Rouge - winter wasn’t too hard here - but spring has been unusually cool…. The hard pruning we gave it last spring undoubtedly had an impact - usually the Chinese wisteria produces a secondary summer bloom, but it had virtually no summer bloom last year. So I think there were multiple causes for the poor performance this spring, and the planned additional pruning this spring likely means next year might be poor too! *sigh*

Thanks rouge! I was thinking First Frost too! Whatever it is, it's beautiful!

:)

Dee

Rodgersia in May (before it greens up):

Superb Baptisia @natureinspiredM_ 6B NJ.

Incredible drift of tulips @mazerolm_3a. (What covers the foliage once the flowers go?)

Thanks @rouge. That’s lemon meringue from proven winners. Planted last summer. Can’t wait for it to get to the full glorious size and bloom profusion - should be another 2 years before we get to that point.

Here are few more May beauties that started blooming since my last pics:

In my garden, rhododendrons tend to be the highlights of May, mostly because they are so massive and bloom with a single, magnificent flush but also because they are several weeks ahead of most of my perennials.

In fact, if I thought about it, shrubs tend to make up the major players in my garden with perennials and groundcovers definitely in supporting (not starring) roles.

btw, that's a 5' tall fence you can see behind on the lefthand side.

And it's across the garden cousin, not quite ready to burst into flower.

Incredible @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)!

Wow I love this thread! The photos are all so pretty. the rhododendron is awesome. And the tulips so beautiful! I’ve tried growing many of these flowers over the years and can’t get them to work for me. So I can live vicariously through this thread.
Natureinspired, what is the white flat daisy looking plant? And what is the plant with the fluffy pale pink flowers in your last post? They are so pretty.

And what is the plant with the fluffy pale pink flowers in your last post?

Correct me if I am wrong @natureinspiredM_ 6B NJ but it is a thalictrum of some sort? Very nice it is.

Yes @rouge, this one is Thalictrum Nimbus pink.
Wish it had a longer bloom period. Love the attractive leaves even when flowers are gone. One of the best deer resistant native plants.

@S the other plant is Susanna Mitchell Marguerite Daisy.It’s actually creamy yellow. Adding a new picture with accurate color.

And here is another prized native possession blooming in May -
Black lace elderberry

We had Nimbus White and it was really nice for a couple or 3 seasons but then slowly but surely is disappeared.

Those are so pretty! I always like the ones that aren’t for my planting zone

Gardengal that rhodie is breathtaking! How spectacular! My neighbors (who are not really flower gardeners) have a row of rhodies along their driveway, about fifteen feet from our property line, so from my windows I can pretend they are mine lol. Last year they were amazing. Then they hacked them back. I didn't worry, because I had always heard rhodies can take it, but they look horrible this year. Many fewer blooms, lots of dead-looking branches. Hopefully they'll recover.

Here's a photo from last year. They were at least 13 feet tall. Fingers crossed!

:)

Dee

Technically still May. Here is our side garden from earlier this month.

Still waiting for blooms to start here, but this pulmonaria is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s earlier than my other varieties.

Had a nice bulb season this year! And then my bolero roses popped, too.

Here are a few things blooming in my yard this month.

Bearded Irises just started in the last few days.

Trollius New Moon I think. I love it. Such a pretty cream color.

Siberian Irises

Bearded Iris and Weigela just starting to bloom.

So pretty everyone! North53 I had pulmonaria like that and I loved it, but it seemed to have died out on me, little by little. I should get more - such pretty spring blooms!

Sarah, are those red flowers tulips? OMG they are stunning! What kind are they?

Cab, love your siberian irises. I love irises anyway, but to me the siberian ones have a delicacy that the bearded irises don't have. What a lovely soft color those are!

:)

Dee

My dandelions are really showing off this year! lol!

@mazerolm this is truly unique 😂

Dee- thanks! I like Siberian Irises too. Their foliage doesn’t look as messy as the Bearded Irises when they’re done blooming.

