May Blooms in the Garden by Cherie Luke

May is an exciting time of year, especially for flower gardeners.  The wait is finally over and this is the time of year for color and beautiful blooms in the garden.  Some of the most beautiful flowers bloom in May so to take full advantage of this when shopping at your favorite garden center look for early blooming varieties of some of your favorite perennials.  For example I have early, mid and late blooming peonies in my garden.  Fern leaf peonies and tree peonies are two varieties that usually bloom in May.  CSU fact sheets No. 7.406 and 7.242 both list perennial bloom times as early, mid, and late for many plants along with elevations and other important factors for a successful perennial garden for mountain communities.

Also look for microclimates around your property to take advantage of early bloomers.  Just take your soil’s temperature in several areas around your house and do some planting in its warmest spots.

And of course if you planted spring blooming bulbs last fall, May is the month for most of them to bloom. 

Hyacinths

Bergenia

Primrose

Dicentra

So in spite of the occasional spring snows and sometimes low temperatures, those of us that love flowers and garden in the mountains, can still enjoy many lovely flowers.