In the Garden

The Hardy Hibiscus has finally made an appearance! I really thought it was dead. The woman at Linder's warned me that they come up really late - sometimes not until June. I had no reason to doubt her, but until last week, I was certain these things were dead. Must have faith. ;)

The poppies in the hellstrip are blooming, too. Based on how they seem to stretch for the afternoon sun,  it seems that they're not in a very good spot. The blossoms tend to flop onto the ground. I will collect the seed heads and try to seed them in some other spots this winter.

The Hope for Humanity is gorgeous right now. The pictures don't even come close to doing those roses justice. Work has been pretty difficult lately, and I often wonder about whether or not there is hope for humanity. Dramatic, I know.

The pink peonies are in their glory right now. The white ones will be opening soon. My living room and office both smell wonderful as I've brought many in to enjoy. I decided after they all got flattened in a storm last year that I should just cut them and enjoy them - I spend more time in my office than I do in the garden anyway.

Blooming This Week

Spiderwort: it's going gangbusters this year - I think it's about a foot taller than it's ever been.

The last of the irises.

The first of the many unknown lilies have opened.

The orange poppies finally opened. The thing is loaded with HUGE blossoms. I wish I had about a dozen of them!

I got a few more things in the ground this week, including a "Nelly Moser" clematis. I've got three more clematis to plant, but haven't quite figured out the trellis part yet. I suppose I could just plant them and do the trellis later? That sounds like it would involve some extra work, but that's usually the way my gardening goes, so I don't know why I'm over thinking it. ;)

So Many Pretty Blooms

Notice the ginormous hollyhock behind the peonies. It's a "nigra" grown from seed last year. When it finally blooms this year, I'm guessing it's going to be over 6 feet tall! 

The white ones are about a week behind these.

I divided, replanted, and gave away these peonies last year, so wasn't sure they would even bloom. I had about 5-6 on each pink peony and one or two buds on the white peonies. I'm hoping for lots more next year!

A soon-to-be-pretty bloom .... I have no idea what color it will be as I dug it out of the ground from a friend of a friend long after it had bloomed last year. I check it every day for tell-tale signs of color.