Poetry Sunday and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2016

The flowers of May have inspired many poets, including Vrunda Shankara.

May Flowers

by Vrunda Shankara

As the April showers lash 
A respite from the summer heat,
Now time for summer blossoms, 
As if on cue, 
the bare trees, 
puts on green, fresh leaves.
And in few days, 
decks itself up, 
with beauteous red blooms, 
May Flowers.
The red colour, so deep, 
One can get lost in it, 
An aroma, a smell, 
so faint, 
yet, felt from a distance.
As the May flowers, 
fills the air, 
all that is heard is, 
the buzz of the bees, 
songs of a sun bird.
Pretty are the trees, 
but, splendid are the trees, 
With mayflowers. 

~~~

Indeed, May might be our most floriferous month. Maybe that's why our Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day host, Carol, named her blog "May Dreams Gardens."

So, what's blooming in my garden on this Bloom Day? Take a look.

There are day lilies, of course. 








And oleanders.
Pink.

And red.

There are roses.
'Graham Thomas.'

'Darcy Bussell.'

Pink Knockouts.

The antique polyantha rose, 'Caldwell Pink.'

Red Knockouts 'Radazz.'
Salvias... 
'Mystic Spires.'



'Black and Blue.'


White mistflower.

And white 4 o'clocks with just a hint of yellow.

Bicolored 4 o'clocks - pink and white.

Turk's cap in full bloom.

Red gerbera.

Yellow lantana.

And Convolvulus 'Blue Daze.'

White yarrow.

Blue plumbago.

Philippine lily.
Pale yellow angel's trumpet.

Pink angel's trumpet. Do you know how to tell angel's trumpets (Brugmansia) from devil's trumpets (Datura)? Angel's trumpets point down, toward the earth. Devil's trumpets point up, toward the heavens.


 There are petunias.

White.

And fuchsia.

White cat whiskers.

There are still a few brave little violas from winter, soldiering on.

Feverfew.

And last, but hardly least, there must be at least one sunflower.

Thank you for taking the tour of my garden this month. Happy Bloom Day and happy gardening.

Comments

  1. Oh, you are so much in front of us by now! Leven a sunflower! Lovely to see all the hemerocallis’, mine have barely started producing scapes. Everything is so late here, possibly more than 3 weeks due to the very cold weather. Darcy Bussell is very high on my wish-list, despite that I have quite a lot of roses already - I want to grow it in a container and it seems a perfect little rose for that. Thanks for the tour around your lovely garden, so much to see, so many lovely flowers.
    Have a good Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I grow 'Darcy' in a very large pot and she does quite well there. Yes, most things were earlier than usual here this year because of our non-winter. I'm sure you'll catch up though.

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  2. Yep, it is summer despite what the calendar says. Have you seen butterflies? Everything looks beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our daytime temperatures have been above 90 degrees recently. I definitely think that qualifies as summer.

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  3. We are under a freeze warning tonight here in upstate New York. So my potted and basketed plants come in. How lovely it is, as always, to see your coming attractions. Now I am happy, knowing the day lilies I love are on their way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So hard to believe that you are still having freezes when we've been above 90 degrees recently. Stay warm and I hope spring comes to stay at your place soon.

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  4. Oh your spring blooms are so wonderful Dorothy! I so enjoyed your collection of daylilies and the Pink angel's trumpet is absolutely gorgeous! Happy Bloom Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lee. Daylilies really do say "May," don't they?

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  5. I saw the cat's whiskers while visiting in Dallas a few years ago and wanted to grow them here. Not in zone 7, I learned.
    Ray

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess they are more at home in 8 or 9. Too bad for you zone 7 gardeners for they are a fun plant to grow, but I'm sure you have many alternative plants that do well for you.

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  6. Oh my - and I thought we were far ahead of schedule up here in Oregon... I have seen buds on Brugmansias, but no flowers yet. I have my eyes peeled for the white yarrow - if I see one in the trade, I'll nab it. If I don't, I might just find one and transplant it to my garden. Last summer (which was the driest on record for us), I watched one not just grow, but also flower. It was August, and it was lodged in minimal soil between two concrete plinths used as freeway dividers. I couldn't believe it! What a rockstar plant! Later, I learned what a broad spectrum source of food it is for all kinds of wildlife. It is now on my list of plants that every garden should have. Hope to find one soon! Happy GBBD!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with locating yarrow. It is a wonderful plant for habitat gardeners, much the favorite with many pollinators. It comes in various colors, of course. I like the white but I am also on the lookout for some of the other colors.

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  7. I can't wait for the roses. Soon.. we have buds at least! A wonderful show as ever Dorothy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something to look forward to - a gardener always need that!

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  8. Wow!
    You have blooms in every color that exists!
    Have a great week!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lea. Looks like my week is going to be wet. I hope yours is fantastic.

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  9. So many blooms... The poem certainly is fitting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May Flowers - what, indeed, could be more fitting?

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  10. Beautiful. Life began in a garden. My mom had four o'clocks on the (I think) north side of the home where I grew up. Like you, she always had something blooming. The star of my yard right now is the hibiscus. The dark peach colored blooms are bigger than ever this year. I guess my pruning last year paid off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Four o'clocks are a very old-fashioned plant. My mother used to grow them at the back door of our little house when I was small. I always thought they were magic because they opened up late in the day and were closed again by morning. I grow them - as I do several plants - as an homage to her.

      My neighbor's hibiscus is blooming, too. Mine, however, for whatever reason, seems to be taking its time this year. I hope to have blooms soon.

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  11. The roses and irises are blooming here, but you are well ahead of us with the daylilies, Dorothy. I like your angel's trumpets, I hadn't heard how to tell them from Datura.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have early, mid, and late season daylily bloomers in my garden. We're now getting into mid-season but many of the early ones are still blooming, too, so there is a bonanza of blossoms at the moment.

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