A lot of rain.
Not a lot of sunshine.
I’ll shut up now.
Companions
I didn’t plan this combo of Salvia ‘May Night’ and Packera aurea (Golden Ragwort) as they’ve never bloomed at the same time before. While I’m not the biggest purple and yellow fan, how can I not enjoy this color explosion?
Now this one I willingly tried to pull together. Unfortunately, the blooms of Clematis ‘Scented Clem’ are fading fast and the Baptisia isn’t there yet.
Here’s hoping these peonies bloom before the Lilac flowers are spent.
At least the lilac and the Baptisia ‘Carolina Moonlight’ are putting on a show together.
Here is my first container combo of 2018. I’m kind of proud of it. If the Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’ really takes off, then this has the potential to look fantastic in a few weeks.
New to the Markowski collection
This is Lysimachia ‘Outback Sunset’. It will be an annual for me in zone 6B but I’m okay with that. I really like the leaf coloring as a one-season groundcover in a spot where I’ve struggled to grow anything.
Gold Leaf Tansy ‘Isla Gold’ has been added to a partially shaded location where I hope it brightens things up a bit. It can be aggressive through rhizomes so I’ll have to keep a watchful eye on it.
One of these years …
I think this is Cimicifuga ‘Brunette’ (Bugbane). For years now it has looked great in spring only to do nothing once the blooms emerge and never actually bloom. The leaves are greener than others I have in different locations but those have yet to ever grow beyond a foot in size.
I just removed a large shrub near this one and here’s hoping a little more sun will do it wonders. I know these take time to get established, but my patience is growing thin after five years.
I’ll save you
Before the deer could get to this Hydrangea ‘Little Lime’, I dug it out and put it in a container on my back deck. We’ll see if we can get this to thrive with those killer light green blooms.
This week in deer
They ate at least 6 of my Allium blooms clean off the stem. They’ve never done this before.
These are the only two I have left. Wah.
I mentioned previously that I’m all in on deer prevention and that still holds true this week. I’m going to try everything and will be diligent about it.
Two plants in particular I want to save since they’ve never reached the point of full development.
The first is Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’. I friggin love the foliage of this perennial.
And the blooms are fantastic but I haven’t seen them since 2015 as seen in this pic below.
The other plant that needs my full attention is Filependula rubra (Queen of the Prairie). The deer and/or rabbits have nibbled it a ton this spring.
But if I could keep them away from here on out, just look at how damn sexy they are in bloom.  
Ho hum
Your token Lady’s Mantle in spring photo.
We never tire of Amsonia
Amsonia hubrichtii further along in bloom than all of my other Amsonia plants.
Including Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’.
Just around the corner
Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ (Catmint).
This week in weeds
Help. What is this? It’s everywhere this spring.
Allium ‘Blue Eddy’
I can’t get this perennial to grow beyond what you’re looking at here. But I’m anxious to see what it looks like in the right conditions.
Now to figure out those right conditions.
Could it be wild senna?
Crown vetch! I’ve got it too and it is pretty when it blooms, but spreads WAY too fast!
Thank you. And I am on it!!
I’d give anything for Lady’s Mantle to survive down here in 7B (Raleigh, NC). Miss it from my mother’s garden in northeastern MA. I wonder if I could treat it as a cool season annual, like larkspur? Plant seed in the early fall, love it through the winter, and watch it die in the heat of high summer?
And I wish they could thrive beyond spring but they do get ratty by summer unfortunately.
Like Am6 posted, the weed in question is crown vetch. Pretty enough w purple to white flowers, it does reseed savagely. But it also has some good points: it provides food for pollinators, bees really like it. It will enrich the soil if dug in and often used as living manure. It’s edible! Some enterprising humans have taken it upon themselves to harvest the tiny pods and used them like the legumes they are. And lastly, crown vetch is easy to pull up, esp. if it isn’t tangled up in another plant.
You gardeners probably know all that already, but I felt the need to protect the lowly vetch … and justify why there’s so much in my garden!! đŸ™‚
Thank you FS! It is overtaking a good section of my garden and need to get in there ASAP. Ugh.
Never had an alium eaten by the deer. And we have a lot of deer.
Same here Raymond. I’m still not believing it. Wonder if someone came in and cut them on the sly.
LOL I was hoping you were going to write about deer because boy, they have been a pain in my ass this spring. Even eating some things they don’t usually eat, like salvia. Our technique has been fish emulsion spray but we opened a new bottle and it has problems, not as strong, so I need to get a new bottle. EFF DEER. đŸ˜‰
I am growing an Amsonia this year! Started seeds so they won’t be blooming this year as they are only a few inches tall. We shall see!
Worst year ever for deer for me as well. Time to take matters into my own hands. And woot woot for Amsonia. Hope it thrives for you!
LOVE thalictrums, too!
I don’t think that your cimicifuga is a brunette. Brunette has very dark foliage. Not sure which one you have. Should bloom in partial to full shade–it does in my MA garden. Hope you get better results this year.
Yeah Bill, it may also be ‘Pink Spike’? I lost track of what’s what, even with my trusty spreadsheet.
Crown vetch or hairy vetch depending on how it develops. you can determine which it is. It is a non-native invasive that was brought here to use for erosion control along roadways. Now we know better. GET IT OUT BEFORE IT SPREADS! It is difficult to get rid of as any piece of root or seed will keep it forever in your garden.
Thanks Mariannna! Color me nervous. The Canada Thistle is bad enough.
Try Plantskydd for deer and all other pests that devour. It will last 3 to 4 months in summer. Also use in winter.
I have to use Plantskydd. So many have sung its praises. I’m in.
Run, don’t walk, to the store for Plantskydd! It works!
Done Becky! Ha.
i share your love for thalictrums. i have bought only those that have bloomed purple, at least the first year. but some have reverted to white in succeeding years. have you had that experience? in other news, after 5 years or so of no blooms, i had my first cimicifuga bloom last year, the only one out of four plants. they’re all planted in the same general area (morning sun), and this year, they are coming up taller than ever. so i’m hopeful of more blooms. in general, all of my plantings are coming up bigger (especially the hostas – wayyy bigger) this year, maybe because of the later spring and wetter spring? who knows …. suz in ohio