April is usually peak spring bloom time in my garden, with a crazy explosion of colors. While I try to stick to a cool color scheme, bulbs are one of my obsessions. So I end up of with lots of "unapproved" colors because I just can't help but acquire new varieties! Also, I'm obsessed with peach colored roses and they too are at their peak in April.

After this somewhat gaudy spring show, and the month of May begins, my garden takes a big deep breath. May becomes a transitional time. There are usually several weeks to a month of green foliage and the promise of better things to come. By the end of May, however, many of my summer blooming perennials begin to put on their show. That is when I'm reminded that I like to plant purple! It always makes me laugh a little (how much purple there is) but the onset of cool, calming blue and purple blooms is just in time for the arrival of Texas summer heat.

The Scabiosa never really stopped blooming, then the purple asters decided to make a spring appearance. Veronica has been waiting for this moment since last summer and makes for the prettiest contrast against Artemesia. The arrival of the dwarf balloon flowers brought both sets of neighbors over to ask "what is that beautiful purple thing?!!" Salvia 'Henry Deulberg' has been blooming all spring and will continue to do so all summer. The Mexican Blue Sage (Salvia c.)has the prettiest powder blue blooms. Catmint 'Walker's Low' creates a powdery cloud of lavender flowers that will bring on the biggest bee party you'll ever see. Salvia g. 'Black and Blue' still amazes me with its "blueness". Salvia f. 'Evolution' is similar to 'Victoria', but with darker purple blooms and a more dense compact growth habit. French hollyhocks have always been a favorite of mine because they are so easy to grow. These are just a few samples of some of my favorites. Also in blooming in blue/purples are spiderwort, Baptisia a. hydrangeas, purple oxalis, light blue petunias, lobelia, althea and more. Ah.....so serene.

My yard needed a little more funk, so here is my new bottle tree I just installed. It resides behind a planter my neighbors have named "Hairyette Potter"...I love my neighbors! They are on a mission now to get me new and interesting bottles. I promised them we could do red and green at Christmas....

I'm going to do some planting around the base of the bottle tree. I haven't yet decided what exactly I'll put there. Hairyette Potter is planted with Mexican Feather grass, which is still fairly small. So I'll choose something that will provide some contrast behind the grass.

The blue bottles catch the light and are so pretty in the sunshine and brighten up the yard when its overcast. Traditionally, bottle trees were used to trap evil spirits so they wouldn't enter your home. I can't wait to see what kind of little evils I'll catch......

Cooking straight out of the garden is wonderful. There is nothing better than to be able to run out to the garden and gather up all the tomatoes and peppers you need for dinner. Or fresh basil for instant homemade pesto. I'll probably be cooking squash out of the garden tonight (to my husband's dismay...he is not yet a fan of squash...) Here are some photos of a few of my babies on their way....'Yellow Pear' squash, 'Peter Pan' squash, 'Fairy Tale' Eggplant, 'Celebrity' Tomatoes, lots of peppers, purple bush beans, heirloom corn, okra, just to show a few.

This is why Iceland Poppies and Mexican Feather Grass are such a fab combo.....

The rainy cool weather this spring has definitely gotten the veggie garden off to a good start. Lot's of "babies" on the way. Here are some (windy) pictures of a few things. Despite my caging efforts on the strawberries, the birds managed to clean both plantings totally clean of my first crop. Devastating! So, this morning, I'll be double caging them to try and fend off the attack. There are new berries forming, so I've got to get to it quick. Of course, they only steal them riiiiiight before they are just ripe. Sneaky. Tiny baby squash are on the way.

The Rhubarb is quite robust. I'll be harvesting some in the next few days and will start canning it. My goal is to get a strawberry & rhubarb pie out of the garden this year!

The tomatoes are in high gear this year. (I attribute that to my fantabulous NHG organic veggie food...). The first on the way are 'Sugary' and 'Sun Sugar' a yellow variety. I'll be trying to can as many tomatoes as I can get this year. Actually, I've got all the ingredients in the garden for a good salsa, so I'll probably make and can that up too.

I have 'Peter Pan' and a couple other varieties. Potatoes and horseradish are growing nicely. Will be looking for a fall harvest there. Corn seedlings are up to about 4" tall, as well as purple beans, snap peas and one last crop of lettuce.

The first 3 banana peppers of the season are ready, but the pepper plants won't really take off until the heat comes on. Anyone need pepper sauce or pickled peppers? I'll have plenty! I decided to espalier fruit trees all along the NE side of our yard - which has an ugly chain link fence. If I let them grow standard, they'd shade the veggie garden. So this way, I can camouflage the fence, keep in the sun, and get better fruit production. So far I've planted a pear and a peach. I'll probably plant another pear and a plum. I've also planted blackberries and raspberries along the remainder of the side fence and along the back fence. We have great neighbors and they said they wouldn't mind sharing the "fence fruit"!

Well, as some of my friends know, I have sort of a teacup fetish. I see teacups and the "girl" in me comes out. I don't know where this fetish came from....or why it exists. I was always a tomboy, so maybe this it is some throwback to what I "didn't" do as a little girl. I love antique teacups, yard sale teacups, modern teacups...you name it. I was looking at a stack of my cups and thought, hey, I'll bet these would make cute vases! So now some of my blooms have a new home. The regular sized teacups are perfect for displaying large double roses. Especially if you just want to cut one or two so you don't leave your garden bare. Tiny teacups let you display your tiny flowers, like violas. I know...its sooooo Martha.

Awwww, this little guys is just determined to live. I found this tiny viola seedling tucked into a crack in my driveway. A castaway from the violas I plant in the garden each season.

So a few more things have started to bloom. The first is my 'Ramona' Clematis. I had to plant a 'Ramona' in honor of my Chihuahua, Ramona, of course. Next is Rose 'Ebb Tide'. The photo doesn't do the color justice. It is the deepest purple rose I've seen, highly fragrant, and produces masses of buds. I got it as a test plant before it was released. Weeks roses released it in 2006, so it is new to the market. Another shot of 'Tamora' in bloom. Such a great fragrance. Rose 'Abraham Darby' just started blooming as well. Rose 'Cracklin' Fire' is a cute little miniature. It has that great orangey color I love. It's has a wee problem with blackspot in the spring- as you can see in the photo. But it usually grows out of it with no treatment once it warms up.

Now, as a horticulturist in Texas, I'm fully aware of the roses I'm "supposed" to be growing. Who do I think I am growing all these wimpy English hybrids??? Professionally I've done a lot of testing of rose varieties and contributed data to the Texas A&M EarthKind program. Of course I have antiques in my garden. I'm sure that within the next year or so 'Mutabilis' will be overtaking my front yard, and I'll be happy for it. But, I just have this weakness, stress WEAKNESS, for those big, fat, juicy David Austin beauties. And seriously, they are doing great for me. I maintain an organic garden and haven't touched a rose in my garden with a single treatment in 3 years. Occasionally, during times of high humidity and cool temperatures, foliage fungal diseases will crop up. I generally allow plants to outgrow their problems naturally.