Warning: the following post contains material which may be unsuitable for those who can't handle an excessive amount of shade garden perennials and wildflowers. The poster is solely responsible for this overflow of photos. Some plants have been manually manipulated as noted.
Here it is, the one I've been waiting for since last Autumn, a Bloom Day post with more than three flowers! (I'm metaphorically jumping up and down right now.) The Scilla, Sanguinaria and Hepaticas are all done blooming, and the last of the daffodils, 'La Vie En Rose' (shown above with Malus 'Prairiefire') has faded to white and is nearly done as well.
Although there's not much happening in the front garden, only the seedheads of Pulsatilla vulgaris
and the about-to-open seedheads of prairie smoke (Geum triflorum),
the Woodland Garden is at its peak. Something will be blooming in it for the rest of the season, but now is when it is an explosion of color and bloom.
Leaving the front garden, the small shaded border on the north side of the house is at its best with the Pulmonaria 'Roy Davidson' adding to the hellebore blooms.
All the hellebores are still blooming except for Helleborus niger.
Through the gate is the woodland garden.
First, a photographic overview:
Normally, the crabapple is not blooming this late, but it decided to burst into full bloom just in time for Bloom Day.
Turning left past gate are the Podophyllum peltatum. I confess that I flipped up a leaf
and the hood in these photos.
I returned both to their normal condition afterward. (Hey, they're my plants, I can play with them if I want.)
Next to the Arisamea triphyllum is this little grouping.
This is Dicentra 'Candy Hearts' and the aptly named Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume,' both of which were new to the garden and that spot respectively.
By the arbor is the ubiquitous Labrador Violet with the native Geranium maculatum.
This particular plant is a seedling that I selected for its more intense flower color.
This grouping is on the other side of the Heuchera 'Lime Rickey'. Shown from left are Polemium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven' with Epimedium 'Lilafee'.
Behind this group are the Little Merrybells, Uvularia perfoliata.
It has wandered across the path and now blooms under this group.
Dicentra 'Zestful,' the mother ship of Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume,' and Smilacina racemosa in bud.
Another fragrant plant is Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'.
There used to be three plants, but one died.
It's Tiarella and Heucherella time at Squirrelhaven. This is the first of them to bloom, Tiarella 'Oakleaf'.
That is followed by my favorite-named plant in the garden, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly' (seen here with the double Anemonella and, yes, the Labrador Violet).
I can't see this plant without hearing in my head Harry Shearer's stentorian voice intoning "'In the Garden of Eden' by I. Ron Butterfly'" (from an episode of The Simpsons). The foliage of Heucherella 'Burnished Bronze' plays off the color of the neighboring hellebores.
This is Heucherella 'Sunspot,' which I prefer to its sibling 'Stoplight'.
I just can't resist neon pink flowers with yellow foliage, it's so subtle.
For everyone who has ever accused me of impatience, here's the evidence to refute that charge:
I have waited over 10 years for this Trillium grandiflorum to bloom. I moved it from its original spot over half a dozen years ago. It is magnificent and it even has a scent. (That's Dodecatheon media 'Alba' and, yes, Labrador Violet blooming with it.) So many things in the garden this May have a wonderful scent that all I have to do is step out back to be surrounded by a heavenly perfume.
It's the start of Iris season here at Squirrelhaven. The first to bloom are these mystery Bearded Irises that were here when I bought the property.
Opening just in time is the much smaller Iris cristata 'Eco Little Bluebird.'
Here it is growing with, once again, Labrador Violet.
Not all native woodland wildflowers are small and dainty.
Case in point, the Celadine Poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum. This is such a great plant, as it is not ephemeral and blooms sporadically throughout summer.
I have planted it in several places throughout the garden. Here it provides a contrast to the blooms of Brunnera 'Hadspen Cream' and the last of the Mertensia.
There is no way I could possibly post photos of everything blooming right now, so here is a list of those plants blooming but not pictured:
Dicentra 'King of Hearts,' Geranium macrorhizum, Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower,' Viola sororia, a just-beginning to bloom Aquilegia vulgaris, Thalictrum thalictroides and T. thalictroides 'Rosea' (Anemonella), Bergenia 'Bressingham White,' Lamium 'White Nancy' and a mystery pink Lamium, Forsythia (just a few flowers left), Anemone nemorosa (also nearly done), Phlox divaricata 'Plum Perfect,' and a white flowering quince.
*Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is the sole creation of Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Anyone else claiming credit does so at the risk of being throttled by a hoe.