{"id":109294,"date":"2026-05-15T21:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T01:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109294"},"modified":"2026-05-15T21:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T01:00:47","slug":"bloom-day-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109294","title":{"rendered":"Bloom Day May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s not ideal using the phone camera, but it handles the light much better than I can manage on overcast rainy days like today, the 15th of May, aka Bloom Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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pink-purple fountain in the distance is hesperis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This lively orange number is Geum ‘Queen of Orange.’ It’s been the earliest geum to bloom, and because the flowers are double it’s not as self-supporting as ‘Totally Tangerine.’ TT has the reputation for the longest period of bloom, and the Queen may not be able to compete in that regard but it is a citrusy blast very early in the season. Chartreuse foam is from Euphorbia ‘Miner’s Merlot,’ so good early in spring that I keeping adding more for a current total of three. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This corner near the potting shed was reworked in fall 2025. The “giants” that were invaluable in a young garden like Persicaria polymorpha have been moved to the east side. A shrub-like Euphorbia stygiana was removed — it’s generous with seedlings so no loss there. Fast-growing Metapanax delavayi was also removed. I might try it again on the more protected east side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ is about two weeks later than the Queen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Penstemoon ‘Blackbeard’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another really good plant early in spring is Penstemon ‘Dark Towers.’ Nothing eats it, the leaves come through winter flawlessly. It is just now beginning to bloom, but really it’s the early rich dark leaves that make it invaluable. ‘Blackbeard’ is another dark-leaved penstemon added last fall, and between the two varieties there are now five clumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Polemonium ‘Golden Feathers’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Polemoniums are another group of plants like geum that love these conditions and make a strong early appearance. Another plant worthy of multiples for spring here and I’m trying several varieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cirsium rivulare ‘Trevor’s Blue Wonder’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another plant I’ve spread into three clumps is this thistle that loves the rich deep moisture-retentive soil. Blooms heavy in spring and continues through summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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foreground Selinum wallichianum, vine on overhang is Solanum laxum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Solanum laxum is rampant and needs a lot of thinning and cutting back. but it’s evergreen and never out of bloom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Euphorbia griffithii ‘Fireglow’ — love it but it’s a little scary now that it’s happy and spreading<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Verbascum ‘Letitia’ from High Country Gardens is as charming as the catologue claims. New this spring. It is sterile and I wish it wasn’t. If it doesn’t make it through next winter, that’s the end of it. Vegetative propagation of such a young plant may not be feasible — we’ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First year I’ve grown bunny grass Lagurus ovatus, an annual — what a charmer. Found local at Portland Nursery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Erodium ‘Fran’s Delight’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Allium karataviense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Deschampsia ‘Tatra Gold’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Globularia repens ‘Nana’ in a second flush after a cutback — another early one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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tall and grass-like Dianthus carthusianorum found at Blooming Junction — I’ve wanted to try this one for a long time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cistus ‘Jenkyn Place’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Narrow beds against the east side of the house have acted as hodge-podge holding beds. Protected against the house, this Nicotiana mutabilis surprisingly made it through the mild winter and burst into early bloom. It’s a 3×3 arching mass of dainty trumpets and still growing in size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Best cerinthe self-sowed on the more protected east side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Despite the unplanned approach, there are some good plants to build around on the east side like this Rubus lineatus. Previous owner had planted strawberries and rhubarb, and there really isn’t enough sun for that.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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back in the main sunny garden Phlomis ‘La Sud’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Asphodeline lutea had five blooms but the snails took care of three<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bloom Day posts can be deceptive as far as the amount of flowers at one time. There’s a lot of nonflowering evergreens for ballast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billie in her element. Lowe right, Parahebe perfoliata tall and in bloom after a spring cutback of old stems<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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this broad dry path makes me want to tap dance down its length<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The east side I’ve been referring to is where the “boardwalk” is under construction, temporarily halted due to rain and mud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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first burlap was laiid down and pinned as a weedcloth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago Carol at\u00a0May Dreams Gardens<\/a>\u00a0devised the idea of Bloom Day to keep track of what’s blooming when all over the world. It is an invaluable record to keep. Have a great weekend! More soon, AGO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not ideal using the phone camera, but it handles the light much better than I can manage on overcast rainy days like today, the 15th of May, aka Bloom Day. This lively orange number is Geum ‘Queen of Orange.’ … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[63,5119],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-sqO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109294"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109294"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109370,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109294\/revisions\/109370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}