After breakfast this morning, I ventured outside to snap some pictures for May Bloom Day. Then, My Day happened and I find myself finally sitting down this evening to post the photos!

I continue to be interested on how this season is developing due to our earlier-than-expected warm weather. Just looking back at last May’s Bloom Day post shows how far ahead we are in the growing season. Here’s a quick rundown on what’s blooming on the Lot for May this year.

The lupine is just beginning it’s seasonal show. We have two lupine plants living in the South bed. This one is in front of a yew. The other, in front of an arborvitae, is not as happy. I believe this may be caused by the shallow roots of the shrub, because I’ve read lupine actually prefer slightly-acidic soil. There are plans this season to extend this bed further away from the shrubs so there will be less competition.

There are some bearded irises also blooming in the South bed. These literally began opening this morning. Both the rose bush in this bed and around the corner in the West bed are loaded with buds but have not bloomed yet.

In the backyard garden bed are more irises with different coloring. As you can see, they are yet to be staked, so they have began their usual, top-heavy iris way of falling over. They are still beautiful, though and quite striking next to the shrub I have yet to identify.

This same bed has both spirea and jupiter’s beard blooming. The siberian irises all have buds and will be opening soon. Also, one of the peonies just started to unfurl at the end of this afternoon.

Please excuse the lack of mulch in the above shot. In this bed the thrift and false indigo are blooming. We were quite excited about the false indigo as it is the third season we’ve had the plant, and the first season it’s bloomed. I’m anxious to see it grow to it’s full height and get those cool seed pods in the Fall. As shown above to the left, the poppies are going to pop any day now. Also blooming in this bed is a snow angel coral bell and a columbine. Unfortunately the dwarf irises have already bloomed.

This pretty plant is doing outstanding this season. I was hesitant to try any clematis because they always seemed so delicate looking. I guess this was equivalent to “hard to grow” in my mind. Anyway, this clematis is in it’s third year and being trained up a support in front of the pergola. Once we stain the structure, an attempt will be made to transfer it straight to the wooden leg.

Last but not least is Loki’s bed. This is my favorite bed on the Lot this month. I could definitely have planned better height difference between the plants, but honestly I wasn’t even aware of the concept when I began to put this bed together. The archangel is stunning right now. I’m quite pleased with how compact the plant is and the general shape of it. The little dash of forget-me-nots are nice accents.

Well, that’s all for the Lot this month. Time to head over to May Dreams Garden and check out what else is blooming.