Lychinis coronaria 'Occulata'

Blooming away this evening L 'Occulata' . One of many grown from seed last spring .   Well worth the wait,  beautiful silvery foliage and white flowers with a very soft pink eye.
And If  in need of a light , apparently 'Lychnos' is Greek for lamp. The wooly leaves were used as lamp wicks . Maybe I won't try that out 

Gone but not forgotten...

Time to say goodbye to my little blue friends. It takes me a good few days to pull them all up. 

At this point they start to go all powdery  with mildew .

So out they go till next spring.

And my clothes are covered in seeds.

Bronze Fennel...

I've been trying to edit out some of the Bronze Fennel  I planted last year. They were only small clumps ,which I planted too many of  and too close together . 

One of these might need to go. 

I've dug out about half of them . Not  to worry I've spotted hundreds of seedlings , for next year.

I think it's a better blend now; and more room and light for the latter bloomers.

Mickey putting his two bits in .

The hornbeam

I hadn't planned on buying anymore trees. But , when I came home the other afternoon  . My shady corner was decidedly bright . It took a me a minute to realize  what had changed... the neighbors giant fir tree was GONE. It's kind of shocking when that happens. Not that I loved that Fir tree . But suddenly the shady seating area was so exposed and not so cozy. And worse the view of the house next door…no, no, no. 

So, off we went to our  local NW nursery outlet, where I'd bought my Katsura last year.
And after poring out our problem to the sympathetic nursery man .  We came home with ; Carpinus Betulus Fastigata  or Pyramidal European Hornbeam . 

It's already softening that view... so relieved. And a beautiful graceful shimmering tree it is. I like that it's covering the fence , as well .

Grevillea 'Moonlight'

 Grevillea 'Moonlight' and Variegated Shell ginger enjoying this fine day, after being stuck indoors all winter.

Blooms in May ...

I found one mad photo that seemed to have quite a lot of  red , in an otherwise blue and yellow  blooming garden : Helianthemum 'Henfield Brilliant' and my self seeding Oriental poppies .

And for the purples : Cerinthe major is aiming to take over,  much to the delight of the bees.

Lysimmachia atropurpurea with Geum 'Mango Lassi ' 

Planted from seed last year : Euphorbia oblongata with Stipa gigantea .

Here it is again with bronze fennel,   Allium unifoliums and garlic.

And lastly a new bloom  making it's way through the screen : Clematis ' Rooguchi'

                         Join Carol for even more beautiful May Blooms May Dreams Gardens.

More Alliums ...

A sort of new fence.

It's taken awhile, but we have moved our fence forward and have a gate in place.

The new gate ! . We couldn't  get more metal for a gate to match the fencing. Philip's brilliant idea to cut two rows off the length of the rusty metal and have it welded together to make a gate.
Now this opens up the side shade garden and back garden. So nice to have a proper swinging gate to go in and out of.

The fence before , two rows taller . Too tall in fact; and the the temporary gate.                                                             Mickey stuck behind with only the back garden to play in. 

And now …open ! 

Viola 'Etain'

I have found the perfect plant for an old favorite pot. This terra cotta pot that I  rescued  from a tip when we were living in Suffolk UK . Has been kicking around for years looking not very inspiring. But, 'Etain' has transformed it into a blooming joy!

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Lysimachia atropurpurea...

The problem with growing from seed . They often don't bloom the first year.  All that care and attention when sowing those seeds , then potting them on till they are big enough to be planted out.
So easy to get smothered and forgotten in the summer bloom excitement.
In this case I bought Lysimachia seeds in 2013. What happened to the plants ? No plants , no blooms last year.
But this year I spotted a patch of blue/green wavy foliage; and then just the tips of Claret red blooms .
So here she is at last !

A sweet find...

First Poppy

Bronze Fennel and Allium Bulgaricum