May Blooms

Somehow I was actually aware of the calendar this month and can actually participate in this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

It's been cold and rainy for the last few days so this is going to be a gallery of moist images, and since many of the blooms were not looking their best -- bent downward, waterlogged, etc. -- I decided to give you a closer look at most of them.

***

Although I've removed a couple of dozen black locust trees from my yard over the years, there are still a couple left on the periphery and their sweet-smelling clusters of white blooms have fallen and entered the foul-smelling, gutter-clogging phase of their lives. That explains the first photo of this post. Now on to the good stuff.

It's iris time in my garden! I'll label what I know...

Siberian iris:

Iris pseudacorus:

It's much shorter this year than it was last year. Dry spring maybe?

Only one rose is really blooming so far:

The ninebark is just starting to bloom, with most buds not open yet:

A few of the brassicas in the veggie beds have bolted:

Does it count that my lawn grasses are blooming now? So very long...

...maybe it's the year to try a meadow back here?

A few peony blooms:

One of my Echiums grown from seed... I've forgotten the species. Is it russicum? (Loree -- these are from the seeds you sent me, not the wilpretii.)

It's just lovely!

Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis):

Clematis 'Niobe':

The few last bleeding hearts, which has been blooming for a month or so:

Is it cheating if it's not open yet? Opuntia bloom buds:

Coral bells (Heuchera):

Alliums:

Thyme:

Vinca:

Penstemon:

Nepeta (catmint):

Honeysuckle:

And one of the groundcover bamboos is flowering, Pleioblastus fortunei:

Pretty, isn't it?

So that's what's blooming in my garden right now. As usual I may have missed a few things, and in a couple of days other things will start flowering, so this is just a snapshot. To see what other gardens are doing right now check out May Dreams Gardens, where you'll find links to many more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts.

.