Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Garden in Early May



Spring is whipping by and I am rushing to catch up with it. 


Already the tulips and daffodils are finished and I have very few pictures of them! 

Most of the month of April was very dry, but in the first few days of May we have had lots of rainfall. Suddenly everything is lush and green.


Most early spring flowers like these Pulmonaria seem to hug the earth. You have to get low down to really appreciate them.


This pretty red primrose is relatively new to the garden. We will have to see how it fairs 
later in the summer when it typically gets very dry.



Many of the lamiums are now in flower.


Forget-me-nots are absolutely everywhere!


The alliums are picking up where the tulips and daffodils have left off.



The Ostrich ferns, which were tightly curled just a few weeks ago, have now opened up completely. They never look as fresh and green as they do at this time of year.



The bleeding hearts are all flowering.



This 'Gold Heart' is my new favourite.


Geraniums are taking over all the lightly shaded corners of the garden. They have literally self-seeded all through the back garden! Yesterday, I was even plucking young seedlings out of the vegetable beds.


The bees love them though.



The first of the spireas has already come and gone.


The large Virburnum that anchors the large flowerbed in back garden 
is almost finished flowering. 


The vegetable garden will hopefully go in this week. In the meantime, there are chives and parsley perfect for topping roasted potatoes.



I was also able to harvest some rhubarb. It is stewing away in a pot on the stove as I write.


In the back garden, the blossoms on the currant bushes have turned into little, translucent 
green berries in what seems like the blink of an eye.


Much to my horror, Lily of the Valley is threatening to take over several flowerbeds. 


But for now I am declaring a temporary truce and picking a few flowers to bring into the house to enjoy. Their fragrance is incredible!

I am going to link this post to May Dreams Gardens Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and on Thursday to Fishtail Cottage Garden Party and on Friday to Fertilizer Fridays at Tootsie Time
To see other beautiful gardens, please click the links.
I am also going to link to Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  The first and last images make use of Kim's Stained Linen and Warm Sun textures on a soft blend mode.

52 comments:

  1. Beautiful shots! Don't you love eating stuff from the garden?!?! All I have right now are tomatos, chives and parsley. I love the Daffodil shot and the Bleeding Hearts- aaahhhhh love love love!!!

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  2. Amazing, I can't believe how much ahead your garden is compared to mine! :-)

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  3. Stunning photography and beautiful plants. I always want to reach for a pair of 3D glasses when looking at your photos, I feel they want to jump out of the screen.
    Paul

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  4. Just beautiful! You have so much blooming in your garden that it makes me sigh. I love,love the coiled ostrich fern photo! Just stunning!

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  5. Jennifer, gorgeous photos! I loved your currant bushes, you'll have a lot of jam.

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  6. your photos are gorgeous and you have many of the same plants that I've had in my garden, especially the bleeding hearts and that dark geranium

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  7. So true how spring has flown by too quickly! My daylilies are already done...a few weeks early! Happy GBBD, Jennifer. Your garden is looking gorgeous, as always :)

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  8. It is amazing that May is half over! Your garden looks wonderful already. Mine is just getting started.

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  9. Oh my...what a beautiful garden you have!!

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  10. Lovely lily of the valley photo and processing. I would be delighted to have lov take over in my garden.

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  11. Wow, you are so lucky to enjoy so many diverse flowers! Plus a vegetable garden...too lucky! Thanks for sharing a little bit of beauty! I also really like the use of Kim's texture on your images. It just adds to the beauty that is already there.

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  12. You have so many beautiful flowers in your garden. I love the processing on the lily of the valley shot!

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  13. So gorgeous Jennifer! You have the prettiest garden!

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  14. The red Primrose is really pretty. Nice contrast. I love when spring just explodes....your Pulmonaria is pretty.
    Love that picture of the Ostrich Fern unfurling...super!!!
    I love Lily of the Valley....I brought some home with me from my mom's house. Just can't beat that wonderful fragrance and cute little bell blooms.

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  15. What great colors in your spring garden. The red primrose is so rich, I love it. And how can you not smile at such blue forget me nots? Even as they take over!

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  16. *sigh* Just beautiful. Even the Lily-of-the-Valley. It won't grow for me - too dry and acidic here, I think. I love the perfume!

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  17. All you blooms are spectacular. My white bleeding heart never came up this year so I am really enjoying yours. The rhubarb looks so scrumptious. I must remember to try growing some. I love it!

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  18. I also live in Ontario. You have a beautiful garden and wonderful photo. Have a wonderful day:)

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  19. Hi Jennifer
    Fabulous photos! I am especially interested in your textures photos. I hopped onto Kim's site but will need to read up on how to do this. Sure makes the photos extra special. All your flowers, even the invasive lily of the valley, are very beautiful. Happy GBBD!
    Astrid

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  20. Wonderful images as always. What did we ever do before digital cameras?!

    I've been trying to remove the lily-of-the-valley from my garden. I thought I had won the battle until I saw a few leaves peeking up in the middle of a huge Rhododendron root.

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  21. Beautiful beautiful shots of all your lovely flowers. Your garden seems to be at the same stage as ours over here. Love the dark Primula, very pretty. Have been trying to get lily of the valley established here for quite a number of years, think I have managed to at last, hope I don't regret it!

