Mid-May Garden

I have few words this week, the plants are doing all the talking for me. I'm so busy with the garden, working, taking care of it all this time of year that it's hard to keep up. All of a sudden a switch went on and we're full speed ahead. I did stop to take a few photos of the garden this week, here is a brief look at Chickadee Gardens mid-May, our fourth year into this wonderful garden project.

Colors are exploding in the sunnier parts of the garden, especially.


Blooms on dark-leaved Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing', a pretty little, short-lived perennial that seeds around a bit. But so lovely. 


Unknown bearded iris. I love the dark color of these. I had yellow and other colors that I gave to gardeners who loved them, this was the one of the only ones I kept.


Diascia 'Piccadilly Dark Red' has been a delightful little plant. I never grew diascias before, but they are perennial for us and now I have several. This is the newest one in the garden.


Dianthus hispanicus, a super fragrant (when blooming) evergreen plant for full sun.


Phlomis russeliana, another full-sun plant, one of my favorites. I only just removed last year's seed heads, they looked so good for so long.


Azara microphylla and its shiny leaves kind of glitter against the matte blue of underplanted Festuca r. 'Patrick's Point'.


Rhododendron pachysanthum - a petite and lovely rhodie.


Corydalis lutea seeds around the shade garden readily. I welcome its ferny foliage.


Doronicum carpetanum is another plant for shade, surprisingly. It came in as a seedling on another plant from work and I let it seed around here. It's a welcome bright spot in a shady corner.


The first bloom on our Calycanthus 'Hartlage Wine'.


My colony of Blechnum penna-marina. Love this little fern.


Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Irene Patterson' has never bloomed for me before, I have had it for years and it came with me from the old garden. OK, maybe it did bloom but I did not notice.


Athyrium filix-femina 'Frizelliae' - how crazy is this? Also known as a tatting fern, it doesn't like to be overly wet.


Helwingia chinensis, an evergreen shrub from China, forms its flowers on the leaves. Crazy.


This is a polygonatum or Solomon's seal, given to me at a plant swap.


Eryisimum 'John Codrington'



Papaver orientale 'Pizzicato'


Geum 'Totally Tangerine'


Now for a few wider shots of garden beds.


Dianthus hispanicus really shines this time of year and oh my gosh, does it smell fantastic. You can smell it from many feet away, especially in the evening. Dianthus are great for dry gardens, they really require very little water and well-drained soil.



A bit of the labyrinth garden with a stoechas form of lavender and a few santolinas in the background.



Another wider shot of the labyrinth garden.

There's a brief but hopefully colorful look at what is happening this week at Chickadee Gardens. As the season continues and the weather warms, the veggie garden becomes the focus - and all that weeding! I know you can relate. It's a magic time of year, hopefully we all can take a moment or two to enjoy our passion - plants (and wildlife for me, too) - and let a few of those weeds go.

As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you! With that, we wish you happy gardening, one and all!

Comments

  1. Great to see your garden looking so spring-y and lovely. Yours is about a month ahead of mine!

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    1. Wow, a month behind? Oh my...I hope you are having a lovely spring, even with the later start!

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  2. I love your garden and appreciate your posts so much.

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    1. Aw, thank you Gail! I really appreciate that :)

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  3. Really lovely plant collection and design! I can just smell that dianthus from here.

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    1. Aw, thank you so much! Oh, those seductive dianthus...so yummy.

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  4. That dark purple iris is a keeper! I've only ever seen diascias on a garden trip to Seattle decades ago, and not since; those red ones are prettier than any I saw then.

    Fragrant Dianthus are a garden treasure, particularly pined for by those of us with soil and climate less suitable for them. The mats of foliage are handsome, too, and set off later bloomers beautifully if the post-bloom shearing gets done. I found it was easy and fun when plants were small, but hard to do well when they spread to cover significant ground.

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    1. I agree about the dark iris, isn't it stunning? Those red diascias are a surprising new love this year. They were given to me by my boss and I am very grateful.

      I am sorry you can't grow dianthus, you are right about all their attributes. That evergreen foliage does set off later bloomers for sure! Great point! But yeah...they get large, for sure.

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  5. Your wide shots are wonderful, as are both your flowers and foliage. I was immediately charmed by Helwingia chinensis but an on-line check-in with Monrovia informed me in flat terms that my zone 11 climate is too hot for it. Best wishes for a pleasant Memorial Day weekend to you and your Facilities Manager.

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    1. Thank you Kris! Oh I wish you COULD grow Helwingia - isn't it crazy cool? My boss Maurice turned me on to it - we have it for sale at the nursery now and it's just so cool.

      Thank you for your well-wishes, I wish you a fantastic Memorial Day full of relaxing moments in the garden :)

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  6. Everything looks so beautiful!!! You have such a variety of things I've never heard of. They must not grow here in the east. And that Totally Tangerine Geum certainly is popular. I'm seeing it everywhere. It is such a lovely color!

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    1. Totally Tangerine has been a really outstanding geum for me, I've had this one for many years. Thanks for your kind words, we are very lucky to be able to grow such a huge variety of plants here. Plus it doesn't hurt that I work for a nursery ;)

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  7. Fabulous shots over all. Seeing your dianthus makes me want to find some and plant it. I used to have one that was smelled so good. It died out some time ago. After seeing yours...well, I must have it again.

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    1. Thank you Lisa! Go get one, yes! Gosh they smell fantastic, there's something kind of nostalgic about the scent, too.

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    1. Thank you Alyse! Come over and play in the dirt with me any time.

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