Allium 'Purple Sensation' and Tulip 'Cum Laude' Combination

Our Front Walk garden on May 17th.

One of my favorite surprised combinations happens in the Front Walk garden this month. Tulipa 'Cum Laude' and Allium 'Purple Sensation' make a beautiful pair here, the latter just beginning as the former finishes. The blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis) add to the blue theme and the chartreuse foliage of Spirea 'Goldflame' adds some punch. You can just see the foliage of the Japanese Anemone coming up in the area, which helps to cover the rather unsightly Allium foliage while it blooms.

Read more about the Front Walk garden on the map of our town garden.

While we were away...GBBD May 2013

Full of tulips at Gilmore Gardens in May!

As excited as I was to be touring Chanticleer and Winterthur last week, I was a little sad to be missing the over 200 tulips we planted last fall in our front garden! So, while we were away on our spring trip, I asked my friend Melissa Ellen to take some photos of our tulips. Melissa did a great job! I knew she would, as she does a wonderful job with photos of everything beautiful on her own blog, Melissa Ellen's Loft. If you are in need of some pretty ideas for your home, give her blog a look. Thanks to her for all of the beautiful photos in this post!!

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD May 2012

Our picket fence covered in a red Clematis 'Earnest Markham' and heavenly-scented dame's rocket (Hesperis matronalis). Potted Allium 'Purple Sensation' on the steps.

There are tons of late spring blooms for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in our Pennsylvania, Zone 5 garden. We are at least three weeks ahead of schedule, with many plants blooming now that usually do not have their day well into June. Most of the tulips are gone as of about a week ago, though the late single Tulip 'Cum Laude' is just dropping its petals this week. The phlox scents the whole yard right now.

One of my favorite large-flowered Clematis, C. 'John Warren' on the flower trellis in the Driveway Garden.

Tulip 'Princess Irene' and Tulip 'Cum Laude' with Spirea 'Goldflame' in the Front Walk Garden

Tulip 'Princess Irene' and Tulip 'Cum Laude' with Spirea 'Goldflame' and forget-me-nots (Myosotis)

We are living in decadent color these weeks at Gilmore Gardens in Pennsylvania. I cannot seem to keep up with taking photos enough to capture all of the changes. Here are a few vivid photos of the tulips in our Front Walk garden, which is situated in full to part sun.

GBBD April Flowers in Pennsylvania, Zone 5

The Circle Lawn on April 15th, 2012.

 Welcome to GBBD April at Gilmore Gardens in Pennsylvania, Zone 5!

Our garden is still a month ahead of where it normally is in spring.  It looks much more like May from last year than April.  We are located on a corner lot in our little town, so we have lots of passersby with which to share our spring celebration. Our location contains gardens in shade, semi-shade and lots of full sun. See the map of Gilmore Gardens to link these areas together in your mind as you look around.

Unseasonably warm weather in Pennsylvania Gardens

The Hill Garden: Tulipa 'Ice Stick', Narcissus 'Tete-a-tete' and Crocus vernus 'Grand Maitre'

Can this really be March??

Pink weeping cherry (Prunus) tree in the Cherry Corner Garden at the front of our lot.

Persian lilac (Syringa x persica) leafing out in the Driveway Garden.

In Cherry Corner: Narcissus 'Tete-a-tete', Crocus vernus 'Grand Maitre' and variegated loosestrife's pink shoots (Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander').

Old rose bush leafing out in the Driveway Garden.

By the walk in the Driveway Garden: Hyacinthus orientalis 'Aiolos' with Festuca 'Elijah Blue'.

Crazy kids loving the sun and baby pool in March!

A pot on the back stoop with Narcissus 'Tete-a-tete' and Tulipa 'Persian Pearl'.

See March of last year for a real contrast (Hill Garden and Driveway Garden). Even just a few weeks ago! Snow, snow, snow.

We are enjoying the sun: playing at the park, holding reading class outside, and a trip to the local ice cream shop. I have continued not to feel well, but has been so enjoyable to be able to be outside. Just walking about the garden with my camera is a treat.

Fall Gardening Task #3: Move and Thin Perennial Seedlings

Oh, what a wonderful sight!

Columbine (Aquilegia) seedlings around the Circle Lawn

Baby flowers everywhere. But we want them all to thrive, instead of smothering each other.  And there are some areas in the garden that are void of these Columbine (Aquilegia) beauties. The solution is simple: pluck them out with a japanese knife (my favorite tool) or a trowel and set them to growing in the bare areas.

This is my favorite kind of gardening. Leisurely.

Here, there and everywhere amongst the geraniums, sedums and turf.

Firstly, it is always better to transplant little babies like these on cloudy or rainy days in spring or fall. 

Do not be afraid to pop them out, even large sections of seedlings. I usually put them in a large pot (steer clear the holes or use a box instead!), divide them apart from each other and then walk around the rest of the garden thinking about where a nice patch of columbine would add some color at the end of May. 

Be sure the soil in their new home is loose, not compacted. Dig tiny holes and be sure that, when you put them in, they are not planted too deeply.  Their tiny crowns need to be just at soil level. If you do not have the advantage of rain after planting, then give them a gentle, tiny sprinkle for their new tiny hole.  I prefer swaths of flowers, so I often plant several seedlings in the same area... some times dozens in a larger area.

Columbine, forget-me-nots and foxglove foliage in May this year.

In the fall, I thin my columbine (Aquilegia), forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and foxgloves (Digitalis). I might also find other little babies that I would like to have more of around the base of their parent plants. Large sections of my garden were covered in just a few years with the extra care in moving these seedling babies around.

You will be richly rewarded for your cold, rainy work come next year!

Read more from the Fall Gardening Tasks series:
#1 Planting Lavender in wet climates
#2 New perennials for fall planting