Bodacious blooms, lighting up the front garden.
Passers-by will often say "I love your poppies." I guess I can see why they mistake them for such??
Below: Framing Iris 'Starship Enterprise'
'Starship Enterprise' is an especially lovely Iris in it's own right.
blooming "boldly"
Shine on May garden!!!
Bought 5 years ago, a puny little twig of a thing, in the clearance section of the local nursery. Almost removed from the garden because it never bloomed & barely thrived.
Suddenly, this year, a bud!
What color would it be? A mystery until yesterday.
YELLOW it is!
It looks like an Itoh 'Bartzella' peony but it's definitely a tree peony, not an Intersectional, so it can't be.
No Matter. It's name will remain a mystery but the bloom is sunny, bright & beautiful.
Everything that counts.
Headed out to Easter dinner in a bit with my "assignments" ~ bread & dessert.
I tried my hand at a braided Egg bread using a traditional yeast bread recipe plus dyed eggs with edible glitter.
Definitely need practice to perfect this technique but at least I hope it tastes good.
Dessert is usually easier for me. This year, I chose to make mini strawberry cakes then frosted them with buttercream and added dyed coconut & jelly beans for decoration.
Not so original but definitely cute.
It seems fitting that Easter is on April Fool's Day this year since it snowed last night & it's 31 degrees right now.
I hope the pansies (Chianti Mix) I planted yesterday, when the temperatures were more seasonal, don't go into shock!
Happy Easter!
A favorite in this garden.
Electric pink and orange ~ a shockingly brilliant color combo.
Every time I try a new plant in the garden, that I end up loving, I wonder what took me so long...
Angelica gigas is one such plant.
I love the architectural structure it adds to the back garden.
Beautiful, bold foliage.
Gorgeous, multi-branching, sphere-shaped blooms.
Interesting buds.
Bee magnet.
So many reasons to love this plant.
It's sold as a biennial which is how it grew in my garden. Planted last year, blooming this summer. Needless to say, I am letting it seed itself around....
Meanwhile, I'm struggling a bit with the placement of my vintage iron urn.
I had wanted it as a focal point in the same bed as the tuteur, so that it was framed when looking thru the arbor down the garden pathway. However, surrounded by tall growing milkweed and vines on the tuteur behind it, the contents of the urn (and the urn itself) are somewhat lost and blend too much (for my liking) with their surroundings.
See what I mean??
Some thought will have to go into moving it (or possibly the tuteur?) this winter. If not moving it, then perhaps the plants around it?? Right now it all looks a "weedy" mess....(but maybe that could be because I haven't spent a lot of time out there this summer)
The contents of the urn are as follows:
(4) 'Queen Red Lime' Zinnias, (1) 'Electric Star' Cordyline, (1) Talinum 'Limon', (1) Crazytunia Mandeville, (1) Phygelius 'Passionate Pink' and (1) Helichrysum petiolare 'Lemon Licorice.'
Photos above & below taken earlier in the season.
Being lucky enough to own an old urn as incredible as this one, I really want it to be showcased.
I am open to any & all suggestions if you care to share them....
= the perfect time to sit outside,
bring out a refreshment tray,
with our current favorite summer dinner ~ tomato, corn tart. Recipe here, fabulous, fabulous cooking website!!!
serve up a Limoncello Creme
sit back, relax and simply "be" while the action of the garden whirls all around.
Because, as many of you know, where there's a garden, there's definitely action!
The vintage wheelbarrow literally hums with activity.
Sources: hummingbirds,
wasps (eek!)
spiders
Bees,
bees
more bees
and even bunnies...
Sitting amidst the cadence of nature, lulls the soul to peace.
The perfect way to end a stressful day.
I even finally caught a Moonflower opening!
Beautiful!
I wish my allergies weren't fully kicked in so that I could actually smell it.
I'm hoping for many more evenings like this before the season is over. It's the reason I created the garden, for the "magical" way it brings life to our doorstep....
Several days ago, I finally got a chance to sit on my back patio, first thing in the morning, with my coffee, and take in the garden ~ starting the day the way I wish I could start every single one.
It shouldn't be that difficult but somehow it just is!
You probably noticed, I didn't just SIT while I was out there (I don't know why that's so impossible??)
I did a little pruning & deadheading too.
Mostly on the 'Lady Emma Hamilton' rose standards.
I do everything I can to keep them looking fabulous.
Wouldn't you??
A few days prior, I had noticed buds on the "Surprise Lilies" (Lycoris squamigera.)
True to their name, they always just seem to pop up out of nowhere & suddenly be there & in bloom ~ just as they were this morning.
One thing I can't seem to catch in bloom, no matter how early I get up:
Moonflowers...
I think I need to try late evening instead. I find them in bud:
but next thing I know, the bloom is wilting.
It will be my new personal challenge to find a perfectly open flower....
Dahlia 'Big Brother' is spectacular any time of day.
But that brilliant color is the perfect "wake up" for even the most non-morning person.
(Unknown name) Fuchsia standard recently began blooming; the flowers especially charming dangling in the first rays of sun.
Before going in, a quick peek by the front step:
Gladiolus 'Coral Seas'
How happy am I to have planted these??!!
Already I "need" another morning to begin this way.... I better make it happen soon because August is zipping right along and we all know what follows.
on a soft summer night.
“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”
Strolling thru the garden this last eve of June, it's easy to see what spurred Leopold to write those words.
Buds and new blooms abound.
Each one looking particularly fresh in the soft light of evening.
and even more so after a quenching rain shower.
Aaaah, pure refreshment!
This time of day, along with dawn, are my favorite to walk, view & photograph the garden.
Even tho there are new blooms throughout the gardening season, June always seems the most luxuriant month.
Above & below: Bullock's Orioles inspecting the lilies for insects.
Always a delightful combination.
(forgive the quality of the Oriole photos, I took them thru my bedroom window ~ blinds & all!)
When we flip the calendar to July in the morning,
the real heart of summer begins.
The pace will slow. No more "mad" leaps of growth.
A chance for both plants & gardeners to breathe and savor the luscious time of year.
But first a celebration.
Enjoy, as I know you will. As Leopold said, it's impossible to ignore.