Oh my goodness, I don’t know how mid-May has arrived here so suddenly! With two teenagers heavily involved in school activities, my own busier than usual schedule, and the added tasks associated with having a room completely redecorated, the calendar has escaped me!
Time has marched quickstep in the gardens as well. What was dull and brown just a month ago is now bright, fresh, and colorful!
Alyssum ‘Basket of Gold’ is one of the stars in the rock garden, combining stunningly with bright pink Creeping Phlox and large clumps of Candytuft:
The lasagna garden has been eye-catching for the past couple of weeks. 
Hellebore ‘Pink Frost’ started the show up there, and was followed by a few varieties of daffodils. The earlier varieties have shriveled, but there is still a patch of Narcissus ‘Quail’ in full bloom:
You can see one of two Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ plants behind ‘Quail’. The other is nearer the front of the garden, and I am pleased that I can actually see its cloud of delicate blue flower clusters way back from my kitchen window!
The Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart was at its best a few days ago, but still has a few branches of bright blossoms:
Here is Lamium ‘Beacon Silver’, blooming earlier and much more prolifically than it did last year:
The Ajuga, transplanted from my lawn, has also spread well, forming little carpets of blue-violet in the left corner of the bed. Some of its spires are six inches high!
I’m really pleased with the progress in this bed, now in its second spring. Thank you to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for giving me and garden bloggers all over the world the opportunity to share the best of our blooms on the 15th of each month for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!
Cosmos and Cleome 
Love the rock garden!
Thanks, Lea!
All your pretty flowers are making spring beautiful for you! So glad you took a moment to share them with us. -Beth
Thanks for stopping by, Beth! It is so nice to look outside and see color!
Yes, May is flying by whereas February seemed like two months long. Your May garden is so pretty! I don’t have a rock garden, Kimberley, and yours makes me think I should create one. I have a spot I can see from my window, but it is rather shady. I have to research this and maybe come up with a plan. P. x
Thanks for stopping by, Pam. When I created the lasagna garden up under the treehouse, I discovered a lot of nice shade bloomers!
This has been a fantastic spring for certain things. I have never seen ajuga look the way it has this year. Beautiful alyssum, too. I hope you got some rain today things were starting to get a bit dry.
We didn’t get much rain on Saturday, Alana, but we’ve had some good showers the past two nights. The local fire departments were really busy the last couple weeks with calls for brush fires. One was about a mile away from us, and the wind brought the ashes to our house. So it’s good we’ve had some rain now.
Wow, I have never seen Ajuga put out so many flowers! If they always did that I’d plant some right now!
We must have a good environment for ajuga here. It’s quite common in lawns. Some people have virtual seas of it every May! Thanks for stopping by!
Hello!
I know what you mean about May being busy. I saw it referred to as “Mayhem” recently, and I couldn’t agree more!
Your garden is looking so lovely! I also have a ‘Jack Frost’ brunnera. It’s blooms are one of the highlights of my spring.
Take care!
Thanks for stopping by, Linnae. ‘Jack Frost’ is precious! Yes, “Mayhem” is an appropriate term!
I just love your rock garden, Kimberley; the pinks and yellows really are eye-catching, too. ‘Jack Frost’ is one of my favorite shade perennials–glad you are able to enjoy it from your kitchen window!
Hi Rose! Thanks for visiting. I love the pink and yellow together! And I love ‘Jack Frost’, too!
Don’t you just love your Ajuga. I was so very happy with mine this year. Those 6 inch blooms lasted for weeks here in zone 6 – but were mostly spent by bloom day Thanks for sharing
Thanks for stopping by, Shelley! Nice to meet you. One of the things I love best about my Ajuga is that it was free–transplanted from a patch in my lawn!
Has it really been over a week since bloom day!? You are so right about May flying by.
Your rock garden is looking great. Amazing how we always struggle to get a rock-free bed going and yet things grow so well in the midst of them! I wish I could get my hands on a few more rocks here. I find them here and there as I dig a few up but the best ones came from construction next door (long gone now).
Beautiful photos in this post. Bleeding heart has never looked better and the lamium as well 🙂
Have a great week, I bet the countdown to summer is well under way!
Frank, not only will I happily donate leaves to your cause, but rocks as well!