see little white blooms on Sedum ternatum, which grows well in shade.

Geraniums, the true geraniums are in bloom now, too, like Geranium × cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' which acts as a ground cover.

This spring I also planted Geranium 'Rozanne' because I think they will look nice in the front garden.

Also in the front, it is almost time to say good-bye to the violas and pansies. I need to replace them with summer-loving plants.

Oh, and alliums are blooming now too, like this one in front of my new-to-me bird bath purchased at a garden fair last weekend.

And that's a bit of what's in bloom here in my garden. What's blooming in your garden today in the middle of May? We'd love to have you participate in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and show us.

It's easy to do. Just post on your blog about your blooms, then come here and leave a comment to tell us what you have to show us and then put a link in the Mr. Linky widget so we can come and see.

And remember the inspiration for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - "We can have flowers nearly every month of the year." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence