I’ve decided to participate in Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, an event started by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, where garden bloggers from across the blogosphere post photos of what’s blooming (or budding, or just plain interesting) in their gardens on the 15th of every month.

Here are some of my favorites from my garden right now:

• Leuzea carthamoides, or maral root, looking quite fetching with its toothed leaves poking through the ground. Maral root is the only perennial I’ve grown yet in my current garden from seed. A native of Siberia, it has interesting pink thistle-like flowers in summer. This, I hope, will be the first year it blooms.
• Viburnum carlesii, or koreanspice viburnum, not in bloom, but in bud — I just couldn’t resist posting this picture. This is one of my favorite plants for fragrance, and I have it planted under a kitchen window. Easy, easy, easy to grow! As expert and author Michael Dirr says, every garden should have a viburnum, and koreanspice is a fantastic choice. It’s also less prone to attack by the viburnum leaf beetle, a non-native invasive pest attacking viburnums in our region. I’ll follow up with a photo of it when the flowers are actually open.
• Finally, a daffodil, nearly open, a bit out of focus.

Enjoy!