Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2011

There's no shortage of colorful blooms in our garden on this May Bloom Day.

Since most or the color is provided by glorious tulips that's what I'm going to concentrate on, and later, in another post, I'll show what else is blooming.

Most of these photos were taken on Wednesday and Thursday of this week when I was lucky enough to have a couple of days off work and the sun was actually shining! We've had lots of rainy, cloudy days and rain is pouring down again tonight. I'm glad I didn't wait until today to take photos for Bloom Day.

Here are the same tulips as the above photo, but from a different angle.

A long shot of that garden and the one behind with blue Grape Hyacinths. Click for a closer view.

Looking down toward the road - the same 2 gardens as above, plus the Lily Garden.

Do you notice that we have new neighbors? They're a young Amish couple - one of many who have recently moved to our area. That's their barn.
It's quite difficult to get good shots with unobstructed views of our beautiful surroundings these days. Nevertheless, we're enjoying having them as neighbors, getting to know them, and learning about their lifestyle.

This was the view beyond the Top Lilac Garden last Wednesday....

And yesterday, Saturday afternoon, it looked like this! Another young Amish couple had a house raising just down the road. Those 'ants' you see on the roof are 13 young Amish men. They can certainly finish a job in a short time.

We have another family with about 10 (or more) children just a short walk the other way up the road.

I have to be innovative with the camera if I want shots without buildings.
The crab apple trees should be blooming very soon.

Van Eijk tulips backlit by morning sun.

The Driveway Garden

Pink Impression and Purple Flag

Lovely deep red passalongs, so no name, and a few daffs just finishing.

I plan to post photos of the daffodils in a later post. They were absolutely spectacular, but the days have been too busy to blog while they were putting on their wonderful show.

Ah, there's a view with lovely afternoon light and no buildings!

Just to the left of center in the background the house of our new neighbors to the north is almost hidden by the Weigela. 

A purple and white mix of Triumph tulips.

Angelique

The Driveway and Lilac gardens.

Hannah loves a good photo shoot. Here she is in the Lily Garden.

These yellow and orange beauties are Daydream.

I don't know the name of the reds.

I'm guessing the purples are Passionale.

This gorgeous pink has no name.

Oh, there's Hannah again - surveying her domain!

Blue Heron with their fringed petals

and dark throats.

That afternoon light is breathtaking!
I love the way it lights the burgundy Heuchera in the foreground.

Dynasty

Red Emporer with Grape Hyacinths by the steps.

Purple Flag and Pink Impression

This is the morning view outside our back door....when the sun shines :)

Carol of May Dreams Gardens is our gracious host for Bloom Day. If you visit her website you'll see a very long list of bloggers offering their May blooms for your perusal and enjoyment.

Happy May Bloom Day everyone!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2011

The mid-April garden is springing to life!

I can't remember ever appreciating the newly emerging blooms quite so much.
Perhaps it's because our winter seemed everlasting.

The sight of blooming Daffodils lifts my soul.

This time last year the gardens were bursting with blooms, but they're all a little slower this spring.

Hyacinths were fully open for last year's Bloom Day, but the flowers are just emerging this week.

A few Crocuses are still blooming and the bees have been busily enjoying them.

There's a small patch of golden yellow Crocuses in the Clematis Garden.

These beauties have just finished, but they were still gorgeous just a few days ago.

Most of this mixed group are drooping now as well, but they were such a delight during their brief reign of glory.

Hannah is so happy to be exploring the outdoors again.

She thinks the Daffodils make a good hiding place for watching the birds.

The blue flowered Scilla siberica (Siberian Squill) is one of my absolute favorites.

Bees love it too.

The yellow and white Daffodils in the Clematis Garden were some of the first to open just a couple of days ago.

Snowdrops are finally beginning to fade, after blooming for a month, and don't look as good as this now, but it's amazing how well they hold up to the inconsistencies of early spring weather.

There's something so endearing about the little bulbs of spring. These Chionadoxas (Glory of the Snow) make such a pretty patch of color.

The pink Helleborus has been slow to open.....

......but here it is, finally!
Not as spectacular as some I've seen on other blogs, but very precious to me after waiting 4 years for this bloom!

There are a few new blooms on the white Helleborus. It began blooming back in October and is still producing blooms after napping under a blanket of snow for several months.

The Silver Maple is ablaze with fuzzy red flowers and I see a haze of red from the maples in the surrounding woods.

We've had several beautiful, sunny days lately (with April showers in between) and I've been out doing some clean-up in the garden beds. It feels so good to be out in the garden again, feeling the warmth of the sun!  

Hannah is in full agreement :)

And how wonderful it is to once again have colorful blooms to photograph and enjoy.

I hope you're enjoying your spring (or fall) garden as much as I'm enjoying mine.

Carol of May Dreams Gardens has a long list of other gardeners showing off their blooms for this April Bloom Day. I hope you'll find time to visit her and click some of those links.
I notice that Carol's Indiana garden is quite a bit further along than our upstate NY zone 5 garden, but we'll get there. I'm quite happy to go a little slower and just enjoy each day of these long awaited spring blooms.