Just a girl with a hammer

Bloom Day May 2012

Written by

Heather

in

Farewell to Spring never lies. It’s supposed to be 80 degrees this weekend! Hooray!

Farewell to Spring Clarkia amoena ‘Aurora’

Salal Gaultheria shallon
Allium shubertii
I really need Scott to teach me how to photograph grasses.
Tufted hair grass Deschampsia caespetosa
Penstemon
Black lace elderberry Sambucus nigra

Viburnum plicatum var. Watanabe with a sleeping bee. HE’S SLEEPING, RIGHT?

This ladybird poppy is on my shit list. If the other one’s foliage goes dead overnight like this one, it’s getting yanked. I don’t care how pretty its blooms were for two days.

Ladybird poppy Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’

Brakelights yucca and roses
If anyone wants this penstemon, I saw it yesterday at Garden Fever.

Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’

Jasmine

Salvia microphylla

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’

Spiraea japonica ‘Magic Carpet’

Heuchera ‘Hollywood’

Monkey flower Mimulus cardinalis

Ocean Spray Holodiscus discolor

Jerusalem sage Phlomis russeliana

Juncus effusus

Juncus ensifolius

Sedum oreganum


For the full show of bloom day entries, head over to May Dreams Gardens. 

Comments

  1. merylrose Avatar
    merylrose

    I'm really excited for myself because I knew the name of a few of the plants before I saw the name below the pic 🙂 Hooray! On my tentative list for plants for our front yard that you've already got are: penstemon, ladybird poppy and salvia. Of course not sure of the penstemon or salvia varieties yet, but do you like them? Maybe the ladybird poppies would bloom here for longer because of our warmer temps?

    Reply
  2. Mulchmaid Avatar
    Mulchmaid

    Q: Why is jealousy my first miserable reaction to this post?
    A: Because you have so damn much blooming in your very new garden (whereas I have precious little in my over-five-year-old garden.) I tell myself I don't garden for the flowers, but I see yours and wonder what I think I AM gardening for.
    Really great penstemmons and salvia!

    Reply
  3. Scott Weber Avatar
    Scott Weber

    OMG…of course I LOVE 'Dark Towers'…I need to find a spot for some! I actually adore Jerusalem Sage in every garden I've ever seen it in…but, for some reason, have never planted it…I can't figure out why. Yeah…that's the downside of Poppies…the foliage is AWFUL. I actually took the time last year to strip off the foliage…leaving only the stems and pods. It was definitely time-consuming…but I loved the pods enough to do it (well…that once…I didn't even plant them this year)! The secret to grass photos is to make the grass think you DON'T want to take it's photo 😉 Give the Deschampsia a year or 2 to really bulk up…then you'll get great photos 🙂

    Reply
  4. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I just got done being jealous of YOUR blooms! Ha!

    How about I'll bring over all my flowering plants and I'll take that sweet Mountain Hemlock off your hands? 😉

    Reply
  5. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Poppies are short bloomers and their foliage always tends to do that, so it's not like I didn't know it would happen. Ideally you want to plant something in front of them that hides their terrible foliage.

    Penstemon and salvia are wonderful–drought tolerant, long blooming, and easy to care for. And butterflies and hummingbirds love them. I just realized that I forgot to post a picture of Salvia 'May Night,' which you should put on your short list. Hot indigo color, great upright form, and it starts blooming early. I'm so excited for you and your yard!

    Reply
  6. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    That front poppy (there's a smaller one behind it) got so battered by wind and rain that even the stems won't stand up. But I am totally going to do what you did with the other one. I love those seedheads!

    Reply
  7. Wendy B. Avatar
    Wendy B.

    I just bought myself one of those Black Lace Elderberries. I had never seen one before. It was totally LOVE at first sight and I had to have it! I only got one, but I may need to get more… 😉

    Reply
  8. Bria Phillips Avatar
    Bria Phillips

    Ha, way to get tough with those misbehavin' poppies! Thanks for the tip on Penstemon 'Dark Towers'–I DO want one. Do you think they need full sun? I'm all out of that.

    Reply
  9. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I just found an amazing lime green vine I want to place behind that elderberry so the color will pop more against the fence. Just remember not to move that elderberry once it's been planted!

    Reply
  10. Loree Avatar
    Loree

    So is that the Elderberry you moved? Looks like its bounced back just fine. Love the 'brakelights' and probably need one of my own…

    Reply
  11. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    No this is a different elderberry. The one I moved is recovering still and it won't flower this year. And you totally need that hesperaloe!

    Reply
  12. casacaudill Avatar
    casacaudill

    I'm so jealous (envious?) of your lovely flowers. I plant things like roses and hydrangeas because the people at the garden center told me they are hardy and they just die. Damn drought plagued area.

    Reply
  13. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Roses are so hard! They shouldn't have told you that! Plant agastaches and salvias–they love dry sun and they are gorgeous!

    Reply
  14. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Wonderful. What is the first penstemon with the purple flowers? I want one, or five. Also, had no idea there are red monkey flowers. Is it hardy in zone 5?

    Reply
  15. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Sadly, I don't know what kind of penstemon that is. I got it at a Master Gardener sale when I first moved into the house, before I had any system for remembering what I planted. The foliage is evergreen here, so it would probably be hardy to zone 5? I'm terrible at knowing what can grow where!

    Reply
  16. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Sadly, they do want full sun. 🙁

    Reply
  17. Anne Avatar
    Anne

    WOW! So much awesomeness blooming!!

    Reply
  18. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Thanks, Anne!

    Reply
  19. Ricki Grady Avatar
    Ricki Grady

    Your Phlomus looks so cute all by its lonesome. Drifts are nice, but the architecture of the plant kind of gets lost in the jumble. My poppies look just like yours. I bought the seed at an open garden, where great drifts of them, mixed in with grasses, held each other up…kind of a good neighbor policy.

    Reply
  20. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    I'm hoping my phlomis will have friends soon! And pairing the poppies with a grass is a great idea–thank you!

    Reply

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