Bloom Day - Before the Creek Rises

I actually got to see my garden in the daylight this week. I had a couple of unexpected days off due to a spring fever - literally. So far it does not appear to be the much hyped porcine influenza. Between time on the couch watching really bad daytime TV or in bed napping, I was able to get a few pictures, but no gardening took place. That's a shame, because the weather has been perfect with sufficient rains. I guess any weather is good compared to what I heard on NPR this morning. Apparently one of the ice sheets could be sloughing off of Antarctica in the near future, and according to the news piece, it could raise sea level up to 20' with most of the rise concentrated on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards of North America. My garden is only about 10' above sea level. Maybe FEMA will build some raised beds for me? I'll have to worry about that some other day, let's see what is now blooming in the garden.

I am not going to repeat any of the Iris I posted earlier this month, but I do want to show the Iris x 'Impersonator' , which is special because it is a hybrid between Iris germanica and Iris ensata. When it opens it looks like a large purple Bearded Iris, but as it ages the petals fall flat like a Japanese Iris and the color softens.


Another shot of purple comes from Purple Smoke Baptisia (Baptisia x 'Purple Smoke'). Because I have such a small yard, I do not usually plant perennials with a short bloom period. However, this one looks like a blue green shrub when it finishes blooming and it is very tough.

The only Clematis I have ever successfully grown is one that came with our house, I think it is Clematis x jackmanii. I found out that it likes to be cut to the ground in late winter when I inadvertently cut it with my weed whacker trying to cut back the Liriope.

Can you tell I like purple? This Angelonia is an annual I planted last week and hopefully the Sun Coleus behind it will catch up with it soon- acid yellow and dark purple togther.
This is the very drought tolerant and long lived Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis fruticosa).
A few more of my roses have come into bloom. This is Betty Boop.
Hot Cocoa blooms in one of my other favorite colors, smoky orange, and I am pleased how well it looks next to a Rose Glow Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Rose Glow'). The pairing was unintentional.

After all that heat let's look at some whites. This is either Ligustrum japonicum or Ligustrum lucidum. It also came with the house, and I normally would not have planted it. However, it serves a good purpose in screening the back of the house from the street. I only wish that every single one of its seeds did not germinate.
Strawberry Geranium (Saxifraga stolonifera) fills shady nooks and crannies, and while it's blooming now, I grow it for the foliage.
The next few shots are of the intoxicating Confederate Jasemine, aka Star Jasemine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). I like this plant so much I have three of them. One is taking over the house, one is climbing an oak, while the other is trying to escape to the neighbor's yard. If you want to read more about it, Helen at Garden With Confidence has a recent post on the plant. If you enlarge the pictures you can see how the unopened buds look like fancy candelabra bulbs.

Technically the red seed of the Golden Full Moon Maple (Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum') was once a flower, so it can be shown for bloom day. I have had this for over 10 years and I don't think it has grown 2 inches, but I can't get enough of that foliage color in the shade. Now a preview of things to come. My Hydrangeas are just a few weeks away from blooming, not that I am trying to rush things.

Please join gardeners everywhere in celebrating Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dream Gardens. Afterall, it is May.