Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Friday, May 15, 2009

"And now, here's something we hope you'll really like!" Bloom Day

Gaura lindheimeri a Texas native

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and May 2009 Bloom Day. For more years then I have been blogging, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, has been hosting Bloom Day, an international blogabration (blogging celebration) of what's blooming in your garden! I have a slight suspicion that this Bloom Day will be huge, as spring is in full swing for the northern most gardeners. Have fun and pop over to May Dreams Gardens to join the fun. Thank you Carol for hosting Bloom Day! gail

Go ahead chick to enlarge...in fact all photos can be enlarged



For the first time ever the
Anemone De Caen I planted has bloomed.

Anemone De Caen


The anemones bloomed this year and
I wish they had been massed,
but, having no confidence they would cooperate.
I tried them in various spot around the garden.
They bloomed!

I mentioned to Frances that all they needed
was a little brushing off to clean up the dirt that has been splashed on the petals!
They would look so much better and I would feel like a professional photographer:)

The Costco 50 that I planted yielded a sweet mixture of whites and
reds and various combinations of the two. They are absolutely a surprise after years of trying to get them to bloom..it has to be the weather. We've had more than 8 inches of rain since May 1. Have I mentioned the rain before? We've had a lot; it may even be raining now.

Also, blooming in the garden...are a few of my favorite natives~~

Tradescantia/Siderwort

Correopsis/Tickseed



Amsonia tabernaemontana/Bluestar~~but not very blue in this garden

Thermopsis villosa/Carolina Lupine


Itea virginica 'Little Henry'


Aquilegia canadensis/Wild Columbine quite the longest bloom period I remember
Maybe it's the rain?


Penstemon X and Phlox pilosa in the Garden of Benign Neglect

PPPP has been in bloom since April 6. Despite all the rain we've had this month and the cloudy skies almost daily, Phlox pilosa blooms and fills the air with a sweet fragrance whenever the sun does shine!
Penstemon X in the Susans Bed

Moving in a bit closer ~don't forget to click


and the smallest of the iris~
Sisyrinchium angustifolium/Blue Eyed Grass

A very small native
Hypoxis hirsuta/Yellow Star Grass

This is a dainty wildflower about six inches tall...it grows from a corm...

This new beauty from Alan Armitage at University of Georgia.
I hope it's happy and settles in.
Heliotropium amplexicaule Azure Skies™ (Creeping Heliotrope)

and my favorite, non-natives for attracting butterflies
Lantana camara "Rose Sunrise"

and getting a bit closer~
A new color that will work perfectly with the yellows, lilacs and pinks in my summer garden.


My friends, I am so glad you stopped by.
Have a wonderful weekend...I hope you have enough time in the gardens and with those you love. Gail


70 comments:

  1. Great blooms Gail!! I can't decide which one I like better than the other.....perhaps a common trait that we gardeners share. ;-)

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  2. Woohoo! The photos are fab as are the blooms! Thanks for the link love, my dear. That shot of the blue eyed grass makes it almost visible to my poor eyesight, wow. I am most taken with the heliotrope, is it scented like the annual one? I might have to break my no plant buying rule. Happy bloom day my friend, it is indeed going to be a big event!
    Frances

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  3. Gail Girl !!! Here I am early in the post like this !!
    Ok .. back to the garden commentary right ? LOL
    I love all of your blooms .. I am behind in what you have but soon with our conditions rolling on (we had a wicked wind and rain storm all day yesterday) now the temperature is rising .. lots of growth happening : )
    I have Little Henry too ! .. and a few of your other plants .. which by the way are looking great in your garden .. so many different ones you have, that look fabulous .. you are having a wonderful Bloom Day girl !

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  4. Borgeous as usual, an that new photographer has made a really good job, although he looks a bit suspicious, if you ask me.

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  5. Beautiful blooms Gail! PPPP is settling into my garden nicely, along with Senecio aureus! Thanks so much! (I'm still not sure what the other surprises you sent are, but all are happy here so far.)

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  6. You guys are the best!

    JANET...i do have favorites but those memes were you must choose a few favorite plants are very hard for me to play! Thank you for your kind compliments! Have a great day!

    FRANCES, The heliotrope is supposed to creep a little and make a nice mound about 2 foot wide. I am sad to report that it has no scent. Isn't that a bummer! Have fun out there!