Beautiful dandelion patch, Mazerolm 😂

A couple clematis just started blooming.

Giselle

Bourbon

Clematis recta Purpurea Compacta

Not blooming yet, but I love the foliage.

Giselle: wow, I did not know there were clematis with purple foliage, it's beautiful!

Love the dandelions! I bet the bees do too!

:)

Dee

Beautiful blooms, everyone!

Salvias

roses

Platycodon, Silene, Catharanthus

Buddleia, Asclepias

Zinnia

Phal orchid

Silene, Salvia, Asclepias, Dianthus

Lantana

Beautiful blooms, everyone!

Salvias

roses

Platycodon, Silene, Catharanthus

Buddleia, Asclepias

Zinnia

Phal orchid

Silene, Salvia, Asclepias, Dianthus

Lantana

Ajuga Burgundy Glow is about to bloom:

Ranunculus flore pleno

Lunaria

Kolkwitzia

First rose bloom to open - 'Penelope'

Beautiful flowers @Prairiemoon
And because technically this is still May, I am posting a last one from today - this is a late blooming peony and my garden’s first peony that I planted 2 falls ago.

Sarah Bernhardt’s first bloom :)

Prairiemoon2- what is the dark purple flower in your 5th photo? It’s such a pretty shade.

It’s so nice to see everyone’s gardens this month! Thanks Rouge21 for starting this thread :)

Natureinspired - I enjoy other gardener's Peonies because I don't grow them and Sarah Bernhart is one of the best. All those petals!

Cab - I believe that is Salvia 'Blue Hills'.

Just a wonderful thread that I am catching at the very end! Such beautiful flowers.

Peony Early Scout is the first to bloom.

Dicentra Luxuriant with Linum on their first year -planted late last year. Very top left is D. formosa.

Geranium phaeum Samobor. Sorry about the poor pic. Blackfly season.

Geum triflorum first year in another area I redid. The flowers are cute but the seedheads are the attraction.

2 unknown Iris siberica (received the wrong ones) & Eden's Paradise Blue This does not even begin to capture how fabulous it is.

Lupines

I had a boxed amaryllis from December that never got opened. I planted it outside in early May and 3 weeks later we see the flower....

A couple more.

Primula mistassinica (that is what the lady that shared seed with me thought) with Forget-Me-Nots, I have them everywhere because I adore the blue!

Pulmonaria Mrs. Moon

Phlox stolonifera Home Fires & Bruce's White. Again sorry but the blackflies were horrendous and sometimes no amount of bug spray helps.

Phlox subulata

Weigelia Pink Poppet - a small section because it really needs pruning.

Alliums surrounding a soon to bloom Persicaria Polymorpha:

Did your allium multiply on their own or did you plant a ton?

Peren.all - I don’t have any red in my garden and at some point I want to add some. There isn’t a lot of it this time of year, is there? That’s quite a sizable Peony and those single red peonies really draw your eye.

I have that Dicentra Luxuriant on my list to add. I was looking at the photo of my Dicentra exima, that I purchased at a local plant sale. I’m not sure what variety it is, but it seems the Luxuriant is a darker pink? I am new to the fringe bleeding heart. Mine is in it’s 3rd season and is just starting to be noticeable. I have two and neither of them are sited in the best location but are doing okay. How much sun are you growing yours in?

I just noticed another variety that I am adding to my list… ‘Amore Pink’.

What is your white Siberian Iris growing up through?

What a patch of Iris the blue is…!

I really enjoy your photo of the row of Lupines. I love the way you’ve designed the curving bed and the length of it is so pleasing to the eye. They’re just starting to open? Are those hostas in full sun or is the bed in part shade?

Don’t you just love phlox this time of year? Love the name of your Weigela - ‘Pink Poppet’. [g] And it’s such a pretty shade of pink. I have weigela on my list too, I’m trying to decide which variety I want. I want it for the hummingbird attraction and vigor and not sure on size. I might get two and have a dark leaved variety.

