Today is the longest day of the year up here in the north. The night is only a bit longer than four hours. In other words lots of light available for the plants.
The snowball bush (Viburnum opulus) is at its best and full of flowers.
The Snowball is a very decorative shrub blooming with huge green flowers which turn gradually to brilliant white as the season progresses.
The aquilegia season is here. Most of the varieties are at their best and blooming beautifully.
It took me several years to grow the Bordeaux Barlow (Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata ‘Bordeaux Barlow’) from the seeds but now I have many of them.
Up here in the north it usually takes three years before this variety starts to bloom. Most of the other varieties already bloom during the second season.
It has been quite cool start of the summer up here in the north. Not many warm days yet.
Spending a week in the summer cottage and still need to burn wood in the fireplace to stay warm during the nights.
The Snowdrop Windflowers (Anemone sylvestris) are blooming now. A bit beaten by the wind and rain but still beautiful.
If the plant likes the place it will spread rapidly and has a very large root network.
I still have few pictures in my phone from the spring. Daffodils are now gone and we need to wait the whole year to see them again.
Tahiti (Narcissus ‘Tahiti’) bloomed beautifully in May and managed to take a photo when they were at their best.
Summer has finally arrived to the north. After a cool May we have had quite nice weather up here in the north for change.
I did not even remember planting few Princess Irene tulips (Tulipa ‘Princess Irene’) by the lake.
The color of this variety is quite unique and beautiful. Makes me want to have more of them in the future.
The Princess Irene is quite short Triumph tulip and likes full sun and well drained soil.
Last autumn I ordered tulips from the Netherlands. Helmar (Tulipa ‘Helmar’) was one of those varieties.
Helmar is a very distinctive Triumph tulip with wine red flames on a yellow base resembling the historic tulips painted during the golden age and that is why the group is also known as the Rembrandt tulips.
The bulbs overwintered well and are now starting their show. Was able to spend the weekend in the summer cottage to see the start but unfortunately will miss the end of the show this year.
Something new to the garden. Fell in love with the blooms Brachyscome (Brachyscome hybrida) has.
It is a small flower, only about 15 centimeters tall at this point. It should double its hight during the summer.
Placed it to full sun. The only problem is that it requires regular watering when placed like that and I will not be here to do it.
It has been cool spring up here in the north and daffodils are still at their best. The late spring means that the tulip season is just about to begin.
The Strikes (Narcissus ‘strike’) have enjoyed the coldness and are blooming by the lake.
I do not have many vacation days this summer which has meant way less plants than normally. The simple reason is that I am not here to water them. Luckily the perennials are there to brighten the flowerbeds.
It is always a bit tricky to grow Dahlias (Dahlia) up here in the north. They would need a longer summer to bloom well.
This year I decided to buy ready grown plants instead of trying to grow them by myself. At least this way I am able to be sure that I can see the blooms.
Found two that I liked from the store and brought them to the summer cottage. They are very different from each other but were the ones that caught my eye.
Siberian Squills (Scilla siberica) are one of my favorite spring flowers.
The color they have is simply striking and they are so easy to grow. They usually spread and form a beautiful blooming blanket.
Still waiting the warmer weather up here in the north. Today the weather has been cool and we even got some snow flakes from the sky.
Happy Mother’s Day day to all moms! It is celebrated up here on the second Sunday of May each year.
Gardening in the North 