May 2010 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Maggi Young]

Here's Laurence (Buddy) Moon's photo, for those of you in a hurry 
We haven't heard from him and his great photos for a long time.... anyone know if he's okay?

[cohan]

http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/30636.html
is the link to the olfd Forum page for anyone who enjoys a look back in Forum history... all sorts of great plants there, too!
Here's Laurence (Buddy) Moon's photo, for those of you in a hurry 
We haven't heard from him and his great photos for a long time.... anyone know if he's okay?

the plants in mark's links are great, as is the white-but following lesley's comments, i looked up d peregrina, and that may be my favourite of all!
do these have short lived seed?

[Lesley Cox]

Possibly, but the seed I received must have been all of 6 months old, perhaps older.

[cohan]

so there is some hope...lol

[olegKon]

Lesley, a wonderful plant you are having! You are certainly good at seed and now I'm encouraged to try to propagate mine.

[WimB]

Those are beautiful Dicentra's, especially Burning Hearts.

Here are some plants which were flowering here now:

Arisaema triphyllum f. zebrinum with a double spathe (that's the second year in a row it does that and it ruins the flower)
Heuchera x brizoides 'Pruhoniciana Alba'
Ramonda myconi

[Maggi Young]

We have an Arisaema that has made that double spathe this year. never happened before.

[WimB]

We have an Arisaema that has made that double spathe this year. never happened before.

Maggi,
last year was the first year this Arisaema made that double spathe too, before that it flowered normally.

[Lesley Cox]

Oleg, I hope you will get some seed from your lovely Dicentra and be able to share it with some Russian gardeners as a start then perhaps later through the seed exchanges. It is truly beautiful. Of course anyone with D. peregrina could well try some pollinating and who knows what may result?

[Ragged Robin]

Beautiful Dicentra Oleg and Lesley - I do love them, they're so graceful arching over such pretty foliage, a real flower and foliage plant 

Wim you have some wonderful flowering plants in your garden - what is the foliage like on your Heuchera x brizoides 'Pruhoniciana Alba' ?

Jamie, I love your secret garden jungle it is so lush - I see lots of pots with hidden treasures growing too 

[TheOnionMan]

Due to an unseasonably mild, and oftentimes overly warm spring, so much has been popping into bloom that it all got way ahead of me.  Here's a smattering of recent bloomers.

1.  Diphylleia cymosa - Umbrella Leaf, beautiful southeastern USA native woodlander, emerging leaves are strikingly mottled with brown.  Beautiful blue berries on bright color pedicels.

2.  Clematis albicoma var. coactilis - rare shale barren plant, from Eagle Rock, Virginia.  Flowers are light yellow if the blooms are lifted up to peer inside. Very slow to establish.

3.  Deutzia parviflora var. amurensis - 5' (150 cm) tall shrub, perfectly spherical spaced buds give an unusual look, showy in full flower.

4.  Iris cristata 'Dick Redfield' - rare form with 6 falls instead of 3, with highly ornamental fancy frilled crests of white and gold.  One flower in the photo has 7 falls!

5.  Iris cristata 'Shenandoah Sky'- beautiful blue, with white signal spots looking pronounced because they're underscored with dark purple.

6.  Iris henryi - a Chinese woodlander at early anthesis, with lots of unopened buds... appoximately 200 flowers on this clump.

7.  Syringa vulgaris 'California Rose' - among the finest pink cultivars, at early anthesis the buds are copper tinged.  And the fragrance...

8.  Syringa vulgaris 'California Rose' & 'Wonder Blue' at full bloom, the colors harmonize and join forces with incredible fragance near my deck.

9.  Trillium vaseyi - hard to sufficiently capture the elegance of this trillium, the brooding flowers are large, long-lasting, and textured.

10. Viola pedata - infinitely variable, this one has survived the constant nibbling to the ground by rabbits.

[WimB]

Wim you have some wonderful flowering plants in your garden - what is the foliage like on your Heuchera x brizoides 'Pruhoniciana Alba' ?

Thanks Robin,

Here's a picture of the leaves. Not really special.

[WimB]

Mark,

love the irisses.
And Viola pedata is really lovely. I bought it several times here in Belgium (as a plant and as seed) and everytime I got Viola pedatifida. I'll have to buy it in the UK next time.

[Giles]

Nomocharis aperta

[cohan]

Due to an unseasonably mild, and oftentimes overly warm spring, so much has been popping into bloom that it all got way ahead of me.  Here's a smattering of recent bloomers.
6.  Iris henryi - a Chinese woodlander at early anthesis, with lots of unopened buds... appoximately 200 flowers on this clump.

great show overall, and this one is intriguing--'woodlander' always catches my attention..