may bloom day 2013

For someone whose middle name is rose, it pretty surprising that this is my very first bloom day post with ROSES!!

I was so excited that when I moved into my great grandmother's house and I found two roses.  One is a small bush rose, and the other is a rambler.  Both had been severely cut back before I moved in, both had problems with their foliage last year, and neither bloomed.  Thanks to an ID from Connie at Hartwood Roses, I was able to confirm Rose Slugs as the culprit munching on the leaves.  I didn't catch it early enough to prevent all of the damage, but I was able to contain it enough that the tea (?) rose has 4 blooms.

Ignore the house about to be painted in the background.

The rambler is doing much better than the tea (?) rose, and I'm seeing a lot of strong healthy new growth.  The new canes are about 3 times as thick as the rest of the plant.  I'm not sure if it's the weather, the compost & mulch from last year, or a combination of both, but I'm really happy how this rose is doing.  My first bud is getting ready to bloom, and more are forming.  The next step will be documenting the blooms, and trying to identify the rose.

 

 

Also doing much better this year is my rhododendron.  Last year it had some new growth but only one bloom.  It has been fertilized and mulched with pine nettles, and this year it is covered in new growth and about 10 beautiful blooms like this one:

One of the surprises in my yard last year were blackberries bushes!  There is a row of blackberries in my yard that the previous renters had mowed down each year.  I have let them grow, and this year the plants are covered in blooms!

My Mock Orange is in full bloom right now, and it smells amazing. It's about 6.5 feet tall, and a perfect fit off the corner of my porch.  If there was one plant in my yard that I would try to propogate through cuttings, this would be it.

Something new I have found this year are wildflowers called Little Brown Jugs. (information form the University of TN Institute of Agriculture ) They have heart shaped, waxy leaves, and the petal-less flowers are underneath.  The flowers really do look like little brown jugs. 

Also blooming in my yard are a few wildflowers, or weeds as some people like to call them.  My hellebores and pansies are hanging in there too, but I'm not sure they'll still have their petals by this time next month.

I hope you've enjoyed your walk around my yard.  If you'd like to see what else is blooming around the world today visit Carol over at May Dreams Gardens.  She hosts a blog party of sorts on the 15th of each month, where people around the world share what is blooming in their yards.