Thursday, May 31, 2007

Blooming this week

I had wanted to brag a little last night about my peonies; aren't they nice? I prefer single peonies, rather than the doubles that flop all over the place, even though the singles don't last in a vase. All of those white flowers you see are on one plant! Right next to it is another peony that never gets any buds. The foliage is beautiful, but no buds. I've read that's because either there's too much shade or it's planted too deeply. Neither explanation makes any sense to me because the one next to it is doing so beautifully. Any ideas?
I bought this pond plant a few weeks ago and love it! Problem is I don't know what it is, but I do think it may be the same flower that Susan was wondering about yesterday.
This is a flower on the Sourgum Tree we planted this spring. Not much to look at, but the birds and I are hoping for fruit this year. The tree is leafing out nicely, and the new foliage is tinged with purple.
The viburnums are blooming, too. This one gets the most sun so it blooms first and the most heavily. These are Linden viburnums; the Winterthur is struggling to put out leaves and I doubt there will be any blooms. There has got to be some problem with the spot it's planted in because this is like the 3rd or 4th Winterthur I've planted there and every one of them dies. Maybe I'm just not meant to have that particular viburnum as much as I like it. The Cranberrybush Viburnum we planted this spring bloomed very early because it was greenhouse raised, but it was pretty while it lasted.

So what's blooming where you are?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

So wonderful after the long winter seeing so many flowers in bloom!

R.Powers said...

Beautiful plants!
The magnolias are blooming here as are their cousins the bays.
Blue flag iris, rain lillies, trumpet creepers, coral honeysuckle, lantana, coreopsis,pickeral weed, duck potato, cannas ...

Mary said...

Laura, your garden has your magic touch. I'll show you what's growing around my house soon - over the weekend. In this horrible drought, there are a few blooms. I'm trying to keep everything alive.

Susan Gets Native said...

You have so much nice stuff in your yard. Too bad Cape May is so far from your house...we could all have a sleepover at your place and wake up to your lovely plants. Because you would probably make us sleep on the lawn.
That water plant looks just like what I saw yesterday. Jeez. If you don't know the name of it, it probably doesn't have one!

dmmgmfm said...

I'll let you know what's blooming when I get home tomorrow.

Thanks for sending Dale a card. It's a real treat for him.

Dave Dorsey said...

Nice bloomers!

JeanMac said...

Iris of every color in bloom. The white peony is lovely - our peonies bloom in June.

Jayne said...

Love your peonies Laura! Not much is blooming here really because we are bone dry. My hosta is trying to bloom and I have purple cone flower in a bed, but other than my potted geraniums, that's about it for now. I love the Viburnums too. We used to have several where we used to live. Very pretty, hearty plant.

Ruth said...

I have pink single peonies from my grandmother's garden. I moved them 3 times before they finally would bloom. They must be very picky about light and soil, but your blooms are gorgeous.
ruth

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I've never seen single peonies. Mine are all varying shades of the double pinks. I got years ago them from a coworker who dug them from her grandfather's old farmsite so they are unbelievably fragant. I understand it's difficult to buy them now with much fragrance.

Anonymous said...

I had a spring flush of bulbs, and the foam flowers, lilac, and columbine are done. Now the only things in bloom are the salvias and fringed leaf bleeding heart which get me into summer. I mostly have a summer blooming garden. Oh, and my cranberry viburnum always blooms early, too.

I love your single peonies. And I agree with Susan, the water flower is delightful.

Heather
Wayne, PA

NatureWoman said...

Your peonies are beautiful Laura. I'll post on what's blooming here early next week!

Larry said...

-You've got some beautiful flowers blooming there Laura. I have a Lantana? Viburnum, and it hasn't produced the flowers or berries I hoped for.

Susan Gets Native said...

Laura!
Water willow! That's what it is. I went to the library today to check out some butterfly and wildflower guides.
Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.

gregor said...

mock orange, various types of rugosa, iris, tickseed, campion, marigolds, black-eyed susan vines, vinca at the moment. daylilies are getting ready to start setting buds. violets are all played out. crape myrtles are starting so show very small buds, though. i've placed all my perennials in holding beds for the summer, i'm re-scaping all my borders, so they're sort of behind schedule a bit, but most, if not all should survive the summer and be ok to transplant in the fall.
all in central nj, about midway between the shore and trenton.
your property looks lovely!

LauraHinNJ said...

Gregor: Hi, thanks for coming by! It sounds like you must be near to me, though I'm closer to the shore than to Trenton. Would love to see some pics of your garden project.

Susan: That's it - thanks for tracking it down! The flowers are neat, aren't they?

Larry: I love the alternate name for Lantana Viburnums - Wayfaringtree - but I've never seen them for sale in any nursery. Viburnums like full sun and moist soils - does yours get enough sun? I've also read that the Lantanas are known for poor fruit set - maybe add another few close by to aid in pollination?

Pam: Please do!

Heather: What type of salvias do you have blooming? I loooove salvias! I added some fringed bleeding hearts to my shade garden this year and really like them - they're much different than the old-fashioned huge one I have, but I look forward to the blooms all summer.

Lynne: Peonies are so easy and pretty! I had lots more of the doubles, but took them out and gave them to my brother when we put in our pond. I think he killed them all.

;-(

Do you have a nice variety of pinks? Most that I see lean more towards the same yucky shade of magenta.

LauraHinNJ said...

Ruth: I wonder if I should just try somehow to lift this one out and up a bit so that maybe it will bloom? I think it might be a red - which would be really lovely!

Jayne: I love coneflowers but always manage to kill them - how can that be? Do you plant many annuals or containers to stay through the long hot summer?

Jean: Hi! Iris - I have just one - a purple and white stripe that gives me just one flower each year. They are lovely and I really need to find space for a few more.

Dave: Ha! Let's see your bloomers!

;-)

Laurie: Please do! Glad to send a smile Dale's way.

Mary: Your gardenias made my day!

FC: Florida sounds very abundant! What are rain lilies?

Monarch: Thanks!