Iris Combinations for May

A pale yellow iris with pale pink neighbors by our backyard gate.

I am loving our bearded iris this spring! They had a dry, hot summer last year, and so they are rewarding us with some beautiful flowers in our zone 5, Pennsylvania garden.

The irises by the back gate (above) were a gift from some family friends a few years ago; we invited them to dinner and they arrived with a trunk full of plants! After getting settled over the past two years, growing roots and cooking in the heat, they finally revealed their flower color this past week. I am enchanted by their pale yellow, sweetly scented blooms. And the combination here could not be nicer: pale pink dame's rockets (Hesperis matronalis) and Granny's bonnet-type columbine (Aquilegia).

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.

Color for the Weekend

Our first tree peony blooms! 

Just had to share this beautiful a red form of Paeonia suffruticosa that is in our Cherry Corner garden.  I watched anxiously over it earlier in the season, but it really does appear to be hardy enough to have weather our cold, snowy winter. I am so pleased! It is planted in a fairly sunny spot with a little dappled light. 

Have a restful weekend!
~Julie

Winterthur's Quarry Garden in Full Bloom

Our visit to the Quarry garden at Winterthur

It is a busy morning here as we are getting ready for our last official day of homeschool (yea!) and for our annual garden party that is scheduled for this Saturday. But I wanted to take a minute and post a few more photos from our trip to Winterthur gardens near Philadelphia, PA from early in May.

At Winterthur, H.F. Dupont designed a spring-watered wet garden that includes an enormous collection of giant primroses, Primula x bulleesiana hybrids. They are a cross between Primula bulleyana and Primula beesiana, both parents being native to Asia (more here). Enjoy!

Scenes from the Shade Path Garden

The Shade Path garden: Variegated Solomon Seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum') in front of the blue flowers of Brunnera 'Jack Frost'.

Here are some views of our Shade Path garden from the past couple of weeks. I love when it turns to this blue and white phase... so peaceful...

Color for the Weekend

Tulips at Longwood Gardens: Tulipa 'Purple Dream' & Tulipa 'Queen of the Night'

Here is a peek at the wonderful tulip displays at Longwood Gardens this month!

The lily-flowered Tulipa 'Purple Dream' just glows in the May sunlight. And late blooming Tulipa 'Queen of the Night', a classic, tempers the dreamer a bit and adds some great contrast.

More from Longwood Gardens soon. Hope you are enjoying a restful weekend!
~Julie

Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' on the Hill

Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' surrounded by silvery lambs ears (Stachys byzantine) on the Hill. Photo by Melissa Ellen.

If you missed my GBBD post, then you missed a ton of beautiful photos of our garden taken by my good friend Melissa Ellen. I love the above photo so much, that I felt it should have its own post. It shows our Hill Garden this May with Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' blooming and a few blue Muscari armenicum woven in here and there. Silvery Stachys byzantine, purple barberry, and purple-flowered Phlox subulata fill in the tapestry.

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!!

Color for the Weekend

Dark pink Azaleas, Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and an Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) at Winterthur.

On our travels last week, this spring azalea garden was in the children's garden at Winterthur (pronounced "winter-tour") in Wilmington, Delaware. It is an amazing garden in the Philadelphia area. More from this garden to come on WMG!

Have a great weekend!
Happy Mother's Day!
~Julie

Visit to Chanticleer's Orchard and Bulb Lawn in May

A circular tree bench in the middle of Chanticleer's Orchard garden.

Hi all! We have just arrived home from a whirlwind tour of some of the most beautiful gardens on the US east coast. While we were gone, spring definitely arrived in Pennsylvania; all of my flowers have lept ahead in growth. But before sharing more from our garden, I could not wait to share a few of the highlights from our garden tours in Colonial Williamsburg, George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, Winterthur, Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer.

A couple of our happiest vacation hours were spent reveling in the beauty of Chanticleer's Orchard and Bulb Lawn on a fine May day. We ate a bite of lunch, let the kids run around on the lawn and drank in the spring scent of thousands of daffodils and crabapple blossoms. I hope these photos help you get lost in the beauty of it all like we did!

Driveway Garden

Tulip 'Apricot Impression', Muscari armenicum, and pink blooming Lamium maculatum.

The morning sun made for a nice photo opprotunity!

More of Cherry Corner in April

Cherry Corner: pink weeping cherry tree, Narcissus 'Pink Charm', Tulip 'Apricot Impression', Muscari armenicum, Sedum 'Acre' and much more.