Here is a break with some pictures of flowers and bees.
May is probably my favourite month. Natures wakes up, all of the plants are greening, blooming, and growing. It's (usually) not too hot to be outside. It's just a beautiful time of year.
It was fun and a bit of work to write and queue up 13 weekly posts in a row (several still to come). I've had a lot on my mind. So here is a break with just pictures of blooming flowers and plants. That's how I prefer to spend my time.
Meadow Sage / “Bumblesnow”
Here is some beautiful Meadow Sage, which apparently some people call "bumblesnow" (salvia nemorosa). Great name. And it's true - I almost couldn't plant this because it was so busy with bees stopping by to check it out. I could barely handle it or move it around. Cut it out of the pot from the greenhouse? "No!" they buzz, "we're busy!". Tilt the flower to sit it into the ground? "Buzz off, later! I'm crawling over here!". What a fantastic plant.
Saskatoons
The saskatoons (amelanchier alnifolia) are doing well again this year. The berries are looking strong and I’m hoping for a big harvest.
In my opinion, saskatoons are the best fruit. The taste better than blueberries. More delicious than nectarines or plums. Easier to grow than bananas.
Rhubarb
Here is some recovering rhubarb, before I pulled out all of the grass. Something seemed to have eaten or cut it down to the ground during the winter - when spring arrived there was nothing above the soil, and I thought the plant had been killed and destroyed. But here it is! Resilient and growing strong, enjoying all of the sunlight it can get. It even grew a tall 4-foot stalk and began seeding itself again:
Plants are strong, humbling, and amazing.
Haskaps
The haskaps (lonicera caerulea) are really taking off this year! I've collected over 2 pounds of berries from a single bush only 2 or 3 feet in diameter, which is amazing. These plants are on either year 2 or year 3, depending on the bush, and seem to be loving it and thriving. One plant in particular has the best spot in the whole yard and gets tons of sunshine through most of the day. It seems happy.
We've added another fresh layer of mulch on top of the garden bushes and trees close to the house this year to keep all of the roots cooler and wetter, as the outlook has been for one of the hottest, driest summers in a while. I'm happy to have my rain barrels but what I really want is a 100 million gallon large tank that would last us through several months. Not sure that type of project is ever on the books; we'll see.
Bees! And Clematis
The clematis growing over the garden fence provides great shade and apparently great habitat and buffets. It was tricky to get an action photo of the bees buzzing around this, but they have been busy all spring as well. Great to see.
Peony
This peony is coming back from a previous year. I love perennial plants that don’t need work.
Lupines return!
And lastly - the lupines are back! These took a long time to show up and initially I thought they had simply died. But no! They simply took their time and sprouted a bit later in the season.
This is thrilling. Hopefully this means we now have lupines forever.
If you need more relaxing plants in your life, check out the Mastodon tag #bloomscrolling. It’s a nice calming break for your brain.
Happy planting!