Gorgeous photos!

pixielou, my husband's tree is a weeping cherry from Home Depot. He insisted on buying one though it was late in the season, there were only a few left, and they didn't look very good to me. The one he chose was very lop-sided --all the branches grew on one side and the other side was almost bare. But he planted the bare side facing the sun and it has grown and thrived. We look forward to it every Spring.

And having taken a few more snorts of 'Fragrant Rose' and 'Yellow Cheerfulness' daffodils, I've revised my opinion of their scents. On a cool, early morning when I sampled them again, 'Fragrant Rose' had a wonderfully sweet scent. Really very, very nice. Guess it makes a big difference what time of day it is...

One more comment on that camassia, Pixie. They are native to Massachusetts and I understand that the American Indians would eat the bulbs. Wild Hyacinth is another name for camassia.

Leslie, I tried to take a photo of what I think is my Pulmonaria âÂÂBertram Andersonâ but it came out out of focus, so IâÂÂll try it again when I get a chance. I did look on the Bluestone site and I see a photo of their âÂÂBertram Andersonâ that looks just like mine. Link below. They have a photo of âÂÂRoy Davidsonâ that does look like pale blue but the flowers look so small.

I am really enjoying seeing everyoneâÂÂs photos, too!

Wow, a bluebird baby and bluebird eggs!

The sun finally came out about 4pm, so I caught a few photos before it decides to get cloudy again.

epimedium

iris and lunaria

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestone Perennials - Pulmonaria 'Bertram Anderson'

prairiemoon - I'm so jealous - you have irises open.

It looks like my camassia is starting to bloom. I'll go snap some pictures real soon so that we can actually confirm what it is. In the meantime - I have no idea where is came from.

OK - is this camassia? It is starting to bloom.

My big old crabapple which is the far backdrop to my kitchen view is blooming. I got this camera with a long zoom primarily to photograph birds, but it's really useful to be able to stand at the kitchen window and photograph a tree way down by the road. I don't even have to put my shoes on, much less walk over there.

The crabapple is behind my close backdrop, which is the big old winterberry.

Still standing at my kitchen window, here are the blossoms.

Claire

Great shots, all. PM2, I love that white epimedium - I don't have one of those yet, just pink, purple, and yellow. Must add one more, I guess. Claire, either you have a very steady hand or a very handy tripod - I can't get anything in focus at that distance no matter what lens I use. Your crabapple is lovely.

Mcube and others, if you can't figure out how to do something that you can see on a web page, it's easiest to go to 'view' -> 'page source' in most browsers, and then you can see the html code behind the page.

Pixie, yes that looks like camassia - mine's just about to bloom, too.

DTD: That crabapple is very old and in serious decline. It looks lousy most of the year (not helped by the utility pruning crews), but has a few weeks of glory left in it each spring. I don't usually use a tripod although I'll lean on a coffee maker or jar or whatever is nearby if necessary. The Canon seems to have internal mechanisms to reduce camera shake - notably a short delay before the shutter clicks in some modes. You can also set a self-timer to 2 seconds to reduce camera shake. Of course I also take lots of shots and delete the ones that are out of focus.

Claire

Hi all, love the pics and all the blooms. Claire I am smitten with that little Uvularia sessifolia, I found some of that in the woods a couple weeks ago. Thyme, your swath of tulips is lovely. PM2, love those variegated Irises, pretty with the Lunaria. Steve you are lucky to have a BLuebird nest!

Pixie-lou yours is definitely Camassia, not sure which species.

Here are some blooms in the past week;

Pretty little lemon yellow Narcissus whichs bloom later than the bigger Daffs -

Phlox divaricata, started this from seed in 2008 and it finally blooms!

Variegated Solomon's Seal, got this as a start from Idabean-

Prunus x cistena - this shrub has such a sweet fragrancde

Bleeding hearts
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Steve, seeing your beautiful lilacs makes me want to plant some despite my extreme allergies to them!

Terrene, how many bleeding heart plants do you have in that area? It makes such a nice statement to have them planted the way you do.

Here's a picture of one of the shade gardens. Lots of stuff blooming in there now including epimediums, pulmonarias, primrose, tiarella, trillium, phlox, euphorbia, lenten rose and I'm sure some other stuff. It's kind of a mish-mash of all kinds of shade plants. When the early plants stop blooming the tree peonies take over.

