May flowers always bring me plenty of smiles and joy. There is just something about the gardens this time of year.
May flowers are new and fresh and bright and so colorful.
May flowers signal that summer is almost here.
May flowers also mean May vegetables are starting to grow, with the cool weather crops nearly ready for their first harvest.
See what I mean? So much to love about May flowers.
I spent the better part of my afternoon shopping for flowers at my local garden store and then planting containers. My mom also gave me some perennials from her gardens so I also got those into the ground.
(We had a social distancing get-together with my parents and sister and her family yesterday. It was the first time we’ve all seen each other since before the ‘shelter in place’ order came down mid-March in Minnesota. We have missed these get-togethers very much!)
After a wonderful day planting May flowers, I took some photos for this post and also made a very summery dessert, strawberry crumble bars, (recipe here). All in all, a happy Sunday during a long, holiday weekend.
I hope you enjoy the May flowers, my friends!
xoxo – Lara
These are my ‘Yankee Doodle’ lilacs – a deeper, darker purple than the standard variety.
This pot contains a Proven Winner ‘Superbells Holy Cow!” variety of calibrachoa and also Starcluster Violet (an upright Pentas). Love the bright colors here!
I love a good, old-fashioned geranium in a pot. I typically look for “ivy geraniums” but didn’t see any the garden store today. Instead, the vivid blooms and variegated leaves of this ‘Brocade Cherry Night’ geranium spoke to me and I paired it with a hot pink trailing verbena.
I like to have a container right near our front door – it seems so welcoming to me. In this area, containers get mainly shade but some heat (and a little late-day sun) as our front door faces west. Here I paired a deep rose begonia with a ‘fifth avenue’ coleus plant. I usually have very good luck with begonias in this spot as they can they can typically handle most anything.
Left: The white Bacopa trails below a blue Heliotrope and a ‘Peek-A’Boo’ Spilanthes.
Right: I have two hanging baskets on the front porch that need to handle wind and heat and sun. (The west sun and the wind coming down our cul-de-sac can be brutal.) That’s why ‘Lantana’ (blooming) should be a good bet, along with a short grass which shall remain nameless because I can’t find the tag for it right now.
I found a ‘ SunPatiens Tropical Rose’ plant that intrigues me. I love the tropical look and coloring! I paired it with a white Angelonia plant along with some trailing scaevola.
Veggie update! My two rows of lettuce varieties are coming along and my radishes are shining stars right now! I picked a bunch on Saturday and used them in a homemade potato salad – so delicious! Now I want to use radishes in everything. 🙂
I also planted carrots, yellow bush beans, three varieties of tomato plants, a jalapeno pepper, a bell pepper plant, and cucumbers. (I also already have some good-looking yellow, white and red onion plants doing well!)This basket is giving me high hopes for tons of trailing color! I planted Proven Winners Supertunia ‘Vista Bubblegum’ petunias, which are super prolific and grow fast. This hanging basket sits just off our backyard patio, close to the hummingbird feeders to be enticing!Look who came for a visit today, strolling through our yard like nobody’s business! 😉