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  22. Gorgeous pictures! I love watching the ferns unfurl. I very much like the white dicentra, I think I may have to add some to our garden.
    And the rhubarb looks absolutely delicious, it makes my mouth water just looking at the pic.

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  23. I love the variety of flowers and foliage in your garden. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Truly inspirational.

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  24. Jennifer your garden is full of colour and your photos capture the beauty perfectly....

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  25. Beautiful !!! Sooo many flowers !!! I chose the lovely red primrose, it reminds me of my grandmothers garden ... Thank you Jennifer for this feast of flowers !!!

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  26. I feel like spring is rushing by too Jennifer. So sad that it goes so quickly when we wait for it all winter.
    I love that primula. I'm always on the lookout for different ones here ~ they are sort of my fetish!
    I think I need to move my rhubarb too ~ it's just not producing like it has in previous years (but then I went & planted a Serviceberry nearby which is blocking the sun! genius, right?!) I love the smell of it stewing.
    Those potatoes look yummy!

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  27. Most of the spring flowers have gone from my garden now - so I am waiting for the next batch which are taking forever to open. Love the photo of the red primula - gorgeous.

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  28. Such beautiful photos of your garden, I love comparing plants around the world every month.

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  29. such lushness! gorgeous blooms and verdant greens!
    I enjoyed your tour!

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  30. I noticed that a little patch of lily of the valley escaped been g pulled out. I will leave it as long as it behaves itself. I too have been pulling the rhubarb. We love it. Beautiful photos and wonderful processing for your texture. Valerie

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  31. Everything is so beautiful in the spring. My bleeding hearts are just about done, daffodil foliage laying on the ground and the roses are blooming. It is early so I do wonder what my fall will be like in the garden or will fall be the beginning of August?

    Eileen

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    1. Eileen, That is a good question! From everything I have heard, we are about to have a very, very hot summer. It is hard to say if the entire summer and fall seasons will shift along with the thermostat. No matter what happens, I think we will be grateful for cooler, fall-like temperatures.

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  32. I think I have found a gardening twin. So many lovelies above. Your photography is wonderful. The lily of the valley texture at the end is stunning. One of my favorite flowers!! Do you mind sharing the name of the font you used?

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    1. Hi Cherie, The font that I used is Zaphino.

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    2. WOW, looked for that online...really expensive. I'll keep looking for something similar. I just love it!

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  33. Beautiful vieuws and great photo's out of your garden. Thanks for sharing Jennifer.
    gr. Marijke

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  34. Just beautiful Jennifer. Your spring blooms are wonderful. I love your Golden Bleeding Heart. How striking. I also really like the red primroses. Have a wonderful week.

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  35. Your pictures are so beautiful! Your new primrose is a wonderful warm color, I love it. I always feel that I'm running to keep up with spring too.

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  36. So so beautiful! I love your primrose. I love how explosive all this early growth is. I think geraniums are indispensable in any cottage garden. They're so easy and cheerful.

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  37. Absolutley wonderful trip through your garden. Everything is just beautiful. That last shot of the Lily of the Valley was breathtaking.

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  38. oh my! your photo's are amazing! i love absolutely each and every one of them! so glad you shared over here at Fishtail Cottage's Garden party today! loved the visit this evening! hugs...tracie

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  39. Magnificent collection of flower photos. Your garden must be a rainbow of wonderful colours! Plants we can't grow here flourish and threaten to become like weeds in your garden.

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  40. You must have spent 2/3 of the photo-time on your knees - much to our benefit. So very pretty. My L.o.t.V has gone wacko this year as well, as has the campanula rapunculoides, I swear it was building shoots through the winter. If only I could get some of those lovely new campanula varieties to do half as well for me... Have a lovely May 2 - 4!

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  41. Gorgeous flowers and photos. Nice to have them right in your garden.

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  42. I've got Lily of the Valley coming up in places I never thought as well. Was tempted to pull it all but have decided against it for now as i love those dainty flowers. Love that the rhubarb is mixed in with the flowers, it's tasty but also a gorgeous plant in its own right.

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  43. The bleeding hearts, spireas { I didn't know its name earlier } and the forget me nots are absolutely beautiful to look at !
    And I love that picture of chives and parsley on the chopping board, looks so fresh and roasted potatoes looks delicious.
    I am getting to know the names of lots of flowers after reading your blog. In our country, we have a wide variety of flowers yet some flowers are uncommon/not cultivated that much and I can see them in your garden.
    Have a nice day,
    Sanghamitra

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  44. Your photography is so beautiful--and so are the blooms! But I especially admire the lungwort photo, as pulmonaria is a plant with which I have always struggled in terms of taking a fitting picture. Yours really does its loveliness justice. :-) Happy GBBD!

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  45. Absolutely gorgeous and such beautiful photographs.

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  46. Everything looks BEAUTIFUL! Very nice!!! purrs

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  47. Jennifer, your gardens look beautiful!
    It looks like you are having a wonderful spring.
    Those roasted potatoes look so yummy, and I absolutely love what you did with the lily of the valley photograph.
    Really beautiful.

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