    JOY, Hello my dear! it's good to see you today! Before long it will be fantastic in your garden! You have a few beauties I wish I had....the Ninebarks and Jack are popping in my head right now...Have a great Bloom Day!


    Gail

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  7. Linda, You are welcome and that is great news! I think I sent a little Penstemon X and possibly a hypericum frondosum! Send me a photo and I will try (!) to id them. Have a happy Bloom Day!

    Gail

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  8. Hi Gail, It's so interesting seeing what's the same and different in other zones. Here, native Columbine is blooming, just like for you, as are anemone (I just have plain white, though). My Amsonia has buds, but isn't quite flowering. But Coreopsis, blue-eyed grass, are far behind with no buds. Happy GBBD!

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  9. Camellia,Hello...and thank you for your sweet compliment...I will pass it on to the photographer! Have a fun day!

    Gail

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  10. Those anemones are pretty awesome-looks professional to me! I have that Penstemon X blooming in my garden. It is indeed that. So glad I saw in yours or I'd have surely pulled it! Have a good day-I hope to get some gardening done before the rains.

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  11. I do like that Amsonia - I spotted one on another US blog and now I want one. Going to see if I can find it over here in the UK. Will probably turn out that I'm the only one who hasnt heard of it!!

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  12. Monica, The columbine is winding down that may be the last bloom! Next year it will be fun to see when PPPP is blooming in your yard...Have a great day! Gail

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  13. Helen, It's a great plant...I have three different varieties and all have great fall color! I would send you a plant if it would survive the trip and we could get it past customs! Have a good day! gail

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  14. Tina, I am glad to help...isn't that what makes blogging so fantastic! Have a good time gardening.

    Gail

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  15. Gail, your garden must be a true delight this morning with so many lovelies!

    Creeping heliotrope is one of my favorite plants. I bought my first 6 plants in spring 2006 and they have become my "go to" edging plants. I added more recently by taking cuttings from my mature plants and even picking up 3 more to satisfy my desire for edging along the guest parking. They are outstanding performers and will not stop blooming until several frosts have come and gone. Be warned that they have long, long taproots, so even if you THINK you've moved one, you'll have new ones sprout up. Not a bad thing, IMHO! I'm also using these to edge my new bed redo in the cottage garden so that they cover the "Left Bank" of the stream.

    Have a great day -- it's misting rain here.

    Cameron

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  16. Awww, just gotta love the dear little blue-eyed grass and yellow star grass, Gail! Your lantana's a stunner, too---I'll have to keep an eye out for that one. My columbines are in bloom now and I'm hoping for a long season for them as well. And Phlox pilosa is looking great in the Cultivated Wild Meadow---can't wait to see this year's bloom show!

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  17. Wow, Gail! Your garden is just full of blooms. Jamie and I have a lot of holes to fill this season from all the cannas we dug out. *Oh I can't stand holes and bare areas in the garden*

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  18. Your shots are very nice, and I am glad to see some Lantana appearing in the blogs. Two of my annual Lantanas actually made it through the winter this year. I also like the Rocky Squirrel allusion.

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  19. Lovely! The Penstemon & Phlox go so well together, and I just love the color. I'm so jealous of your Hypoxis. I killed mine by letting it get overrun by Lamium. Although maybe I shouldn't count it out yet, it might be a Lazarus plant.

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  20. Beautiful post as usual Gail. :) I love your flowers and your pictures. I haven't seen Yellow Star Grass before, it's lovely.

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  21. Beautiful, just beautiful is all I can say! Thanks for joining in for bloom day.

    (My Amsonia is much bluer than yours, by the way, so I guess variety makes a difference?)

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

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  22. Beautiful BLooms!
    I love anemones! Mine didn't do much this year at all.)-: I noticed my spider wort is blooming too.(-:

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  23. Gorgeous blooms, Gail! We've had a lot of rain too. I was so glad to have a sunny day yesterday.

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  24. Very nice Gail! There's too much to talk about! The penstemon and phlox look great!

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  25. Could you or any of your groupies/fans
    ever thought of writing a botanical
    blog of your garden/collection?

    I find it useful. It takes less
    space than pictures and allow the
    systematic gardener with certain
    dominion of the botanical names
    to research and write about then
    in his/her blog.

    I do it often. It is the best way
    to keep track of failure/success
    while practicing pragmatic/critical
    horticulture.

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  26. This has to be the wettest spring I can remember. The plants are happy but it sure is hard to work in the garden...or should I say mud.

