Here's the same garden May 10. The yellow flowers are the shrub Kerria Japonica. I just love it. It has the most brilliant golden yellow flowers. They look so great in the shade. The shrub is kind of small this year. I cut it back after flowering last year like the books said to do, but it didn't fill out very much. I hope it will get bushier this summer.
Chris: What is a waxbell? I don't see it in plantfiles.
Waxbells are Kirengeshoma Palmata. I incorrectly called them japanese waxbells (too many plant names rattling around in my brain). They are called yellow waxbells. And the flowers really do look like they are carved out of wax.
Thank you -- it looks lovely.
chris_h I have a yellow wax bell and love it i forgot about it when i wrote happy_macomb You would love it happ_macomb. Chris_h your side yard is beautiful I will have to get my daughter to take a picture of mine. It is doing very well this year. I love looking at all of the posted pictures. I want to get my own digital camera so I dont have to keep bugging her all the time. But in time Huh? I cant believe that is an aster I didnt know they got so tall. Im going to have to look for one of those Kerria shrubs Its pretty does it blossom most of the summer? or only in spring? what is the shrub behind the aster in last years photo? I need som height like that. Ronna
The tall shrub is a buddleia (buddleja?), butterfly bush. It is a full sun plant and is in the sunniest part of this garden outside of the shade cast by the house next door. Definitely not suitable for shade. How about a Clethra for shade? Fragrant late summer blooms, glossy foliage - very pretty. For me it spreads a little but is not unruly and it grows in sun or shade. In my garden it gets about 5 feet tall. I have 3 in my yard (one at the far end of this garden on the shadier side, not really noticeable in the photo).
The Kerria is a spring bloomer but but the blossoms hold for three or four weeks in my garden and you may get a few sporadic blooms later in summer.
