Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

"Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day" seems to be something that a lot of people do around the web.  On the fifteenth of every month, they post photos of plants that are blooming in their gardens.  So I thought I would jump on that train.

Most Venus' Flytrap enthusiasts will tell you to cut off the flower stems when they start growing, in order to put more energy back into the plant, but I say why not let them bloom?  As you can see, the flowers are far away from the traps.  You wouldn't want to eat the flying insects that pollinate your flowers, would you?

When I first saw a pitcher plant bloom, I was so surprised.  I had never seen one bloom before, and they are so unusual.  I collected seeds from them a couple of years ago, but didn't feel like germinating them.  I took them to the plant swap one year, and someone told me they had gotten them, germinated them and had tiny little pitcher plants.  (Dee, was that you?).

Another bog plant,  pickerel weed, this is a favorite in bogs and ponds and it's always been a nice bloomer. This the first bloom of the year, although I have two right now.  I got rid of most of it in the past couple of years, but I still have a small clump of it - just enough to enjoy its blooms throughout the summer.

Who doesn't like a knockout rose?

Our cactus seems to have bloomed early this year, like everything else.

Someone on my route threw out a perfectly good Hibiscus this spring.  After repotting it, it has a bunch of new growth and is blooming all the time.

Our old garden roses are usually still going strong on Mother's Day, but these bloomed early this year.

Female Squash flower

Male Squash flower

Our lantana always take a while to get going in the spring.  Maybe if I watered it...

Hidden Ginger mystifies me.  It didn't bloom for a few years after I got it from a friend.  When it finally bloomed last year, the blooms were so close to the ground, instead of at the top, like a canna or banana.

The Stokes aster that we got from the plant swap is starting to bloom.  It definitely needs to repotted - it's in some really heavy-looking clay.

Mexican Petunia - something else from the plant swap.  Need to repot it as well and find a place for it in the yard.

Our hydrangea is starting to bloom - small pink flowers.  When it was in the back yard, it was blue.

I hope everyone enjoyed the show.  I plan to do this 15th of every month, so stay tuned.