flowers: May 9, 2010

This is my last set of photos from May 9, tomato planting day. Not the best photos, because I was in a bit of a rush, but you get some idea what flowers are blooming.

The irises are blooming one color at a time. Purple are just past their peak and yellow are beginning. I keep buying different types of purple irises because there is one kind I really like, but I don't know what it is called and keep hoping to get lucky. So far, no luck, and I have 3 different shades of purple irises.

This flower bed is just starting to get going. The bachelor buttons at the rear right are just starting to bloom. The silver duster at the back is practically a shrub despite brutal pruning. The Campanula are almost ready to bloom, and the balloon flowers will be close behind. In the front are pansies, a rather sad New Guinea Impatient, an osteopermum, a few anenome (most didn't come up again this year), and a few petunias in case all else fails. Also I planted a few turkish balloon flowers again because I do love them, even though they don't love me.

My husband made a new slightly terraced area at the bottom of the embankment for the blueberries. I planted extra pansies and other misc flowers here.

Also a new yellow osteospermum. It is really pretty, but I realized I will have to move it, because this whole area will be taken over by pumpkin vines by late summer.

My father-in-law gave us a few of this pretty pink flowers, which we planted behind the pumpkins at the base of my husband's baby tree patch.The yamaboshi (Japanese dogwood) started flowering. It seems very healthy, but hasn't grown at all in the 2 years since we planted it. We wonder if perhaps its sun exposure is too good, so it doesn't feel any need to grow taller.
The yellow magnolia by my classroom door is blooming.
And I have started planting flowers along the border of the empty lot next door to our driveway.
And I'm also putting flowers in the holes in the ugly cement fence by the driveway. I love this white flower, it continues to bloom every May. I think this is its third year.
My more expensive petunias from last year proved to be worth the extra money as they have come back in force again this year.

Springing!

The yellow crocuses are croaking their little hearts out. No signs of any other colors yet...
My first daffodil on Feb 22
And on Feb 24!
Apparently pansy season is over, because pansies were going for clearance discounts at the home center. I got some to fill in for ones that didn't like this year's cold winter. Only one of my pansies which I started from seed has bloomed so far. Haven't got a decent photo yet, though. I also got some anenomes because about 80% of mine didn't make it through the winter.
I pulled out most of these little yellow flower plants last summer because they were getting out of control, but they are back in strength. Quite cute, but I think I need to move them to the embankment because they are more of a hardy wild-flower (weed?) than well-behaved flower-bed-flower.
Speaking of hardy wild-flower weeds on the embankment, dandelions are blooming. The girls love to pick them. And they are cheerful and bright at a time of year when the embankment is pretty bleak.
And I have always loved these tiny blue flowering weeds. So cute! Though I do pull them out of my flower beds.
Our one strawberry meets a bitter end. So we are holding out for the blueberries...
which seem to have adjusted to their new spot on the north side of the embankment. We hope they are happier here than they were in their previous location.
None of the snap pea seeds my husband planted came up, so he bought seedlings at the garden store and planted them in the new field in the empty lot next door.
Helping keep those weeds down, every little bit counts.
Nothing like a well deserved rest in the sun after a hard morning weeding the garden. It's nice to know that the vegetable-picking basket is good for more than holding just spinach.

flowers

Name That Flower time! I got these from my weird little cast-off flower shop. Unmarked for 30 yen (30 cents). I was so curious as to what color they would be. These two, two orangey/red ones that got moved two days ago, and one that still hasn't bloomed. We'll see if they make it through the summer, the ones I bought in the spring last year died, but I hope having started these in the fall will give them a head start.














I think this is more or less a weed, but it's pretty.




















This is the second year for these bulbs. ???













I bought this blue hibiscus, not knowing if it was annual or perennial, nor how tall it would get. It was only a few inches high, who knew it would turn into a tree? But its leaves came out in January, and then died in the frost, so I pruned it, and now it is making new leaves. I hope it survives, because it did have pretty flowers in the summer. Are those little blue flowers to the right forget-me-nots? I've forgotten...

March 30 2009 mostly flowers

Anenomes, pansies, and serveral others I don't know the names in English. The Japanese red maple leaves are starting to come out.















Daffodils, pansies, and soon...irises. The crocuses finished last week.














Daffodils, narcissus, rose of sharon that were just twigs last year
















Pink and blue flowers















Herb garden. The rosemary is out of control. The basil is still just starting, so some failed kohlrabi are currently taking up space on the right.