This area has some japanese maples. This may be a silly question but do phlox subulata not seed true or something? I only planted one purply color one year and even after that I ripped it out (or so I thought) and replanted white. Now I have a few different colors and it's not that the flower color is changing with fading. I would prefer white in this area because I think the purple/pinks clash with the new foliage of the maples. But the white doesn't seem to be as strong a grower as the others.

Part of the front slope with bridal wreath spirea and dwarf flowering almond up top. One of my favorite spring flowering shrubs. I really like how so many other shrubs have such vibrant colors in the spring.

pixie lou, those are my only iris and they are not tall bearded, but are the next size shorter, so they bloom earlier. I had a nice collection of tall bearded Iris going, but they gave me more trouble than I could put up with, so sadly, I gave up on them.

Claire, I've been enjoying the photos from your new camera. What kind of camera are you using now? Canon, what?

dtd, I try to buy 3 new epimedium every year. I get them from Garden Vision Epimediums in Massachusetts. Every year, they send me a catalog. They also have an open house when they are all in bloom, but I've never made it out there.

Steve, I love that 'Yankee Doodle' lilac. They almost look rosy in the photo. Some colors are difficult to capture. I tried to take a spring photo of my fuschia azalea, but it just doesn't read fuschia.

Terrene, I was thinking of starting phlox divaricata from seed. I have some but it doesn't spread as fast as I wanted it to. Three years to bloom? Did you get good germination? I love bleeding heart and they've surprised me how large and thick they get. Every year they look better and better. I keep adding more. I am trying to increase my white now.

Thyme2, I always enjoy seeing your slope garden. It looks beautiful every season all year, you've done a nice job with it. You must enjoy it. I have a completely level yard, and I do enjoy that, but I do miss a change in elevation.

Hey Thyme, there are 4 Dicentra spectablis in that area, I divided them last fall. Your Phlox is gorgeous and I love pink but agree that the white by itself would be striking in that garden and perhaps not compete as much with the Jap. maples.

PM2 the Phlox divaricata is okay, not sure it's worth a 3 year wait though! It would probably bloom after a couple years if you get it planted out early (which I did not, it sat in small pots for almost 2 years). Btw, I like your rocks in the picture way up above.

LeslieRI - I agree Spring goes by too fast! I love it and wish it would go in slow motion.

We're kind of at a bit of a lull in the garden right now. With all this rain, the blossoms on the tulips and daffodils have been washed away, and everything else is waiting for some sun to bloom. I grabbed some cosmos at Russells last week to add some blooms to the front of my house!

White Dicentra and Cosmos in the front white garden:

Candy Tuft and Luminaria on the side of the house. I *only* plant white flowers by the house - when I planted the luminaria last year, I was thinking of the pretty whitish "money plant" seed pods in the fall, and totally forgot about the purple flowers in the spring. Looks like the luminaria will be getting the shovel real soon!

Muscari and Dicentra

The shade garden in the back yard - with Dicentra and Lily of the Valley

And a close up of my only pink Lily of the Valley. I have no idea where this came from. It randomly showed up about 5 or 6 feet away from the rest of my LotV. And it had pink blossoms! Though I noticed this year that a new plant growing right next door has white blossoms.

It's a joy to see everyone's gardens as they wake up, thanks, all!

PM2 - my camera is a Canon SX30 IS with a 35x optical zoom (built in, no need to attach it).

Another one of my favorite daffodils is N. Hawera; a little thing, easy to overlook and forget about, but always a pleasure to rediscover it as it emerges later in the spring.

One of my Dicentra Gold Hearts seems to be reverting to the green parent. I like the combination and I'm curious to see what it will do next year.

Spring color isn't all about flowers; the new foliage can be almost blinding (at least to eyes that have been dulled by the drab winter). Pierises, euonymus et al.

The timing here is fortuitous, not that I'm complaining. Geranium macrorrhyzum starting to bloom and dicentra ending bloom by my stone wall.

And then there's the small flowers on the old berberis, beloved by the bees and the small birds, but not by the MA Invasive Plant List people (grandfathered in. I wouldn't plant it now but I won't take it out either).

Claire

Bleeding heart...

Syringa 'Little Boy Blue'. One of Father Fiala's.

And another...

