Spring in Maine: GBBD, May 2018
Less than three weeks after the last of the snow melted from my garden, things are happening fast. This is the nature of spring in Maine: long weeks of impatient anticipation followed by an explosion of new growth. Deciduous trees have bloomed and made new leaves, and the hillside by the driveway that was covered with crocus flowers two weeks ago now features new foliage of shrubs and herbaceous perennials.
Not many perennials are in bloom yet. Exceptions are the hellebores and the bleeding hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’) in the Serenity Garden.
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Most of my blooms at this time of year come from wild volunteers, like this young pin cherry tree (Prunus pensylvanica) flowering outside my study window.
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Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) form carpets of flowers in spring. Another carpeting groundcover, moss phlox (Phlox subulata) has just begun to open its first flowers. | ![]() |
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams’ Gardens. Visit her blog to see what’s blooming in other gardens this May.
I love the attention you give to both the planted beauties and the encouraged volunteers. There is so much to taken in, appreciate, and do at this boom time of year!
After an extended wait, I’m sure the daily parade of new blooms is a source of great joy, Jean! I love the bleeding hearts, another of those plants I yearn to grow but can’t (even if the local garden centers do occasionally offer them).
The violets are enchanting. My solitary survivor in a pot, is not so happy.
The first blooms of spring are so lovely, especially after a long winter–I can understand your happiness, as I thought spring was never going to arrive in the Midwest either. The violets are so sweet, though I have far too many that have encroached in places where I don’t want them. It’s hard to pull them out, though.