Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - April 15, 2011

I may be a day late, but here they are, for what it's worth! It really seems like everything is late this year...the unending rain is also making it impossible to get things in the ground...ugh.


Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'
I finally ripped out the Erysimum I had planted when first moving here...after a few years, they just die off. I debated for quite a while about whether to replace them with something with a bit more longevity. In the end, I decided I liked the fact that they were evergreen and bloomed for so long...so replaced them this spring with 3 new plants.


Geranium macrorrhizum (Bigroot Geranium)
These are just about to open (a few pots of them I have yet to plant are actually blooming already!) One of the few evergreen plants in my garden, I rely on its lovely, lush foliage during the entire year...the blooms are a nice bonus! They are a oft, warm pink, borne during spring and early summer for the most part. The best part about this plant, however, is the scent, which is rich and woodsy, almost like cedar and incense (although my partner HATES the smell).


Oxalis oregana
While this is another plant that I don't really grow for the flowers, they are lovely, nonetheless. These little white flowers appear sporadically during the entire growing season, but bloom heaviest in the spring.


Narcissus (Daffodil)
This is one of the few plants that came with the house...and while they are a welcome sight at this time of year, in a few weeks their foliage will start to die back and will remain a mess for months to come. As a result, they are getting moved this year after they are done blooming...even if I risk losing the blooms next spring (or even killing them), I just can't stand looking at the mush pile of leaves all summer long at the very front of the border.


Hyacinthoides hispanica (Spanish Bluebells)
Another plant that came with the house...I am gradually thinning out the horribly congested clumps which smother everything around them with their heavy, strappy leaves that turn to goo the instant they are done blooming. Another bulb that is lovely while blooming, awful when not.


Centranthus ruber
Ok, so it's not a bloom yet...so close!


Chives
Another ALMOST bloom ;-)

And of course, there are the tulips and iris which are mere days from blooming, but just aren't quite there yet. Strangely, all the houses around me have had tulips blooming for weeks...mine are always a few weeks behind (then again, I planted a range of early, mid and late-blooming tulips, so hopefully I'll get a longer show).