Spring Flowers: What’s Blooming in May.

The beginning of May is probably my  busiest time in the garden.  There are weeds to remove, new mulch to install, new beds to create and the list goes on and on.  Every year, I declare that the garden is going to kill me since there is so much to do.  But this May, I took a moment for the first time in over a decade and realized how absolutely beautiful my spring flowers are.

Seriously.  A decade of ignoring these beautiful May flowers.

Just to give you a reference, I am in zone 6 so what is blooming in my garden might be blooming at different times in yours.

So, I wanted to share with you some of the beauty around me.

Here are some of my spring flowers.

Creeping Phlox

This plant blooms in early May and is a sea of pink flowers.  (It comes in different colors.) Over the years, it continues to creep and looks amazing around rocks.

It is about 6 inches in height and can spread about 2 feet.

As you can see, weeds easily weave their way through the plant.  The grass like plants in the above picture are garlic chives.

This plant can be grown in zones 3-9, can be divided for additional plantings, and are virtually no maintenance except for weeds peeking through the flowers.   In addition, if you deadhead the flowers, you might get a second bloom.

Lilacs

I adore lilacs.  They remind me of when I was young and could smell them through our open windows.  I have both purple and white lilacs.

There are different varieties that bloom throughout mid-spring. I wish I had planted different ones for a constant 6 weeks of lilac bliss.

In my garden is 2 different types of purple lilacs and white lilacs.

I love the smell of the purple lilacs but the white ones are show stoppers.  The white blooms are much larger than the purple blooms.

My shrub is already 8 feet tall and can grow in zones 3-7.

Apple Trees

My apple trees just finished blooming.  Their flowers aren’t as showy as Peach tree’s blooms.  Nonetheless, they are dainty and beautiful.

Horseradish

Hubs forgot to take out the horseradish last fall.  So guess what?  I have flowering horseradish.

And guess what again…

If I don’t remove the horseradish, I will have baby horseradish all over my garden.

Collard Greens and Kale

My second year kale and Collard Greens are flowering.  They are bi-annuals and produce seed the second year.  As much as I want free collard greens and kale, I don’t want a 100 plants all over the garden. (See the picture below.)

I chuckle when I see a kale plant hundreds of yards away from its mother plant.

Honeysuckle

These plants bloom beautifully this time of year with scarlet flowers.  Then they provide berries for the birds later on in the season.

Verbascum

This short lived perennial plant is a member of the mullein family.

I have several different colored verbascums in the garden.  Their blooms are  purple or pink and are similar to a fox glove’s blooms.  You can deadhead them and they will re-bloom.

When not in bloom they have flat furry like leaves.

Sweet Woodruff

This year, I got tired of mulching an area under my river birches so I decided to plant Sweet Woodruff as a ground cover.

I chose this ground cover since I love the white dainty flowers and the deer “supposedly” don’t like this plant.

Just to be safe, I sprayed the plant with deer spray so they aren’t curious and pick up the plants.  In years past, my deer have literally taken vinca, an annual that they don’t like, and threw it in disdain.

Alliums

I adore alliums.  Plant them in the fall and the bulbs will reward you every year.

Lamium–Spotted Dead Nettle

This plant spreads on the ground.  It is also referred to as spotted dead nettle.  It blooms twice in a season if you deadhead its blooms.  If you are looking for a ground cover for a sunny area, lamium is a great choice.

What is ready to bloom?

Chives are rearing their heads as we speak although I lost quite a few to the cold winter.

 

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