this time last year.

Published on by Quandie

Some of you may remember that at this time last year my garden was recovering from this …

Yep, we had a massive hail storm last May.  It shredded my hostas.

In the end though, it was a blessing in disguise.  Our insurance company paid for a new roof on both the house and the carriage house, which we badly needed.  So we’re grateful for that.  And eventually the garden recovered and looked pretty good.

But this year I’m grateful for an undamaged (so far, knock on wood) garden.  Barring hail storm damage, this time of year is when everything usually looks really good.  No insect damage, no drought damage, just gorgeous fresh growth everywhere.

Some more of my favorites are blooming this week including the alliums.

I love the way these pop up out of the garden on their long stems.  There are lots of different kinds of alliums, these are the ones that you plant in the fall as bulbs.  They bloom the earliest in the season.  I’m sure you’ll see more alliums from me as the summer progresses, and in the meantime if you want to learn more about alliums check out this post about them from last year.

A bunch of my ground cover plants are blooming right now too including my sweet woodruff.

I love the white carpet of flowers it creates this time of year.

Ajuga is another ground cover that is blooming right now.

Isn’t that pretty?  I have to admit, this one isn’t quite as pretty once it’s done blooming but I still really like it.

Geranium macrorrhizum, or bigroot geranium, is also blooming now.

This stuff is kind of fascinating.  It seems to barely root into the ground, almost as though it’s just skimming over the dirt in a dense mat of plants that almost totally chokes out weeds.  It spreads like mad, but is super easy to pull out and thus keep in check.  You can rip up a chunk and then barely bury it in another spot and it will totally wilt and look like it isn’t going to make it, but next thing you know you’ll have a big patch of it.

The nice thing about it is that it doesn’t require much in the way of maintenance at all.  No pruning, no dead heading, and really not even any winter cleanup.  This is a semi-evergreen perennial, so for us in Minnesota that means it doesn’t really die back to the ground in winter and is one of the first plants to green up and look good in the spring.

Another ground cover that also has those same qualities is variegated vinca.  It emerges from snow cover still looking green and alive.

Here it is mixed with some lamium.

The lamium is the brighter lime green foliage with the pinkish purple flowers, the vinca has the shinier elongated variegated leaves with more of a blueish purple flower.  These two are duking it out for ownership of this space and I think that ultimately the vinca is going to win.

My pulmonaria (lungwort) has just started to bloom too.

This particular variety is called Raspberry Splash and I just put it in last year.  I love they way it has a mix of pink and purple flowers.

A couple of the sweetest little plants are also blooming in my garden this week, the lily of the valley …

and the tiarella, or foam flower.

The only problem I have with the foam flower is that the other plants tend to overtake it on a regular basis.

As for the lily of the valley, that stuff is indestructible and will spread like mad, so be careful where you put it.  My neighbor, nnK, and I were at a local nursery the other day and saw single stems of lily of the valley being sold for $12.99 each and we just had to laugh.  We thought maybe we should just pot some up and start selling it at the curb.  But seriously, don’t ever buy lily of the valley.  You must know someone who would be happy to give you a chunk from their garden (including me).

I hope you enjoyed this little wander through my garden this morning.  Now my sister and I are heading out to nnK’s mom’s garden to help her plant up all of her pots of annuals, followed by a bbq and hopefully a boat ride.  I think it’s going to be a glorious day!

19 thoughts on “this time last year.”

  1. So, so pretty. Lily of the Valley is my most favorite but it’s very hard to grow here in the Deep South. Your garden is beautiful!

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  2. I love your variety of plants and very interesting on learning from You ♡ your photos are Great too!!

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  3. Thanks for sharing the lovely blooms in your garden. I have lily of the valley, too, and totally agree. The flowers are so delicate, it makes a good ground cover, and yes it will take over for sure if not kept in line! I got a few clumps from my Mom years ago.

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    1. Isn’t it lovely when you can get plants from your mom or grandmother and have them in your own garden? You can always think of your mom when they bloom 🙂

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  4. Your garden looks lovely already! I want whatever strain of lily of the valley you grow! I planted 50ish in one section of my backyard over 20 years ago and it is only just starting to look full. However I would gladly get rid of a member of the sunflower family that I bought from a person selling plants in her front yard. It spreads like wildfire and I spend hours every year pulling it out from most of my garden- pretty but way too invasive. Before my husband’s grandmother was selling her house she let me dig up any plants I wanted-her backyard was full-no grass just plants-and no order. I took 3 or 4 peonies and they bloom every year. In fact, they are blooming now and smell heavenly. The nice thing is I can split and share them periodically.

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    1. Here’s the thing about my Lily of the Valley, I really don’t remember where I got it. I’m certain one of my gardening friends gave it to me way, way back when I was new to gardening. I don’t think either one of us knew specifically what cultivar it was. But I pull many of them out every year as they try to encroach on all of the other plants in my garden! As for those peonies, how wonderful that you are able to keep passing them on, I love that!

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  5. Hi Linda,

    You mentioned ordering from Longfield Gardens – do you recommend them? It’s so hard to know who to order from online w/o info from a trusted blogger.

    I want some of everything you have in your gardens (except the hosta – the deer wipe them out on a regular basis). Of course, we live in Georgia on the Yellow River and you are waaaaaaaay up North so some of what you have won’t grow well here.

    We are so ahead of you season-wise; jonquils were gone months ago, peonies have been and gone, as well as dogwood and azaleas. They all bloom way earlier here than when we moved in here 20 years ago.

    Thanks, Sheila

    PS we are definitely getting some allium.

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    1. I was very happy with my order from Longfield Gardens. I have to say that their bulbs performed much better than the cheaper ones I purchased from my local Menards, they were also much bigger and healthier looking when I planted them. I’ll definitely order from them again. And boy, you are way ahead of us, no surprise there. As you may know, there are only a few varieties of azaleas that do well here, but the few that are scattered here and there are just blooming now. In fact, the Northern Lights Series of azalea was developed by the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Mr. Q and I are heading out there today. I’ll have to be sure and check out the azaleas!

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    1. There is the possibility of hail in today’s forecast, so I should have knocked on wood when I wrote this post! Keeping my fingers crossed that we don’t actually get any 😉

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