Garden Blogger's Bloom Day~ May 2010

This month's GBBD finds the garden parched. Some plants have gone on strike while a few stalwarts keep keeping on. My garden is high and dry and I haven't used the sprinkler at all so far this year. I was pleasantly surprised to see some daylily scapes have appeared also. If we don't get rain soon it will really put a damper on daylily season:(

And the bunny says...




I've gotten only two new plants this Spring~ Pineapple Sage and
'Diamond Frost' Euphorbia. I just love the airy & delicate blooms plus it'll take some abuse.


A short Nigella next to a Sedum whose name I've forgotten


Arachnid camouflage at work on the Blanket Flower


The second generation of this Sweet William is all white. I had never grown this before last year. All of my dianthus have born single blooms per stem.


There are a few holdouts on the last Siberian clump.


Salvia 'San Carlos Festival' is blooming in one location but not others.


I have a couple of variations of Larkspur blooming. Peak bloom hasn't come yet:)



Rudbeckia triloba blooms somewhere in the garden the whole season.


Lychnis coronaria with Asclepias tuberosa in the center getting ready to bloom. I need to pull all of the Lychnis very soon~ it has reached critical mass here and must be stopped. It even grows in the lawn!


My azaleas always wait until May to bloom. These were planted as foundation shrubs by the builder and I would love to replace them one day~ this photo is flattering.


Salvia 'Christine Yeo' is not a heavy bloomer but I like the overall habit of the plant.


Viburnum bracteatum 'Emerald Luster' ~ it bears repeating that if you want a full sun Viburnum in the south then this one is worth tracking down.


Open flowers on my one and only Knifophia bloom:)I hope that this clump will be a sleep/leap one for me.


Happy garden Blogger's Bloom Day to all of you! To see what's blooming in gardens all around the world visitMay Dreams Gardens.

Who am I? and other stuff

Spring is right around the bend now and thankfully we have mild temps on the forecast for the next few days. I have tons of work to do in the garden since I haven't really done any this year. A short survey on Saturday found nothing new in bloom since my last post. The hybrid hellebore will open its flowers soon and the Forsythia is in full yellow bud. The main thing that I see when I look out there is~ yikes!~ the ornamental grasses need attention NOW. I love grasses but truly hate the mess that they can make, especially Miscanthus 'Cabaret'



See what I mean?

The reason for the title of this post is this little tuft of grass. Does anyone recognize it? I have a clump of Nasella tenuissima, Mexican Feather Grass or Silky Thread Grass about 3 or 4 feet away. I have not had reseeding from it before to my knowledge but could this be my first? For scale reference the plants surrounding it are common tiny winter weeds.



And now for something completely different~ photo play! This first image is of the winter stems of garlic chives( when do those seeds germinate, btw? That was a big oops.)I used a filter here.



Rudbeckia triloba seedheads~ what should have been my Feb GGW Photo Contest entry for winter light. A different filter used here as well.



I've been having alot of fun with those scripts that I mentioned in my last post. Like giving this garden bunny's fur some rich new highlights...




and making those same garlic chives look sophisticated in bloom...



A fairy tale glow for the Ruellia buds...



and softening this October garden scene.



For these scripts and more visit sheilsoft.com. I purchased the whole collection but many of the individual scripts can be downloaded for free.

Camera Critters~ A Dog's Day

September 11, 2001 is a day that will remembered forever for a terrible act of terrorism. It was also my sweet little dog's very first birthday. Here he is on his
9th birthday.

Chewy



The Wax Myrtles in the garden are home to Mockingbirds. They watch over everything I do out there,lol.



I took lots of butterfly pics over the holiday weekend. I like this one of a Black Swallowtail for its different angle.



And another couple of bunny pics from this AM:)

"Hiding"



What's up?



Visit Camera Crittersfor more pet and wildlife pictures.

Camera Critters~ A Few Visitors

I saved up a few photos this week for Camera Critters. This is one of my best hummimgbird photos so far for this year. I just haven't been able to capture many.



Me and my shadow


Ladybug in the Lespedeza.


Pot sitting.


A sleeper


Right at home on the bunny beam.


Check out more pictures here~ Camera Critters

If you plant it they will come

I had wondered if they would find my one Bronze Fennel plant this year and as you can see, they have. To my knowledge this is the only host plant for Swallowtail butterflies that I currently grow in my garden. I should probably plant parsley for them as well but I probably would have only been feeding these guys.

I didn't have any time to take pics on Thurs or Fri morning. I did walk out to take a quick survey Friday morning and just as soon as I stopped at the first bed a huge Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly came by my head and a hummingbird stopped to drink from a spent daylily flower. It was a gentle reminder to me that the garden is not just about what photos I can capture from it.