'Krasavitsa Moskvy' = 'Beauty of Moscow'

Fern-leaf bleeding heart

Veronica 'Waterperry Blue'

Prunus 'Kanzan'

Viola 'Etain' (again). It's tiny, but I love it.

Epimedium rubrum

Daphne caucasica/x transylvanica

Thanks terrene, maybe I'll just divide up what I have and buy a threesome from Bluestone instead.

pixielou, that white cosmos certainly bloomed at a short height. Cute. White dicentra, one of my favorites.

That's a nice camera Claire. I have a small point and shoot camera that has that vari-angle LCD and I wouldn't want to be without one again. I love that zoom lens on yours. Good choice. I wish my Pieris did as well for me as they do for you. I love them.

Leslie, I see a Euphorbia next to your Bleeding Heart. Which variety is that? I am trying a Euphorbia for the first time this year and haven't decided where to put it yet. Do they reseed a lot? I've been seeing a lot of Prunus 'Kwanza' this year and I really like that tree. The trunk is so straight and the double flowers are so large.

PM2: Last year most of my pierises didn't bloom at all, and I even posted on the shrubs forum asking for help. There were a lot of good suggestions there and maybe you'll get some ideas. I should probably update that thread.

Claire

prairiemoon2,

It's Euphorbia 'Tiny Tim' and it's the first one I've ever grown. I was thinking of posting a message to the forum asking about Euphorbias because I think I feel the first stirrings of (yet another) obsession. Smile. I haven't noticed it reseeding at all, --so far at least. What I did notice was that it was severely damaged the first Winter. The leaves were brown and crisp and it didn't bloom at all the following Spring (last year). This year it looks quite good. I don't know if it's adapting or if being buried in snow through much of last Winter helped it. --I really don't know much about them.

Tree peonies just opened!

Claire, I posted to your Pieris thread. Thanks for the link.

Leslie, that is a pretty variety. Glad to know you like it. I just picked up a small division of Euphorbia amygdaloides purpurea. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.

dtd, wow!! Tree peony blossoms are a work or art!

Enjoying all this wet weather here....moss.

I haven't been that familiar with Epimedium or Pulmonaria before seeing them all posted in this thread. I also see that they are good for shade gardens. I think I see some additions to my shade garden next year!

Peonies! Gorgeous!

I was out in the gardens this afternoon, and I noticed this little sprout. It got me so excited, I almost hypereventilated! I so have my fingers crossed that this little gem survived transplanting.

pixie, I misread your 'what's blooming' invitation and went off and did a thorough inventory of what's blooming. When I came to post it, now, i see my misunderstanding. SO...in the spirit of wanting to help people who are looking to know about now-blooming plants that they may want to add to their gardens- i offer this list. I do actually have photos of most of these things either currently on our website or to be added to our website.I'm really enjoying seeing all of the lovely posted photos. Isn't this a tremendous spring?!
best,
mindy

THE COTTON-ARBO RETUM IN BLOOM 5/16-5/21/11 [( )tell locations for me]

BULBS

parrot tulips last days
end small flowered narcissus
muscari near end
scilla hispanica beginning
allium bulgaricum full height, no bloom
allium multibulbosum full height, '

PERENNIALS

pulmonaria
forget me nots
veronica repens Georgia Blue
corydalis lutea
geranium samobor beginn bloom
may apple beginn bloom
arisaema
mellica (CH) beginning seedheads
salvia may night just about to begin
euphorbias (CH)
kiwi bright white foliage fully out (FB)
japanese woodland peonies ended last week
corydalis big pale yellow
bergenia (MB)
polygonum bistorta superbum
silene
early red peonies (LP)

SHRUBS:
spirea ogon ended last week
rhodotypus
quince mid to ending CH
almond ending
deutzia just about to begin
spirea pink ice beg in 1 wk
hydrangea scr porch steps just forming flowers
calycanthus regular [fr fence maroon flowers but no other lg flow ones (Venus, Hartledge Wine) are showing buds yet]
rhodo percy wiseman
pieris valley valentine etc.
fothergilla
2 daphnes (wk area only)
euonymus (chimney L)
lilacs

TREES
halesia- (sc curls)
var halesia (MB)
yellow pea flowers / compound leaves laburnum?pea tree? (deliv holly/yews)
pink cornus florida - peak
aeschulus pavea (deliv, dr)
pink horse chestnut tree (SW)
pp leaf sand cherry ending
kwanzan ending
all j maples peak samaras

Here is a link that might be useful: The Cotton-Arbo retum

PM2, I LOVE that moss photo!