Rouge - very cute statue and where is the stem of the Amaryllis? [g] Why do I think I should know a frog with a crown on it’s head? I love the long view in your photo of the Allium. What size property do you have?

Natureinspired - Such a pretty color combination on your bearded iris and SO tall!

Cab, I love that Clematis in your first photo - Giselle? It’s so different! And your bearded Iris look so healthy and vigorous.

Sarah, are those Peony in your first photo. If I had space I’d grow peony just to be able to pick a fat bouquet to bring in the house. They are such a luxury!

Dee and Gardengal, the huge Rhododendrons covered with blooms really make a statement in May. Our neighbor has one that reaches up to the gutters of his house. I’m trying to decide which Rhododendron to add to my garden. Yours are beautiful!

I don’t have a place to grow Wisteria, but that ‘Amethyst Falls’ is quite a standout! Love that color. I wonder if it’s fragrant?

Mazerolm - How long did it take to plant that long drift of tulips? [g] It’s great to have such a large display of them!

Mad Gallica - your photo with the Rosa spinossissima is wonderful. I love the stand of mature trees and the light in the distance.

Tiffany, is that orchid growing outside?

Woody - the photo with the Chinese Wisteria in it and your beautiful dog [g] - I really would enjoy looking at that bed. I love the edge of the driveway, and the curve and you designed for privacy from the street. Different textures and colors of foliage and the little bit of white blooms. I imagine it’s even more terrific with the Chinese Wisteria blooming better. The ‘borrowed’ landscape makes an impact too. Your garden looks very well cared for, as it always does.

Cearbhaill - What is the tree that ‘Sum & Substance is planted under? Could it be a Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’? Such unusual heart shaped leaves. And those hostas really are huge. You have such a nice large property. Looks like a LOT to take care of, I don’t know how you gardeners with large properties do it! Mine is only 1/4 acre and I never get everything on my list done. I love the photo of your peninsula with the single dark green Adirondack chair and the fence that you can barely notice.

May is such a great month in the garden, I’m loving everyone’s photos! I’d like to ask, for the month of May if you had to identify six plants that are the mainstay of your May display, what would they be? Including shrubs.

My six (in average years, this year things are a couple weeks behind) would be lilacs, viburnum, allium, hosta, iris and peonies. This year the iris just started and the peonies haven’t even started yet. Pretty sure some are going to have problems opening because of the cold and very wet spring we’ve had.

So for this crazy spring I’d replace the peonies with candytuft. They are always reliable in May, they just don’t have the beauty of the peonies to make the top six normally.

And I don’t love rhodies and azaleas enough for them to ever make the list🤷🏻‍♀️

"What is the tree that ‘Sum & Substance is planted under? Could it be a Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’? Such unusual heart shaped leaves. And those hostas really are huge. You have such a nice large property. Looks like a LOT to take care of, I don’t know how you gardeners with large properties do it!"

Yes, a Forest Pansy.

I "do it" (this year anyway) by taking my photos from afar so you can't see the weeding I'm behind on. It's all I really do from April through October, am retired now.

My May standouts this year have been all foliage related. I put in several Spirea 'Candlelight' on the back side of my perennial bed that you don't always see. Well the new growth was astoundingly gorgeous butter yellow that contrasted so nicely with the creeping phlox blooming around it.

The 'Little Honey' oakleaf hydrangea is bright yellow, the new growth on the conifers is SO gorgeous, the new Acer leaves, my variegated Kousa dogwoods, the gold Hakone, the 'Sun King' aralia.

Even the very plain green growth on everything is so new and lush and verdant- it all just screams fresh new start in May.

I love my blooms, I do- my group of 'Blueberry Bliss' Irises is a showstopper in May. But the leaves, the foliage- it's all so perfect this time of year that I really try to appreciate it before the bugs and summer heat tire it all out. I'm getting up there and trying to take in every moment I have outdoors and staring at foliage has to be one of the favorite things I do. We have undeveloped property beyond the fencing and we sit back there just taking it in- I can lose hours staring at the woods.

