Blooms!

Blooms greet me everywhere as I walk through the garden these days.  Even though conditions are quite dry, the temperature has remained cool enough to encourage flowering. 

Easter Lily, Lilium longiflorum

The Easter Lily didn't open its buds until after the holiday, but these sweetly scented white flowers are welcome whenever they decide to blossom.  This specimen was received as a potted plant last year and was planted in the ground after it finished blooming.  The leaves totally disappeared and the plant was forgotten until a few green sprouts showed above the mulch in early spring.

Yarrow, Achillea

White flowered yarrow was planted in the fall.  Its ferny foliage stayed green all winter long and then this spring it began to multiply all over the rose bed.  This is the first bloom which appeared right on schedule this May. 

Brazilian Plume, Justicia carnea

Brazilian Plume is a fantastic shade flower.  For some reason, this winter wasn't as hard on it as last.  These small shrubs are still much smaller than in past years but they are back and blooming. 


Flowering Maple, Abutilon

I picked up two of these flowering maples from the clearance rack at one of the big box stores.  No information tags came with them.  They grow more compactly than the one I already have planted by the rain barrel.  The flowers are a different color too.  These bushes are about 2-1/2 feet tall and as wide, full of buds and blooms.  They sailed through winter. 


Cuphea llavea

These little cupheas are another clearance rack find.  They bloom constantly.  If they behave like my 'candy corn' cuphea, they will die back in winter but return in spring.  But, they may turn out to be an annual.  If so, they were worth the discounted price.



Stoke's Aster, Stokesia laevis

 The native Stoke's aster is quite happy in a partly sunny area to the side of the rose garden.  These have only been planted since early spring so I don't really know what to expect from them.  I had another plant that was sited in a sunnier area and it bloomed well until last month when it suddenly died. 

Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens

The little coral honeysuckle purchased from the county jail plant sale for $1 has finally bloomed!  I planted this one last fall when it was only a foot tall and it has covered an obelisk that is five feet tall.  No blooms appeared until this week.  I've been worried all spring that it was not really coral honeysuckle.  But, it is!  Yay!

Blanket Flower, Gaillardia pulchella

Native blanketflower is still flowering.  Some of these are reseeded from last year's plants and some are a hybrid I purchased earlier this year.

Rain Lily, Zephyranthes grandiflora

We did get two inches of rain this past weekend.  I guess that was enough to trigger the rain lilies that live at the edge of the non-boggy bog garden.  While that rain event was quite welcome, the garden and I can't wait until the regular summer rains begin.