Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for May 2026.
Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, I feel like we are ahead of past years, but surprisingly, the nights and early mornings have still been quite chilly. Not frosty chilly, but colder than some tropical plants like it.
That’s not a problem here, as I don’t have a lot of tropical plants, nor do I move many houseplants outside for the summer time.
But the cold has not stopped many flowers, as noted, and we seem to be ahead of past years. Maybe that warm spell in April got flowers going and once they were going, nothing, not even cold, cold stop them?
For example, in past years, we might have had some lilacs still blooming, but this year they are all done. The peonies which should be at peak bloom now are all just a little past, though still plenty showy enough.
Now, at this point, I could post photo after photo showing what’s blooming, but instead, I posted a video on YouTube that you can watch with all the images. It’s just a tiny bit over a minute long. It starts with a viola that self-sowed itself in the patio, and ends with… you’ll have to watch to find out what it ends with.
I’ll wait while you go watch the video...
Welcome back. Did you enjoy that video?
Now, here’s the run down of my bloom day posts for May from past years. (I started including these links for my own records, since this is the last year I’m doing this meme. You may choose to click on them or not.)
Here we go:
2007 – I included a long list of plants, might be useful to look at someday.
2008 – Most definitely we were not as far along with blooms as this year!
2009 – I listed a bunch of new perennials. I should see which ones I still have.
2010 – Featuring some yellow Knockout roses I no longer have.
2011 – Daisies and Columbine for the win.
2012 – Hmmm, the Japanese tree lilac was blooming, seems early.
2013 – I do miss that giant viburnum that was a May highlight.
2014 – Another year that was slower than this year.
2015 – I featured one of my favorite clematis vines.
2016 – Kind of more of the same but I miss that yellow Columbine.
2017 – I featured some flowers I don’t even have anymore.
2018 – The lily of the valley were the stars of the show.
2019 – I featured a lot of Columbine and Allium!
2020 – Like the other years, meaning slower than this year.
2021 – Another year that was slower than this year.
2022 – Definitely not as far along as this year.
2023 – About like the other years.
2024 – Similar to other years!
2025 – I feel like we were a bit behind compared to this year.
And that’s my Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post for May.
What’s blooming in your garden on or around the 15th of the month? Join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us. It’s easy to participate. Just post on your blog, Substack or any place where you share online about the blooms in your garden, then return here and leave a comment with a link so we can find you.
“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Wow your Garden is filled with so much colors and exuberant spring energy. I am linking here my Summer Garden here for the month of May we are experiencing mild summer this year. http://jaipurgardening.blogspot.com/2026/05/may-garden.html?m=1
Such a different climate. Thanks for joining in!
So pretty! I have Alliums, Peonies, Columbine, and Siberian Iris blooming.
Sounds lovely!
I love seeing the Peony and Allium flowers, which are gorgeous. You are definitely ahead of us here in zone 7b. We are having an unusually cool spring and my Peony and Allium are just budding now and I can’t wait to see their blooms. On the other hand, other things seem to be ahead of schedule! Happy Bloom Day Carol! To see my post, go through the author page to the pull down menu on the left: A Guide to Northeastern Gardening Blog May Garden!
I can’t believe I’m ahead of you! It’s been a cool spring here, lately, so the flowers are also lasting a little longer.
The weather has been so up and down for me (New York State) but I look to be a few days behind where my flowers were last year. Some of the flowers lasted longer, too. I loved seeing your peonies, and I liked having a video to look at. I’m not too much of a videographer so I will keep on with still pictures.
Here’s my post: https://ramblinwitham.blogspot.com/2026/05/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-may-2026.html
Thanks for sharing your video. For a cool spring, it certainly looks like you have a robust start. I’m sorry I missed GBBD in March and April but I had a medical set-back fro, which I’m still recovering. I did manage to pull together a May Bloom Day post, though. Here it is: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2026/05/bloom-day-may-2026.html
Hi Carol, the video was a nice colorful variation, but in the end I prefer to have the names to go with the flowers… 🙂 Here’s my link https://macgardens.org/?p=8241
— jw
I agree! The video would be better with the names of the flowers, but I was being lazy!
Thanks for joining in, as always!
Really enjoyed the video–would have loved to see the names of the varieties of the flowers, though I recognize a few of them. The weather has been crazy here too, and very dry. I’m awfully late with my Bloom Day posting this month–too many things on my agenda, and the blog has taken a back seat–but better late than never, here it is:
https://mazastudio.blogspot.com/2026/05/may-2026-bloom-day.html
Your blooming video was a delight! I don’t have much to contribute, YET. But my new garden is going in this weekend, so I might have things to share soon.