I think the Japanese even call it forest bathing, so it's not wasted time to me, it's why I enjoy living so much.

Oursteelers - Lilacs make my list too, favorite fragrance. I just pruned off the dead blossoms on my white lilacs. Rabbits have been chewing my Hostas but I think they are done chewing them and if I just trim off the ragged leaves, they should look fine.

Kolkwitzia makes my list, it blooms faithfully at the end of May every year with no attention aside from a hard pruning about once every 5 years or so and mulching enough to hold in the moisture. And it is fragrant, fills my front yard for a couple of weeks.

Phlox subulata makes the cut because I grow a lot of it and it has a big impact on the display in May.

Baptisia/Cranesbill/Nepeta/Iris/Oriental Poppy. I guess that’s 8. [g] I think I’ll take off the Baptisia and Cranesbill because I don’t have a lot of it and the bloom on the Baptisia is so short and the size of the flowers on the Cranesbill are so small. Nepeta/Iris and Oriental Poppy all bloom together and make a nice display.

and where is the stem of the Amaryllis?

You are right @prairiemoon2 z6b MA this particular specimen is way short!

What size property do you have?

I gotta admit, these alliums and the persicaria just behind them, although all planted by me are *not* part of our property. It is my attempt at "guerrilla gardening" over the past decade or more, in a "rough and tumble" section of a public park just past our backyard and easily accessed by us.

Cearbhaill - Oh, it is a ‘Forest Pansy’, wow. So, tell me how you like that tree? How has it performed for you and are you happy you added it to your garden?

As for taking photos - even with my small property, I choose the photos I share carefully. [g] I would think most gardeners do.

Wow, you love golden foliage! I tend to buy dark foliage plants more than the yellow. But I do like Yellow foliage. I’ve considered that ‘Little Honey’. I have an oak leaf hydrangea that I enjoy. How tall does it get? Is the variegated Kousa - ‘Wolf Eyes’?

I agree with you - all the fresh green growth in the spring is what we all crave after a long winter! I’m happy to hear how much pleasure you are getting from your property. It’s so funny to me, how some people, gardeners especially, can get so much from the natural world and other people seem to barely notice it. I can get so excited about plants that are growing and trees and even lawn with clover in it, all of it, and it’s always such a surprise when other people don’t share that excitement. So, it’s always a pleasure to talk to someone who shares that excitement.

Rouge, maybe the stem is only that short because it is past it's usual bloom period and didn't have enough energy to produce a taller one. Maybe you can save it and plant it indoors in the winter next year?

Wow, you have a park behind you, how great is that!? I would love that. And what an extra 'borrowed' view it gives you too! Lucky you!

Did your allium multiply on their own or did you plant a ton?

@oursteelers 8B PNW, it is a little of both! I have planted bulbs each Fall for ages but it seems to me that it has only been in the last 2 or 3 years that multiplication is also happening.

Prairiemoon, that orchid has been outside since it got warm enough, most of the past 3 months.

prairiemoon so sorry about the delay in answering! You definitely need Luxuriant, it is a terrific performer. The pink is very dark and it blooms pretty much continuously. Mine gets sun for much of the day. In this spot it will get sun until the arbor shades it from western sun. In another spot it gets sun all day but my soil is moisture retentive.

The Iris is growing with Filipendula Red Umbrellas. Another great plant.

Thank you! I adore the Lupines and yes they were just opening in that pic. Now they are pretty much full. The Hosta is shaded by the arbor until the western sun hits it. I will be moving it because it looks great until mid July then the sun is too strong and it can get a bit fried looking.

I do really appreciate the shorter woodland Phlox stolonifera and the sun loving P. subulata at this time of year. Any colour is so welcome after a long winter!

Peren.all - No worries at all. It's spring and I can only imagine how much you have to do in the garden. [g]

Thanks for the review of 'Luxuriant', it sounds great. I'm going to add that to my list!

Would love another photo of the Lupine blooming if you get the chance!