24 hours of new blooms.

I was away for a mere 24 hours recently, and when I came back there were so many surprises in the garden. I felt like I had been gone for much longer!

I'm very excited about these blooms, most of these are new plants, and have been in my garden for less than a year.

These are the last tulips to bloom, and are called Virichic, I find the colours very pleasing.



My first ever rose!! This little one is on a 'Sunrise Sunset' shrub, it is suppose to have an apricot centre, and be quite a bit bigger, but the plant is young and I'm tickled pink that it's happy enough to produce a bloom. Lots of buds are setting, so there may be a size/colour variation.



I am very happy with this plant, Gentian Speedwell 'Barbara Sherwood', the flower spikes are striking, and are blooming very well, even in the shade.



Here is a closer look at the blooms, each is very pretty, white/pale blue with slightly darker blue lines etched across the petals. An added bonus to this lovely plant is the evergreen foliage year round.




I planted a few little blue violas in the border of the bed last year, along with my standby Sweet Woodruff, they make a nice pair and both are very well behaved.


Another beauty in the front bed is the Snowdrop Anemone, also performing well in the shade. I just planted one in a sunny spot, it'll be interesting to compare growth & blooms.


I moved some lamium into the bed last year too, it seems to have taken root well. I don't ever recall blooms before, it looks like there will be some pink ones very soon. I like the way the leaves look in the shade.


I haven't planted these Cosmos yet, but they are blooming in their little trays. I plan to put them in the tulip bed & I am hoping they will self seed, just wondering what your experiences have been?


Here are my new icelandic poppies 'Champagne Bubbles' they are in the miniatures bed under the birch tree. There is a robin's nest in the tree, and the dad is VERY aggresive towards intruders. I've been screamed at, dive bombed and pooped on, so the next few pics were taken rather hastily.


This adorable groundcover is a type of baby's breath. I'm sure the planting tag said 'Mouse Ears', but I can't find any reference to it anywhere. The little leaves do look like mouse ears, and the flowers are adorable.


Sea Thrift has just started to bloom. It has a reputation of being extremely low maintenance and thriving on neglect. Great qualities in a plant, in my opinion.


My globeflower is an early bloomer. The little yellow balls are so bright and adorable, I'm very happy with this late 2009 addition.


Jacob's Ladder is blooming beautifully. I'd love to tuck them into more beds but won't crowd them since they are prone to mildew. You can see how much earlier they are compared to others in the beds (shastas, heliopsis, asters, bellflowers...).


Here are some more of the gift irises, they came in a variety of colours and are so charming. I may have to move them since they are at the back of a bed (they were at the front, til it expanded), and being dwarfs are hard to see. On the other hand, they are kind of a nice surprise when having a close look around...



My white bleeding heart has not produced very many blooms this year, but they are so very pretty. I suspect more time for growth/maturation is needed (and I have promised not to relocate again).

Many of my shrubs seem a little sparse, and with quite a few dead branches. I suspect it has to do with the terrible fall (heavy snow in Oct), and then the recent cold snap. I had to replace my pink potentilla, and some heavy pruning will be needed elsewhere. 2 of my weigelas are only growing from the bottom, same goes for the hydrangeas. I'll wait before pruning back.

The perennials seem to have fared better. All 3 (free!) Ostrich Ferns are back, as are all of the hostas although they are quite slow. The clematis is growing well and my little dwarf balloon flower at the base has just emerged. I hope to find some more this year to add, in order to keep the clematis roots nice & cool.

Oh, and a question for all of you. Remember my 'Blue Star' petunias? They were quite stressed/leggy after being in the trays in my house for a month, which reminds me I really need to fertilize them. Anyhow, they are starting to bloom, but the blooms are all solid blue/purple. This happens occasionally to a flower here or there, but it seems wisepread. I don't know if this is a stress response? I really hope to have the star pattern this summer.