New plants

This time of year is always the calm before the storm, when the majority of the Spring-blooming flowers have gone by, but before the full flush of Summer flowers.  The last of my tulips lost their petals overnight, my creeping phlox and iberis have faded, and while I still have lots in bloom, there are noticeable gaps in my garden.  

So this evening I planted a number of new things:  I put more chives into my parking strip bed.  There are three nice plants out there in full bloom now, which I don't harvest, and I decided to run them along the entire length of the strip.

I moved my one pulmonaria from the rear of the house to the front, in a shady area, and planted two new ones in a semi-circle around my summersweet.  I love its variegated foliage, and the blue flowers this time of year add a lot.  In the place of the first pulmonaria, I planted two little sweet woodruff plants, as a sort of a place-holder.  I'm still developing a shade planter in the back, and just wanted something (and something cheap) in that spot until I focus better on shade plants.

Then I put in two blackberry lilies (Belamcanda chinensis) in front of my irises.  As their leaves are
fan-shaped like German irises (they're in the same family), I thought they'd blend in well there, and be a surprise when they actually bloom in late summer.

Then, water water water.  My ground is bone dry, except where I've been watering daily (from my rain barrel).

Finally:  a number of my seeds have sprouted around the garden where I cast them, especially the zinnias.  I always love when new plants pop out of the ground.