Bloom Day - In Context

We are all familiar with the tools digital technology has given the photographer. It is now possible for nearly everyone with a camera and a computer to create beautiful images, especially of flowers, and I proudly embrace these tools. Macro settings, cropping tools and even digital erasures make it possible to hide undesirable elements. It is a shame these were not available when a good part of the world was ruled by politburos; it would have made the job of the official party photographer much easier as comrades and party operatives fell out of favor, defected or disappeared. Through current technology the garden photographer can hide the ugly pile of leaves, crop out the bug eaten petal, fade the stray street sign, or take dozens of pictures so that one will come out blog-worthy, all without spending a dime on film developing. The draw back to this is that you do not always always know in what setting the plant grows or get an accurate picture of the garden as a whole. So for this Bloom Day I thought I would show the pretty, cropped and edited photos and then the larger context in which they grow.

Our front porch is currently being devoured by the Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea') and super sweet smelling Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens).

At the bottom of the steps I grow a Viburnum lantana 'Variegata' that I have kept in a pot now for over 10 years. The flowers are OK, but the foliage is fantastic with the bright green leaves touched with gold.

Here in context are the above three plants.

I grow two Loropetalums with this one being 'Pizazz' (Loropetalum chinensis var. rubrum 'Pizazz'). In context it is to the left of the front steps where it does not nearly have enough room to grow, so it gets pruned frequently.

My side garden is very shady and seems the perfect place to grow a couple of thugs: Common Violet (Violet papilionacea), Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') and the recently identified Corydalis heterocarpa (not C. lutea, thank you Denise).

At the sidewalk edge of the side garden I have been letting Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) naturalize, which they have done on their own, but I supplement with a few more bulbs each year.

Now here is a shot of the side garden as it becomes the front.

Before I knew about Loropetalum, I planted a Rose Glow Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Rose Glow'), mainly for the foliage, but the spring flowers are not ugly, especially in macro setting.

Here is the barberry in context behind some Sunrise Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora 'Sunrise').

Down by the curb is one of the few plants left over from the previous gardener, Creeping Pholx (Phlox subulata).

Here it is being kept in context by the monthly street sweeper.

Around back the Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' ) is planted between the water garden and an old stump I hauled on my shoulders half way down Cedar Island Beach.

If you would like to see what context other people garden in, or at least the context they blog in, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens where she hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day every month. If you like her efforts, please let her know.