A Tour of the May Garden
Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 10:00PM June begins in a couple of hours. It will be the beginning of hurricane season and the start of summer. (I know summer doesn't officially arrive for twenty more days, but by then we will be hunkering inside our air conditioned spaces and dreaming of fall.) Today I watched the gnats swirl above the front lawn, flying up and down and around in circles. One can barely see them, but there's thousands of them and it's easy to inadvertently walk through the middle of their dance. It's not too bad unless they fly into facial orifices, and that is annoying.
Here is a quick tour of the May garden, beginning in front of the house, where Japanese maples are featured:
Hydrangeas are blooming along the hydrangea walk:
The common daylily grows in abundance near the patio. These enduring flowers are sometimes called ditch lilies. They have been growing on our property for over half a century.
The garden is permeated with the fragrance of gardenias. I have two large shrubs on opposite sides of the property, one in the woodland garden and one down from the patio. It seems that wherever I am, I can get a whiff of them.
Zantedeshia is blooming in the sunnier part of the woodland garden. I did not think it was hardy in my area, but it keeps returning, larger and with more blooms each year:
Here are more assorted May flowers:
I am still in love with my red banana plant, featured in my last post. Here is another look at its outstanding foliage:
Other plants with tropical foliage:
Dogwood 'Cherokee Sunset' and hostas 'Wedgwood Blue' and 'Sum and Substance' are also great foliage plants:
Finally, a tour of my gardens is not complete without a peek into the woodlands. The large vine is a wild muscadine:
I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Happy gardening!
Reader Comments (27)
Beautiful tour, Deb! Those japanese maples are huge! How old are they? I like your blue hydrangeas, especially the lacecap flowered one in the background. You have some very interesting foliage, more pretty than flowers!
I didn't know gardenias were so hardy... I love their perfume too!
I've never seen a firefly in daylight, it's just a bug like many others, maybe I never noticed... rather odd as I have plenty of them at night...
The beauty of your garden never fails to amaze me Debs, an absolute visual delight :) Yep, summer's almost here!
Summer may not have have officially begun, but the heat is definitively "on" already outside. The blooms of lilies are so nice, love the texture of the tropical foliage. We saw our first lightening bug the other night, always a sign warm temps are here to stay! Try and stay cool!
Your Japanese maple is spectacular. Mmm, I miss the scent of gardenias.
Your garden is looking lovely! I hope you are getting some of the cooler weather. It felt like fall this morning.
Lovely tour round your garden, hope you are managing to stay cool. Your hydrangeas are such a lovely blue, my favourites!
I find it hard to decide which part of your garden I love the most. The front area with so many beautiful trees just wins I think. Thank you for the tour today. Christina
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! The Japanese Maples are stunning. The Hydrangeas and Daylilies are lovely, and that Zantedeschia is fantastic. Love the woodland, as you know! It was terrific to spot some of our usuals here in the tropics ... the Caladium, the Stromanthe, the Canna, the Dracaena and the Coleus! Great shots.
Your May garden is beautiful --- and I love how you captured all aspects of it in the photos. I especially love the photo of the bug on the caladium leaf. Well done!
Deb your gardens and flowers are lovely...the variety of plants is amazing as well...hoping the hurricane season is kind to you.
I very much enjoyed your tour, Deb. The first few images look like a Monet. So soft and pretty.
Hi Deb
Your garden is spectacular! And your photos capture all of its beauty. Excellent shots of the stripe-y foliage of hostas. I envy you the gardenias - they have such a lovely fragrance. the ditch lilies may be old and "ordinary" but I thought they were lovely. Thanks you for a fantastic post.
Some really great photo's showing a truly fine garden.
you are very fortunate to have such a lively space.
And the Hydrangeas, such a lovely plant and to have a Hydrangea Walk - I am so envious.
Thank you for sharing
I am slowly building up my maple collection (one for the client and two for me..) but have to miss out on hydrangeas due to the deer. I do have three cuttings quite close to the house which I expect will be lunch as soon as they are big enough for the deer to spot them.
Always love a stroll in your garden.
Your gardens are enchanting, Deb. I did enjoy the tour... thanks for sharing!
We're lucky in London to have a climate where we can grow almost anything, however I understand that gardenias are too tender for our winters - so it remains my fantasy plant - I love the creamy petals.
What a feast for the eyes! The lushness is wonderful in your garden with those surprises of blooming color....just beautiful!
Hi Deb ... your garden is looking quite spectacular! I am in awe.
I really admire the way you have something of interest at every level of your garden. I'm still trying to build up that middle layer between the trees and perennials. Those first shots especially show how successfully you've build the understory.around the trees. Hydrangeas flower so early in your zone; I'll have to wait until August for mine. Those bright blue ones aren't hardy enough for here, but they sure add pizzazz to your garden. Those yellow daylilies are are a popping summer combination with the blue. Love those bold patterns and colours in the tropical leaves.
Thank you for the tour, Deb! Pure pleasure!
Deb, your garden is ,lovely!! Our daylilies haven't yet set buds... even though we are way ahead of schedule, it will be a while yet before they bloom. The gardenia blossom is gorgeous - you captured the texture of the petals perfectly.... so hard to do, I find, with red and white blossoms especially (in digital). Your garden looks like an incredible haven, a place to wander and simply enjoy....
Wonderful tour, Deb. I wish I could grow hydrangeas for my wife but they don't do to well in our climate. I didn't realize your summer coincides with hurricane season. I know I told you recently to enjoy your summer but let me add that I hope it is as "hurricane-less" as it can be.
Deb - your gardens are just spectacular! It's always like walking through an artist's painting every time we take a virtual tour with you. The Gardenia blooms look like small sculptures. Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed your tour very much. Japanese maples, woodlands, beautiful foliage and blue flowers, what more could one ask for?
Very beautiful. I thought ditch daylilies were always orange. I have that Z plant in my garden. I thought it was a calla lily. It hasn't bloomed but maybe I have missed it.
Gorgeous!! I also love daylilies and have lots of them around the garden. Reading your posts is always like going on a mini garden vacation. Love the 'tamed wildness' feel of your garden.
'Preciate the tour, Deb. Every time I stroll through your garden, I lose 10 pounds of stress.