In The Garden: May
“you do not just wake up and become the butterfly”
May is one of my favorite flower months. So much to love and yet, this year it seemed to slip right through my fingers. With the jump into Mother’s Day weekend paired with an overwhelming garden task list, I realize now I didn't get to document every sweet flower that bloomed. The bearded iris in their first year really put on a spectacular show, carrying us through the in-between time when tulips are ending and peonies aren’t quite ready to harvest. The colors were dreamy and painterly, but there is so much to learn about them…especially terminology. While I’m not sure if I will invest in more rhizomes for this year, what I do know is that they will be a staple in our garden forever.
The shade garden slept through most of the month, with quiet sightings of dicentra in the beginning and whispers of the astilbe in the end. Our first yarrow flowers arrived mid-month and foxglove and alliums flourished for weeks. I heavily harvested branches from our native common ninebark, which I started back in 2017—thankful for their eager growth and gorgeous chartreuse coloring this time of year.
Dicentra (Bleeding Heart) and Bearded Iris ‘Garden Time’ on May 8, 2022
Bearded Iris ‘Owyee Desert’ and "‘Beauty Within’ on May 11, 2022
Peony ‘Jan van Leeuwen’ on May 12, 2022
Oh, how many times I checked the first peony buds! We have over twenty peony plants, but honestly it doesn’t ever feel like enough. Many of our plants are still quite new, with only about five being over three years old. Peonies take a good while to establish—which is why I have decided to add so many more this year. Because they are deer-resistant, I moved them outside of our cutting garden last November and am currently dreaming up a new layout to celebrate their beauty. I know I say it a lot, but I am so excited for this.
Morning Bearded Iris harvest with our first peonies on May 12, 2022
David Austin Garden Rose ‘Tranquility’ on May 12, 2022
Our David Austin roses were pure heaven in their first flush. We have three shrubs with one newly planted bare root. Now that I’m seeing them thrive, I’ve been thinking about more varieties to add. We have room for about sixteen more shrubs inside our cutting garden! Can you even imagine our garden in a few years time? My top priorities are petal count, bloom size and fragrance.
Garden Obelisks with newly planted clematis on May 23, 2022
This is the new space for the peonies. It doesn’t look very different than before, besides the additions of the garden obelisks with newly planted clematis varieties. I love clematis and am so happy to finally have some. I chose two varieties from Bowood in St. Louis when we visited this month. Such a happy place for me!
The obelisks are in the center of what will be peony beds. Peony bare roots are already on order and will fill out the perimeter of each bed. I have plans to grow the native flower rose verbena as a ground cover to fill in the space inside. We will possibly add some lavender too. It is my hope that these beds will add visual interest to the space in front of our cutting garden, instead of the slightly boring concept of simple rows I had in mind previously. When everything arrives and gets planted, we will have close to one hundred peony plants.
Astilbe in pink on May 25, 2022
Rose arbor in bloom, ‘New Dawn’ on May 28, 2022
Once we harvested all our Tranquility roses for our May wedding, the rose arbor had our full attention. I never did get around to pruning it this winter, so its shape is a little more wild this spring. The rosebuds on New Dawn are so pink, but the bloom fades in the sun to nearly white. I’ve had these roses for years, but what a difference the arbor makes! We found it in spring 2020 and the cedar has definitely weathered to grey in those two short years.
The garden is full of summer and fall potential, now that all our seeds are sown and seedlings transplanted. It doesn’t look like much, besides the cottage borders, that have traces of color in this lull between seasons. But the dahlias are showing their first signs of growth since planting them mid-May, and for that I am grateful.