Pixie, what IS that sprout? We gardeners can be pretty funny - the things that make us swoon can be completely unremarkable to our family and friends!

Mindy: I see you have Rhododendron Percy Wiseman blooming. Have you had any problem with squirrels eating the buds? I've had Percy W. for about four years and every year it forms buds in the fall and every winter they get eaten. None of my other rhododendrons have this problem. I tried capsaicin sprays and it just delayed the slaughter of the buds, so last fall I broke down and built a chicken wire cage around the poor thing to see what would happen.

What happened was 40 (yes forty) buds survived the winter and are now opening!

This is all very nice, but the cage is not very attractive. I'm afraid to take it off because I don't know if the squirrels will still attack. Do you have any suggestions for how I can have R. Percy Wiseman blooming in freedom?

Claire

PM2: I just updated the pieris thread on the Shrubs forum.

Claire

dtd - I can't believe I forgot to say what it is. I guess that was just my excitement getting to me!

Cypripedium acaule - pink lady slipper

claire, we have not had Sq damage. but man, I wish ours were as happy as yours.
best,
mindy

Leslie, that Euphorbia 'Tiny Tim' is beautiful. I've got a red-foliaged one that spreads around a lot, but since it grows in a difficult spot I leave it wherever it sprouts.

My first Clematis blossom opened today. Wouldn't you know it is at the top of the vine, so I couldn't get a nice shot of it. I guess I could have pulled out the ladder. Clematis Miss Bateman.

I potted up the annual planters today. The tall white things in the middle had a tag in them called "Stock". So it is stock and carpet of snow alyssum.

Lupine in the white garden. You can see dicentra and cosmos in the background.

Also from the white garden - silver bells. And some mystery plant beside it (Anybody know what it is?)

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Lastly - tons of fungi growing everywhere. These cute white mushrooms.

And these really raunchy looking fungi.

Here's what I had going on in the yard this morning...

columbine is going crazy

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first peonies!

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a new "brilliant pink iceberg" rose

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dianthus "indian carpet" and salvia "may night"

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pinks

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cranesbill

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some sorta sad woodland phlox. wow this pic looks jungley.

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close up of the pink iceberg. they smell delicious!!

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Pixie lou, I have some of the weird brown fungi too - are those morels?

Beautiful pics, Sarahrock. Aquilegia caerulea, particularly the blue/white form, is my favorite Columbine!

terrene - definitely not morels. I have no idea what they are. And I don't really want to go close enough to find out!

Here is a link that might be useful: Images of Morels

Wow, that pink iceberg is wonderful, Sarahrock - I can almost smell it!

I think the photo labeled 'pinks' might be sea thrift, Armeria maritima. Very similar except they grow more as clumps and don't wander around like pinks! I love both, anyway.

Pixie Lou - Could your mystery plant with the silver bells be Sandwort Arenaria montana? It looks like some that somehow jumped in my cart on my last trip to Katsura. Does it do well for you? Wonderful pictures, btw.

Lisa

Ah, diggingthedirt, you are totally right, it is Armeria maritima. I planted a bunch of new stuff along that path last year and now I'm getting it all confused. :)

My wisteria pseudo-standard has been dangling little fish skeletons for a few weeks, apparently waiting for sun to allow the blossoms to fully open. Finally the sun came out, and the fish skeletons are all opening from the top down, about 1/3 of the way today. They'll look a whole lot better in a few days but the end of May is upon us and I think they belong in this month's thread. The pieris patch is behind to the left.

This cotoneaster is beginning to bloom and has artfully draped itself over some yucca leaves. Some fading muscari are next to it.

This is my first year with the variegated solomon's seals and I'm enthralled with the dainty flowers dangling from the stems. I just hope I can get them through the dry summer here.

Canadian Mayflower is quietly taking over areas that were once lawn and are now open to volunteers. The white blossoms sneak up on you. My neighbor calls the leaves little ears.

Claire

Next month, lets do "early June" and "late June" because it takes my old laptop about 10 minutes to load this page - and everything else STOPS while it's loading!

Great photos, all - spring is really flying by now!

