Your Kerria looks amazing @Heruga (7a NJ).

I like these shrubs lots with gorgeous flowers even in shadier spots. But they are a bit too large for my situation and the foliage rust was always a bit disconcerting to me. How does the foliage look later in the season for your?

Wow, that Wisteria is so nice. You are way far ahead of us.

Yes they get rust later in the season-both my ’pleniflora’ and ‘golden guinea’. Some years were worse than others. Last year wasn’t as bad but the year before my ’golden guineas’ were almost enitrely defoliated by September. But they come back just fine in the Spring.

Yup this wisteria was taken last week, it’s just finishing up now. Yours isn’t blooming yet?

Also no flowers but here is my pinus thunbergii I grew from seed in 2019 and looks like its producing cones for the first time. It’s about 7 ft tall

Baptisia ’Purple Smoke’ with Dianthus ’Bath’s Pink’

Welp, I've got this lol.....

This is my cherry laurel. Obviously it did NOT do well this winter. I'm disappointed as it was one of the few shrubs that grew quickly, was almost no-maintenance, and was a needed evergreen addition to the privacy border I'm building.

I did take a look today and I think it may actually try to rebound. There is some green in there. I was going to cut it back hard but many of the stems with dead leaves have green, so I think I'll leave it a bit longer and see how it does. Last year it had winter damage as well (not NEARLY as much as this lol) and it rebounded quite nicely.

Markay, gorgeous purples! <3

:)

Dee

Wow, Dee, poor thing.

Today was nice! I spent some time cutting out winter-killed blackberries, rambunctious grape vines, and a very persistent wild rose. And because the earliest lily of the valley is about to open, I picked a bouquet with lily of the valley, forget me nots, pulmonaria, and grape hyacinths. It smells wonderful. :)

,

@party_music50, it was a nice day here too and I was out enjoying the evening so here are a couple ”golden hour” pics

Columbine from 2024 Wintersowing

Clematis integrifolia 'Roguchi'

My little mountain laurel is starting to bloom

Amsonia tabernaemontana

Bradbury Monarda in front of Amsonia ’Storm Cloud’

Pardon my weeds!!

I have tons of May highlights photos to share, but the "upload images" button on my mobile app is broken. Anyone else having this problem?

Some muscari and orange fosteriana tulips (and spent daffodils):

(@artinnaturez8b, have you tried again to upload?)

Yup this wisteria was taken last week, it’s just finishing up now. Yours isn’t blooming yet?

I personally don't have any wisteria but I know a couple of locations that have good specimens and they are not yet in bloom.

Btw, your 'mass planting' of Primula sieboldii is stunning.

I DO have a few things in bloom, and looking better than my cherry laurel lol

Rhododendron Capistrano -I have wanted one of these for so long and saw this last fall and finally picked it up! It's still in it's pot in my veggie garden. I bit of freeze damage but looking pretty good

Another impulse buy - Azalea Delaware Valley White. Also in the veggie garden (with some reseeded agastache)

Tulip Suncatcher. They're actually on their way out but looked so lovely in the sun the other day!

:)

Dee

Rhododendrons are funny. Long established plants in a garden have good, heavy blooming years and ones that are not.

'Mary Belle' is looking great. Its distant cousin 'Mary Garrison', planted near it and to my left in this picture, is having an off year.

The huge needles in the foreground are from Abies pindrow.

Delosperma Orange Vibe, Magnolia Fairy Blush, Noid Linum, Rosa Etoile De Hollande.

(uninstalled the houzz app, giving this a try on the mobile site....hope this works!)

The others

Variegated Solomon's Seal under a white Lilac bush

I just planted this area with 'Mount Hood' Daffodil last fall. They came up well in back of some asters that the rabbits are eating and i haven't cut the dead stems back thinking it would make it harder for them... I am looking for a companion plant for the mount hood.

Not a great photo of the Lilac, it's tall and i had to take a photo looking up.

How about this beautiful site? Rabbit damage to my best Arborvitae. What am I going to do with that? There is no regrowth when you cut these branches off. *sigh*

At least they don't enjoy Hellebores.... Not sure if this is 'Dark and Handsome' or 'Dashing Groomsman'.

I could post more rabbit damage, but, that get's old ...lol.

I did add quite a few new additions last year, small sizes, and I'm just glad they are coming back up. Here are two rugosa roses, won't know which is which until they bloom.

Honeysuckle with a big fat dandelion in there...

A clematis moved in the Fall...waiting to see which one it is. I guess i should label...lol.

That's about it!

Enjoying everyone's early garden photos. Still have a long month of May ahead for more! Keep them coming!

Spring well and truly sprung here. Hostas are looking particularly strong. My poor Gingko however, was burned by a frost at exactly the wrong time. About half the tree looks like this 😕

Spiderworts have started to bloom here.

I should probably move this one to give it more space now that my Munchkin Oakleaf Hydrangea is fattening up.

And we are well into roses and foxglove season. The rose is Cathedral Bells.

And we have more Baptisia blloming. This is Blueberry sundae with the rise Easy Does It.

A Lathryus

Two Hellebores in now full bloom:

Now this Bleeding Heart "Gold Heart" is not yet in full bloom but it just glows right now:

Cistus ladanifer 'Paladin' with Cordyline australis.

'Paladin' is so pretty....very unique flower colour and design @artinnaturez8b.

Iris 'Lovely Seniorita'

artinnature you ALWAYS have such beautiful colorful photos! Everything looks so vibrant! What a glorious iris.

rouge I was just thinking yesterday how I love my hellebores. They "bloom" from February well into what? June? Lifetimes ago, I got some seedlings from a fellow GWer, and my memory is cloudy but they were unnamed and were from some breeding program or other, so I have no idea what they are, and they do tend to seed around, but I'm okay with that, especially as each one is a slightly different color. But just yesterday some by my back patio caught my eye. They bloomed a light pink, to a deep pink, to a purplish magenta in late February, I believe, and the blooms are still there, having mellowed to varying shades of greenish ivory, which are just as beautiful as the original new blooms. So much length of interest for such an easy-care plant!

Indianagirl your hostas are gorgeous!

Loving everyone's pics! Living vicariously through you all since I don't have much going on right now - thanks for sharing!

:)

Dee