Monday, May 19, 2014

Stormy Monday Flowers

Today has been quite gloomy and dramatic, with rain and thunderstorms going all day long. But I knew it was coming, so I managed to get out in the garden on Sunday, and besides planting beans and cukes and doing a little weeding, I did scavenge a wee bit of pickable flowers for Jane's flowery house party today. Do go feast your eyes, and gather some creative inspiration, from Jane's lush bouquets as well as the others who've joined the fun this month.


This green carafe seemed like just the right size for a modest bouquet of a couple of daffodils, some wild columbine, a twig or two from the dogwood, a couple of branches from the rosa glauca, which has such wonderful foliage, and a few leaves of lady's mantle. (The lovely tile behind it is from local artist Wendy Penta of Stone Hollow Tile, in case you're wondering.)

Our spring flowers have slept in a bit here in Minnesota, and who can blame them after the winter we all endured? Adding to that, my gardens are still in formation, so they wouldn't be all that lush this spring even if everything bloomed on schedule.

We bought the house in the summer of 2010, and the following spring I was delighted to see all the daffodils and muscari everywhere. But, unfortunately, as the house had sat empty for a couple of years, the weeds were thoroughly entangled with the flowers—especially creeping bellflower, and raspberries! We love raspberries, but it is a challenge to keep them contained.

A successfully transplanted muscari. Yay!

So we have done a lot of digging things up and transplanting what we can save as we go about remaking the gardens. I'm afraid there were a lot of daffodils and muscari among the casualties, and I'm making a point to photo-document the beds this spring so I know where to plant more bulbs come fall.


But sometimes we uncovered a delight that we didn't even know we had because it was hidden under the weeds, like this bloodroot (which has finished blooming; this photo is from a couple of weeks ago).

One corner in the front that was the first garden I worked on reclaiming is coming along quite nicely. The tulips that I planted there are more magenta than the pink that this one appears to be (I really must learn how to use this camera better!), and the ground covers of periwinkle and sweet woodruff are really filling in nicely. You almost don't see the mulch at all.


And I'm really delighted that the periwinkle has finally matured enough to bloom this spring.


I think the sweet woodruff will soon follow. Perhaps I'll have enough of those blossoms for May wine  — though I might have to call it June wine this year.






17 comments:

  1. So many pretty flowers! Feel free to send some of those raspberries my way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! Do be wary of raspberry plants that people give away -- the one time I had raspberries that didn't sprout up in the lawn was when we lived where there were none and so I had to buy them. They were much tamer than the ones I have now. But then I see the price of raspberries at the store and I have no complaints!

      Delete
  2. A little trip back in time. What a late spring you are having, but all the more welcome. We are racing into high summer here! I have found raspberry canes in my rose bed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The spring is all the more precious for having arrived so late, it's true. Now if summer will just wait its turn. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  3. Your garden and your flower offering are lovely.

    My woodruff hit the road this past winter and apparently moved to Minneapolis!
    And your periwinkle has me thinking...I don't use it anywhere.

    We'll all live vicariously thru your long awaited spring.

    xo J

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting, Jane! There is a certain sweetness to having such a late spring, that's true. We have sometimes gone "up north" to Duluth to enjoy the lilacs in early June when they were waning here. I just hope we don't leap into summer heat just as the peonies start blooming!

      Delete
  4. Bloodroot, periwinkle and woodruff...MN get-together!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sweet flowers. And the idea of wine!Years ago, a hippie friend was always making wines from all manner of wildflowers and weeds.Some of it was actually quite drinkable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahaha! Fortunately, May wine, as I understand it, begins with a white wine already made by somebody who knows how to do it, then you steep it with the sweet woodruff to give a clovelike flavor. A friend of mine tried it once and it was quite good. I noticed that my sweet woodruff in another spot is about to bloom, so I may have enough to test it out myself.

      Delete
  6. Heaven forbid any weather that deters your peonies! Living so far south I have to depend on others for my "peony fix" via Jane and griends that kindly post their pretties! No wild raspberries here, but their cousin, blackberries pop up everywhere!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peonies are a delight never to be taken for granted. I sympathize that you are not in a peony-friendly zone. But you probably enjoy magnolias more reliably than we do here. (We do have some northern-hardy varieties, but I noticed that this year they are not as abundantly floriferous as in past years)

      Delete
  7. It's really fun to see gardens at different stages, yours is just entering spring while some are ready for fall. It will be fun to see how your garden changes as you take nurture it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is one of the fun things about FITH, isn't it? We don't just see the flowers people have indoors, but also get little glimpses and news about their gardens.

      Delete
  8. My periwinkle is almost gone and the daffodils and tulips are but a memory. You will probably be getting lilacs soon as mine are all gone but I'm eyeing those peonies with much anticipation. What a season!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, my neighbor's lilacs are getting ready to bloom!

      Delete
  9. Your garden looks happy. It must feel so good to know you have homegrown beans and cucumber on the way. Enjoy it all.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading, and for sharing your thoughts.