On The Brink Of May

Before watching the Women’s Six Nations rugby decider between England and France this afternoon I wandered around the garden to look at the flowers.

Blossom cascades from two crab apple trees at the front, where pink climbing roses

pink climbing roses cling to the trellis opposite the smiling pansies against the garage door.

Libertia and bluebells are both now ubiquitous,

As are these poppies which start the day in bloom and end it stripped of petals. My job is to dead head them so they will come again tomorrow.

White erigeron and pink honesty are also found everywhere, as in the Cryptomeria Bed, shared with

osteospermum.

We have a number of clematis Montanas, one of which shares the limbs of this lilac.

Various wallflowers are cropping up.

This wisteria has flowered for the first time, while the weathered camellia is showing it age.

Rhododendrons are in their prime.

Camassia and ajuga are more examples of small blue flowers.

We inherited this white blooming shrub from our predecessors. Can anyone identify it? Thanks to Carolyn (doesitevenmatter 3) for Snowmound or Spirea Nipponica

Finally, a few days ago this gravel would have harboured forget-me-nots and other little flowers which will settle anywhere. Now, it has been just one area in which Flo has undertaken strenuous weeding.

This evening we dined on Hordle Chinese Take Away’s excellent fare with which Jackie drank Hoegarden, I finished the Cabernet Sauvignon, Flo drank Kombucha Raspberry and lemon, and Becky abstained.

95 comments

  1. What an amazing garden you have. I’m glad for the tour. Your mystery shrub may be a type of viburnum–have a look online and see if it matches up.

          1. Your garden is always gorgeous and spring is my favorite time of year, so I really love seeing all your pictures.

  2. The flowers looked back at you with their sweet faces and smiled…which makes us smile! Thank you for sharing them with us, Derrick!
    Flo’s area is looking great….and you know I always love seeing one of the owls! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) and Happy Day! 🙂
    PS…Is your white blooming plant part of the Spirea family? Maybe Vanhoutte or Snowbound Spirea?

  3. Just as we wend our way toward winter you give us, down here, a beautiful glance at what Spring will have for us in six months. Absolutely lovely, Derrick.

  4. . Everything looks so beautiful I cannot begin to pick a favorite. I imagine the big picture is enchanting. Wallflowers must come in many varieties

  5. Our Rhododendrons are in their prime right now, too. They are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos today, Derrick. I’m glad you had Chinese takeaway…I’m sure it was delicious. Lefties tomorrow!😉

  6. This instalment contains a gorgeous parade of blooms in your garden. I wish I could identify the white flowered shrub that your predecessors left behind.

  7. Oh what a beautiful variety of blooms in your garden! I have just cleared a part of mine in the hope of producing winter flowers and vegetables.

  8. Beautiful flowers. We aren’t there yet – however, we had a mostly sunny April 30th, +16 C. I had the BBQ smoker going for the first time this year – pork tenderloin. May 1st will be cooler with rain. Such is the turn of the seasons.

  9. I’m not very good at plant names, but it looks a lot like a white penta bush I had a while back.

  10. Thanks for the visual delight, Derrick 🙂 Yesterday, while I was outside gardening, one of my neighbors expressed regret that there were no flowering plants in her garden plot. “You’re welcome to buy whatever plant you like,” I told her. Like most of the areas I’ve planted and maintain in our apartment complex, at my own cost, I’ve opted to grow a wide variety of succulent plants that do well in the prolonged drought of Southern California. I don’t do well with flowering plants that require daily watering and last for just a season.

  11. How lovely everything looks. I would not have thought to dead-head Welsh poppies either, but I’ll give it a try. My father first planted them decades ago and the odd one still appears.

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