Floral Friday: May 12

This week in the front garden, the starlettes are the tulips and azaleas, with a unique solo from my early-blooming purple columbine. The late-season tulips signal the end of the spring bulb show, and although I lost many to voles over the winter, I still had knock-out performances from the "El Nino" tulip — which I believe will have a permanent home in my garden. It has the orange/coral combination that I absolutely love for its pop of color! (You can also hear me gush about it in the Still Growing podcast's episode 538.)

"El Nino" tulip, with late-season daffodils blooming in the background.

These tulips are from the Colorblends collection "Maybelline."

Columbine in the front garden.

Violas grown from seed.

Not surprisingly, the Deja Bloom Azalea has doubled in size from last year, and is having its best year in flower yet! I was given the plant to trial two years ago from J. Berry Nursery (you can read my review here), and at the time I was nervous about its ability to survive the winter. However, this variety, "Orchid Showers," can put up with Zone 6b winters just fine! This year it is even flowering before my neighbor's traditional azalea — up to a whole week before!

What's growing in your garden this week?