Category Archives: the Lot

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – May 2020

May 15, 2020backyard bed, bloom day, bulbs, fence bed, native plants, perennials, spring, the Lotjane

I just returned from snapping some photos around the Lot for today’s Bloom Day. After a gray, chilly weekend and week, yesterday it began to warm again with some lovely spring rains. This morning has been overcast, giving this gardener great lighting to record in photos what is blooming in the garden.

There hasn’t been much change in blooms for the South and Southeast beds of The Lot. I did get a great shot of some raindrops on one of the classic, red tulips though!

There has been a lot of development on the East side of the Lot. The rock cress is blooming, along with some labrador violets from last month. The bugleweed is setting buds right now. The epimedium is beginning to bloom. HOWEVER, I was quickly distracted from all flowers by last night’s raindrops on the Lady’s Mantle. LOOK AT THIS!

lady's mantle leaves with raindrops and masterwort

It happens to me every year when the perennials start to reemerge. I fall in love with this plant all over again. In the photo above, the Lady’s Mantle is snuggled up with a Masterwort. In the photo below, it’s hovering above that Bugleweed ‘Chocolate Chip’ I mentioned.

lady's mantle leaves with raindrops and bugleweed

Moving into the back garden, here is the bleeding heart in bloom. Everything about this plant is so visually delicate.

bleeding heart blooms, foliage, with raindrops

Here are some grape hyacinth poking up between some columbine foliage. Tricksy!

grape hyacinth bloom with columbine foliage

Here is another trying on some lamb’s ear foliage.

grape hyacinth bloom with lambs ear foliage

In a sunnier area of the backyard garden, the dwarf irises are just beginning to bloom. I have these little ones right up at the front of the border or they get quickly lost among the other plants. The blooms don’t last too long, but I enjoy the small, spiky foliage for the remainder of the season.

Here is a larger shot of the same bed. The geranium (cranesbill), more tulips, and yet even more grape hyacinth are blooming.

tulip, geranium, grape hyacinth in front of fence

In a shadier, raised nook of the back garden, the second Epimedium on the Lot is also blooming.

Here’s a closer look at the blooms.

A peek at the other side of that raised bed. The primrose is still going strong and looks nice with the geranium in the back.

primrose with geranium and creeping jenny

Here is Jack and his crew. Jack in the Pulpits are such cool plants. There are a ton of volunteers this season, pictured in the bottom right of the photo. While they are still small, I’m going to attempt transplanting them this season.

Jack in his snappy-looking pulpit.

The woodland poppies planted in the shady, damp area beneath the lilac are still blooming. The lilac just began opening.

Detail of the lilac blooms. It should be sunny and warm this weekend, so I’m sure the back of the garden will be smelling of lilacs.

Here is the Other Half’s favorite type of flower… the one that will bear him food. It’s the first strawberry bloom of the season.

strawberry blossom and foliage in dead leaves

This gardener is in such a better mood on this Bloom Day than the last one. Be sure to check out May Dreams Gardens to enjoy what’s blooming in other gardens around the world!

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – April 2020

April 15, 2020bloom day, bulbs, spring, the Lotjane

The farthest I ventured from the house to take photos for April’s Bloom Day was the front porch. Here’s a daffodil blooming in the east bed alongside the house.

And here are the frilly daffodils in the south bed. Look closely. They’re there.

The tulips have buds now.

And here is the back garden. I’m sure something out there is blooming.

Happy f*#@ing Bloom Day.

Spring Walk About

April 9, 2020backyard bed, bulbs, front bed, rambling thoughts, springjane

2020 has been quite the trying year for our Small Blue Dot so far. During December of last year, there was word of a new virus spreading through China. At the end of February, the first death related to the virus was reported in the Pacific Northwest of our country. On March 23, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order to Stay Home Stay Safe. In our state, nonessential travel is prohibited. We are not to leave our homes except as necessary “for health and safety reasons, to get groceries and supplies, for certain outdoor activities, and to care for others”. Today that order was extended to April 30th.

The Other Half and I are fortunate our jobs allow us to continue working. We are both able to telecommute, so for the most part our income is uninterrupted. However, there are many who will be facing an unplanned and sudden loss of income. It’s a real test of our species’s ability to support one another.

Nature Still Progresses

As we walked through the Lot this early evening after work, the Other Half and I noticed the continuing progress of the plants. During a time the world’s societies seem frozen in place, nature is still on the move. It’s a humbling reminder the human species is not the center of the universe as we often believe ourselves to be.

In the south bed, these frilly daffodils are blooming. The tulips are on the way, the foliage already out of the ground.

We left the confines of the Lot to take a stroll down to the park to see what else was blooming. On the way, we found these peonies against a south-facing brick foundation. They are well ahead of the peonies on the Lot, which do not receive as much sun this time of year.