I'm seeing purple..

While I've been busy dead heading  Euphorbia , Aquilegia and pulling out For-get me-nots.  The garden has moved on ..the purples are here . Allium atropurpureum  and Lysimachia atropurpurea  

More purple…Sedum 'postmans pride' and Salvia nemorosa .

Two new blooms and a color echo ...

I moved Heliathemum 'cheriot'  to a nice open hot spot under the Salix  exigua . A happy accidental color echo ….yellow and kind of Salmony blooms on both.
 

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day... May

I should call this May Bloom post …For-get-me-not and friends . They seem to be in most photos as are the Aquilegia .

I started out with just one , This could be it 'Winky Blue and White ' 

This is one of my favorite that have self seeded this year . 

I think I must have brought  this Aquilegia  one from my mother's garden , here with a plump red  Paeony

Last year I dug out most of the pale ones, and kept the dark blue and purple .

A little native.

 Two natives : Delphinium trollifolium and Red Columbine

Centaurea montana came with the house.

Weigela is full of blooms this year !

P.'Turkish delight ' is just beginning to get going.

Lunaria annua 'Rosemary Verey' 

Eythronium 'Kondo and Epimedium lishihchenii

Lamium orvala  and Beesia deltophylla

Astrantia major and Euphorbia blackbird 

Euphorbia polychroma

A big whopping clump of Euphorbia oblongata , one of many clumps.

Astrantia major 'abbey road'

A think this is one of the Pacific coast Iris I got from Alison at last years plant swap.

Persicaria bistorta with  Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'

The Ghost Ferm makes a nice backdrop for this new Aquilegia …from Alison at this years  plant swap.

Another one from Alison !

Geranium phaeum 'darkest of all'

Armeria 'rubrifolia'

These must be my most exciting blooms ! Sinocalycanthus 'Hartiage wine'
Thank you Carol for hosting May Dreams Gardens

For-get me nots...

It's getting awfully crowded !

Follow the path...

The dogs seem happy with the new path ! Once again, I went out and pulled up all the  steps . I did such a  sloppy job last year, thinking I'd go back and level and space them out . I never did !
This time I made a nice even clearing , I  carefully laid them out . Then I got Philip out with spirit level in hand …he is so much better at this point .

This had me searching for photos of the path when it was steps and ground cover, which all died one nasty winter. So, it was back to the drawing board . I've never been able to get anything growing around the steps since .  So out it all came, and I've been reworking them over and over again.

And the planting has all changed , the path has narrowed quite a lot . Wild strawberries seem to taking over the edging . I hope this  is it …. .

A few jobs ...

After this winter the tiny bonsai needed repotting . I made a new one with a sad clump of Molinia grass I dug out of the garden . It was mostly dead anyway , so a few healthy sprigs make a sweet bonsai and  much healthier with all the dead bits pulled off.

I found all the soil in my larger pots had sunk down too low , so I  have been repotting .

And all the Sempervivums looked awful , so I pulled those out replaced the small pups .

Last year I unloaded a truck full of river pebbles. A little texture change from the gravel that makes up most of the garden. With all the snow and rain this year,  most of it got squashed into the soil , in a not very attractive  way . 

So, I've what  been picking through the soil and weeds to get at the pebbles .  And why not trim off the dead lower Yucca leaves  , Which in some cases doesn't leave much of a plant . Now that's a  way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Out in the garden..

Fine dry weather finds us out in the garden at last. I've been digging  perennials up. dividing them , moving them , trying not to damage them too much . Some of them are awfully  deep rooted , and I'm exhausted ….

I found more circler pavers buried under gravel. So, I've been trying to rework this …again.

Not treading on things is the difficult bit.  I've already squashed  a few just emerging Sedums  .

So far I've dug up clumps of : Iris, Knophofia, Crocosmia and a few…I don't now what you are , but I'll divide you anyway. 

Erythronium 'Kondo'