In Bloom This May

While I anxiously wait for my vegetable plants to bloom so I can play matchmaker and pollinate the blooms, I have these friendly plants and flowers to keep me company:

The azaleas are finally in bloom, a few weeks late thanks to a cooler 2011 spring compared to last year.

hostas, ~April 15

 hostas, April 24

hostas now

Look at the progress the hostas made! I went into the backyard a week ago and was amazed at how quickly they grew, seemingly overnight. So hard to believe that just a month ago they were little shoots barely poking out of the ground. I feel corny as I'm typing this, but isn't nature amazing?

Next to the hostas I have a Heuchera "Beaujolais" plant. The leaf colors are a pretty deep red color, like the wine it's named after! It needs a little more sun than the hostas. It's in a pot, and I can move it around as needed. I repotted it last year, and it's doing well again this year, so I think I'll need to relocate it into a bigger pot soon. Supposedly these leaves are supposed to get silvery, but mine never have. I think this plant would go nicely with a lovely Camembert.

Lastly, I added some dianthus to the pot of snapdragons in the front yard. They filled the pot out better and added to the bright red and pink colors of the snapdragons. 

That's it for floral blooms this month. The hydrangeas haven't bloomed yet, but I hope to have pictures of those flowers soon.

Hydrangeas in Bloom (endless summer and brestenburg)

Endless Summer....

 

 May weather has been a roller coaster so far--just this past week we had daytime temperatures in the 50s AND the high-80s.  Unfortunately we also had lots of cold evenings, which makes me worry for my tomato plants.  But, today's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post is about what's blooming in my garden--hydrangeas, my favorite flower!

The pictures above are of the Endless Summer hydrangeas I planted last summer. I was a little worried for my plants after DC got hit with three blizzards this year, plus some other minor snow storms, and they were buried in 4 feet of snow. I have two Endless Summer bushes, and they're growing bigger and stronger compared to last season, despite freezing to death three months ago. I'd say they're pretty hardy!

We also have hydrangeas of the Brestenburg variety:

I actually prefer blue/purple hydrangeas to pink ones, and I haven't had luck trying to get the Endless Summers to turn blue. I have added special fertilizer to make the soil more acidic (the same kind I use for the blueberries, actually), but it just isn't taking. I don't want to add too much. I hope that by having the Brestenburgs in a container I'll be able to manipulate the soil better than in the ground.

Finally, I planted this heuchera last year, and it too is doing well this season despite having been flattened by the snow. Just last week I moved it to a bigger container, and now it's growing buds!

Happy Bloom Day!