The stars in my garden this month are the German Bearded Iris (Iris germanica). Unfortunately, I'm not really sure what variety they are.
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The bleeding hearts are just beginning to bloom. I have two varieties: Common Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)
The Common Bleeding Heart is much smaller than it has been in recent years. We had an unusually early spring (90*F / 30*C in March?!), which got the plants growing much sooner than normal. Then our Minnesota weather had a reality check in April, complete with over-night frosts, which zapped the tender new growth of the bleeding heart. It came back pretty well, albeit smaller.
The second variety is King of Hearts (Dicentra x perigina "King of Hearts").
Personally, I am not a big fan of this one. It's too small for my taste. I suppose the dwarf nature is great for small areas. And there is something about the flowers that leave a bit to be desired. They just seem sloppy. Maybe it has something to do with how the flowers are arranged on the stem; they're just too crowded. I want my bleeding heart to be more... graceful. However, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird just stopped at every little flower, so the King of Hearts has that going for it!
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The Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) which are being contained quite successfully in the window well are filling the air with their sweet fragrance.
Here are the results of me holding the camera under the leaves, blindly focusing, and snapping the picture. Turned out pretty well!
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Some plants from the April edition of GBBD are still blooming.
Clearly I need to weed the Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox (Phlox subdulata 'Emerald Blue').
There are still a few tulips holding on.
Only two Queen of Night tulips remain. For better photos of this great tulip in its glory, click this link.
There is something weird going on with the parrot tulips. They seem deformed, like they tried to bloom too early and weren't ready. I hope they don't have a virus or something.
And.....
The Fern Leaf Peony!!! (Paeonia tenuifolia)
Aren't they glorious? The red is so intense that it blew out the exposure!
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The blooming shrubs are starting to get into the act! Here is our line of Renaissance Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei 'Renaissance').
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| Firefly Coral Bells Heuchera sanguineum 'Firefly' |
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| Walker's Low (?) Catmint Nepeta x fassennii 'Walker's Low' |
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| Caradonna Salvia Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' |
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| Miss Kim Lilac Syringa pubescans ssp. patula 'Miss Kim' |
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