Thanks Lisa - that is it. Sandwort Arenaria montana. I just bought it last spring - it was without a tag, but I liked it so bought it anyway. It was in a little 4" pot. And has easily quadrupled in size, if not more. Right now it is so covered in white blossoms - absolutely gorgeous.

sarah - I'm jealous of your columbine, peonies and salvia. I have all 3 in my garden, and none look like they are anywhere near blooming. I don't even have buds on my columbine yet.

claire - I actually tried to transplant some canadian mayflower last year. But had no success. But this year, as I finished clearing behind the pond, amazing - but hundreds of plants have sprung up there. I'm just hoping I didn't destroy them all as I've been spraying the poison ivy that has been reappearing as well.

"early June" and "late June" is a good idea. My new laptop is a lot faster than my old one but I'm using a wireless modem now and the loading speed is mediocre.

I forgot to mention a spring phenomenon vaguely related to blooming; i.e. it's the beginning of pine pollen season! That's when white pines release clouds of pollen that coat everything nearby. My car is developing that yellow green patina, and so are my kitchen appliances now that the windows have been open with a delightful breeze.

Through bitter experience (very very bitter, just ask my electrician) I've learned to put dust covers on my smoke detectors as soon as the pine pollen erupts. Nothing like being waked up in the middle of the night by a shrieking alarm that refuses to be shut off.

Claire (ears ringing at the mere memory)

With the weather suddenly turning sunny and warm, my Spanish Bluebells have accelerated their bloom.

The white ones open first

followed by pink. The blue ones are still working on it.

My doublefile viburnum which I bought as a rooted cutting for $2 at a local garden club sale about four years ago, has its best show ever. Last year there were just a couple of blooms.

And on the understated side, the wild strawberries are still blooming - here next to Geranium macrorrhyzum.

Claire

Not showy, but my favorite lawn invader, Waldsteinia, here spreading into my wood chip parking area. It also creeps into grassy spots. Each plant is underwhelming, but I love seeing all those little yellow spots in an otherwise boring lawn. The blooms last a long time too.

Claire

This is the same shade border that I had posted earlier this month, but now the tree peonies are starting to bloom. Unfortunately, the tree peony in the front middle was mis-labeled as light pink so I planted it next to a dark pink and I never got around to moving it. I think they clash quite a bit but they are both a decent size I hate to move either one now. Oh well, they're still pretty!

Same bed from the opposite direction off the back deck.

leslie6ri,

Technically excellent photographs! Good exposure, focus and composition. So often I see terrible photos here. Close ups that are out of focus, under or over exposed and terrible composition. There are some really good photos of course, but yours really stand out. And the flowers are spectacular!

Peonies? Peonies? Everybody's got peonies but me! Granted I don't have tree peonies, but my herbaceous peonies are all still fat buds. Ah well, should bloom in June (is it really almost June?)

I do have the roses starting up. Rugosa Yankee Lady is always the first in my garden to bloom.

My favorite Gernium, G. Biokovo, is just opening.

Finally Siberian irises; the ones next to the concrete foundation facing south.

And my version of a bluebell wood - Spanish bluebells under a big old white pine.

Claire

I will start an "Early June" thread some time tomorrow.

The irises in my garden are just opening. Irises are my favorite flower. I just have a small bed the width of my garage. We're planning to tear the garage down next Spring and build a bigger and better garage - which is probably my excuse to get a bigger and better iris bed!

Clematis Miss Bateman in full bloom. I forgot to prune the clematis this spring. This is just a 2 year old plant! Behind the clematis is my daughters art gallery, aka our porch.

My 3 year old peonie, flanked by a siberian iris and a japanese iris. I have been waiting 3 years for this peonie to bloom. I only plant white flowers in front of the house, and I am sick sick sick to see a pink bud on it. My only consolation is that I will have a beeautiful pink peonie in a bud vase on my kitchen table real soon. And this peonie will be getting the shovel.

Lastly - any idea what this is? I seem to have stumped the people on the Name That Plant forum. I bought these at Weston Nurseries as tulip bulbs.

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Hi Bill,

Thank you! (Sorry I'm so late answering.) I can't really take credit; it's the camera. --And you don't see all the deleted shots. Smile. Glad you enjoyed them. I've got many more to post but haven't had the time. I'll have to move on to the June thread.