    I can't wait to have large clumps of PPP like yours. Beautiful bloom day. Your garden is lovely.
    Marnie

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  27. Wow, 8 inches of rain! I don't know if you needed this much or not, but your flowers seem to have appreciated it. Everything looks lovely. Congratulations on having anemones bloom this year! I think they were worth the wait.

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  28. Just beautiful may blooms! Happy GBBD!

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  29. Thank you Gail! I so appreciate learning more about blooms native to other parts of this country. Gaura? I had no idea. And such lovely flowers.

    Happy Bloom Day!

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  30. That particular lantana colour just makes me sigh with pleasure to look at it -- first plant to go in my own garden, if and when. :) All your blooms are lovely, and kudos on getting your anemones to bloom!

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  31. Very gorgeous blooms, Gail! I didn't know flowers could be so colorful and so much variety. Anemone De Caen is my new favorite! How unique!

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  32. Your blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium) looks just like ours here in California (S. bellum). Great plant, isn't it! Beautiful flowers - thanks for sharing.

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  33. HI Gail.....you have so many lovely flowers, what can I say...

    Coreopsis is one of my favourites...I have to treat it as an annual here as it does not like my winter waterlogged soil.....

    My columbines are flowering well and we have been quite dry....how strange....

    I love your native wildflowers.....thank you for showing them, wildflowers are a passion of mine...

    Have a lovely weekend and have fun out there, won't you?

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  34. Wow, simply fantastic flowers! We've had a lot of rain here in Memphis too!

    Nice to meet another blogger/gardener in Tennessee. :)

    ForestJane
    www.forestjane.blogspot.com
    www.forestjane.com

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  35. Lots of interesting blossoms at your place. Happy Bloom Day.

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  36. Your garden is in full glory this May! I love the beautiful blossoms on your Penstemon X, I just had to enlarge it to fully appreciate those delicate blooms. And your new Lantana is a beautiful sunrise of rosey pink, & yellow with a hint of orange. :)

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  37. Love the flowers, and love that flying squirrel.

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  38. These are gorgeous photos - what a rainbow of colors. Truly your garden is the gold at the other end. Nicely done.

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  39. Gail,
    I am reallyl enjoying all your blooms today. So much variety and so many pretty colors. Don't you love it when a flower actually cooperates especially when you weren't too sure in the first place... and beautiful anemones they are. Hey - we have a few of these in common... surprise... spiderwort, tickseed (although mine is leavenworthii, blue-eyed grass and lantana... how about that? Happy GBBD and happy weekend to you.
    Meems

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  40. Wow! All that color hurts my eyes! (ha!) It's way too beautiful over there. Do you have Foxglove? Many of the penstemon appear as though they are small cousins of FG. I've not had good luck with foxglove, here. Perhaps I have just too much shade. Even my Sunny Corner bed is shaded around 3:00 p.m.

    Happy Day!!

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  41. Gail, how can I resist when you lead with a Texas native? I love your beautiful anemones too. Enjoy all your spring beauties!

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  42. Gardens of Benign Neglect are among my favorites....always something interesting and unexpected to be found in them. Could the color of your Tradescantia/Siderwort be any more brilliant? I think not. Gorgeous. Love, love, love Lantana because you'll always find a butterfly nearby. And another thing, I'm going to throw my camera in the garbage. Your photos are perfect!

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  43. Hi Gail.
    Gorgeous as usual. I can't decide which I like best.
    I don't know my wild flowers very good so I may just have pulled up a "Little Henry" that was growing in my Asparagus Garden. It must have been a gift from the birds as I didn't plant it. Does the plant have a slight funny smell?

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  44. Such good stuff and lovely photos, Gail, but please tell me how you handle your Tradescantia/Spiderwort! It has become an aggressive pest yet I love it!

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  45. You have such a nice variety! I love all of your native flowers.

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  46. I enjoyed your blooms, Gail. I really love your garden of benign neglect. Thanks for your nice comments and help with identification on my posts.

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  47. The red anemone is to die for! I'm trying the guara again. I just bought some last week.

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  48. Hi! Thank you for stopping by to visit my blooms...I am honored!

    Joey, Yes, Spiderwort is a thug (and I just now noticed my typo)...but I dig it up and toss it! maybe it could be planted amid the vinca and let them do battle! Have a sweet weekend. Gail

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  49. MMD, I think you might find the Yellow Star Grass under the lamium! Those natives are hardier then we think!

    Gail

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  50. Lola, I don't think it does have a smell...the flowers are kind of sweetly fragrant...but I will check them next time I am out there.

    Gail

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  51. Shady, Hi dear! Glad you are feeling better. No luck with foxglove...not sure why! But the penstemons do remind me of them. Gail

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  52. That is fantastic, Gail. I'm sure am having fun going through all the lovely photos. I love watching Lantana in my garden when they begin blooming and amuse myself with their changing colors. The Phlox looks lovely. What the heck! I'm mad! Love all your wild flowers especially.

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  53. Gail your garden must be a joy - I just love the Lantana camara "Rose Sunrise" - not sure it would cope with the cold temperatures during a French winter? I'd better get taking some pictures of my to post later this weekend! Take care Miranda

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  54. What a beautiful tour. I was amazed to find out that my Itea, Henry's Garnet had made three babies - and I put two of them in a fund raising plant sale yesterday. I don't think the transplanting hurt them.

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  55. Enlarging the photos takes one to another world. Sublime! Lovely photos and so much in bloom. Tucker says hi right back and is looking forward to your visit.

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  56. Nice to see the Sweetspire. I've been trying to coax one to grow in the forest and no blooms yet. I will keep on with this one. That's an especially nice picture of the spiderwort.

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  57. Hi Gail! Great bloom day post! You need a "hair & make-up" crew accompanying you in the garden to take care of all those little details like dirt on the anemone faces, etc. When that happens, you'll know you've turned "pro!" ;-)
    I'm so glad I bought the little blue-eyed grass after seeing it in your garden. What an exceptional columbine photo too. I forgot to post (again) on bloom day but don't lose hope. I'll remember again one of these months! There's just so much going on in the garden to talk about these days. and you have been a posting maniac! I am getting behind on reading so I'm off to catch up. Have a great weekend.

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  58. Gail, you surprised me by leading with something from down my way. But it looks lovely in your garden and now I'm considering whether to add it to mine. I always felt maybe it was a bit leggy.

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  59. I envy you and your itea. Both my 'Garnet' and 'Little Henry' had about 1/3 die back this winter. I guess zone 5 is a bit too cold. Hope they settle in and bloom like yours!

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  60. gail your images are stunning. all the blooming beauties in your garden despite the rain...we don't nearly have that amount here but maybe in the future. i love learning what works in your garden so i can make wiser choices for mine. now if i could just remember them all. you must be enjoying sitting and taking it all in when it is not raining of course. lol

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  61. Gail, as always, it's a delight to 'visit' your garden... I keep sighing and wishing that at least some of your blooms would like it here, especially Gaura lindheimeri - what a beauty!
    Katarina

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  62. Bonnie, Good morning...Passionate Rainbow seems to be a is shorter and bushier gaura. I am using it with Mexican Feather Grass and I hope it works as the summer progresses. It's good to visit with you...your little ones are adorable...I loved seeing them in the garden. Gail

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  63. Marmee, It's a fun time of year; with so much to see and appreciate. Soon we will be enjoying it all from the porch~~The mosquitoes have arrived with the warmer temps and all the rain! I must go on a search and empty to spot hidden water sources. Gail

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  64. Ahh, your photos are so pretty when I clicked up them and made them larger. Thank you, Gail, for sharing this part of the larger that is blooming at C&L.~~Dee

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  65. Hi Gail,
    I love all your native bloomers. Well I guess I love all your bloomers, native or not. We carry that 'Rose Sunrise' lantana in the nursery and it's one of my favorites. I like how the colors just kind of meld into one another. Looking forward to meeting you at CSF!
    Jean

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  66. What a great assortment of blooms to enjoy! Hope your weekend is/was filled with sunshine to let you do just that.

    /krys

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  67. Gail what an amazing variety of flowers you have already in your garden! Here it is the bulbs and tree blossoms that are show stoppers!
    Hoping that your weekend is filled with sunshine and more blossoms!

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  68. Wonderful images Gail! Guara was very short-lived in my garden. Maybe, the NW is not warm enough for the Texas native.

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  69. I don't have time to read all the comments but I got that reference to Rocky and Bullwinkle in the title...now I have dated myself!
    All the blooms are lovely, but I was instantly smitten by the creeping heliotrope. Not something we have here. I do have many lantanas and love them all.

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  70. Your photos are gorgeous! Such a treat for the eyes! -Jackie

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson