Things are looking good!

Did I post about the impatiens my friend Beth sent me? She grew them from seeds, that her friend has harvested and grown for 20 years! She sent me 4 plants in the mail, 2 didn't survive, but the two that did are doing pretty well, and blooming! Thanks, Beth!







The edelweiss has been blooming for a while now, so here's a pic. It lives under our rose bushes.






Here's an interesting comparison, March 30th:



and June 30th:



I planted this bunny tail grass last year, and didn't think it was a perennial, but it came back!



Bellflower and astilbe:



More of the pink lilies:



Um, yeah. I planted these rudbeckia two years ago, and they did not come back last year, but this year, is a different story!



The yucca and speedwell are blooming, too.



And another comparison, May 24th:



And June 30th:

What I saw on Vacation

Hi! We spent the past week in Old Saybrook, CT and I should have taken more pictures, but here are a few things I saw that I liked. We really liked the smoke bushes we saw, one darker and one lighter, but I didn't have the camera with me when we saw them, so we didn't get a picture, but - we've already ordered one for home, so we'll take a picture of our own smoke bush someday!

These are everywhere, and make a nice splash of color - I need to figure out what they are so I can plant some:

Gotta love the old fashioned, white hydrangea:

Thought this was neat, I love the way it looks like it's flowing over the edge. These people had no lawn, Steve thought that was a great idea!

Nice hydrangea and tiger grass combo, I covet this grass. It's tall, I would need to think hard about where to put it.

Clematis, right? Quite a few folks had these, they seem to do well there.

I love this bed, so much color timed just right:

Okay, these are just weird.

Was picking strawberries tonight in our strawberry patch (best thing we ever planted, by the way!) and picked these:



*How* did this happen?! Freaky, right? There were also a few double berries. We ate those. I'm kind of afraid to eat these Chernobyl berries...

It's been a while!

I was at a seminar all last week that prevented me from doing a lot of things, one of them being blogging. So here goes!

I couldn't resist how beautiful this rose looked after the rain.



Here is some cinquefoil (and some impatiens, etc.) that I moved from the big long bed by the fence, to here under the pear tree. I don't have very good luck with perennials under the pear tree - except for the aster, the aster is happy there. Anyway, we'll see how this does here. The original cinquefoil is over in the big bed and reseeds itself each year. It was here when we bought the house.



Yarrow is starting to bloom.



Here's the original cinquefoil in the front, by the rooster, and the pretty white flowers with the dark burgundy stems in the background - I can't remember what they are called. Mom told me this weekend, and I have already forgotten.



Here's a close up:



The white astilbe is doing well. The pink is hidden. :-(



If we ever get married again, this will be my bouquet. Okay, not really, but it was so pretty and smelled so good, I had to share. It's now in our freezer in the form of pesto. :-)



The pink lilies have started, these are nice, but wait until you see the giant white ones later in the summer!



The dahlia on the right doesn't look so good. Not sure why... Mom brought us the black hollyhocks, the verigated basil and the firecracker fuscia, thanks Mom!



I thought I'd show a progress pic of the pots out front, they are filling out really nicely!





Whew! Okay, I think we are pretty much caught up for now!

Roses, heirloom roses

The iris and roses were looking nice towards the end of this past week:




This is a rose called Peppermint, or something like that.



I love a rosebud about to open.



And this weekend the roses really opened up. I think the sun and HEAT are loved by the gardens, not so much by the people.



This one below is so special to me. This rose my Mom brought to us from her house, and it's from a rosebush that she brought from my grandparents' farm to her house. The original rosebush - still on the farm which is lived on and maintained by my uncle - was planted by my great-grandmother.

My grandmother carried these roses in her wedding bouquet, and my Dad's ashes are under the original rosebush on the farm. This rose produces the sweetest smell on earth.

If only the Internet were scratch 'n sniff

Our peonies started blooming yesterday, and it's been raining ever since. I'm sure they'll be all beaten down to the ground after tonight's storms, but we'll see...

I wish you could smell these. They smell so. sweet. They smell very similar to my great-grandmother's roses, which hopefully I will be showing you soon!







And the Steve irises on the west side of the front beds are looking great, too!

Happy June!

Ah, it's June, sunny and 80 degrees. It has been a beautiful day! Here's what's happening in the beds this weekend:

Follow this shot all the way to Flickr and you can see the notes identifying everything in it. There is Bachelor's Button, Lady's Mantle, Echinacea, Geum, Sweet William and Coral Bells. Not everything is blooming just yet. Some things will come along later.



Here's another of Mrs. Pampalone's irises, this one all alone out under the rhododendron and next to the lilies. Hmm, maybe I should move it to a sunnier spot?



This columbine is under the pear tree.



The poppy bloomed! Here it is next to the Bleeding Heart.



And here's an "oops!" Our baby bok choi bolted. Oops! But it's pretty. Steve is going to let it keep going and see if he can save some of the seeds for next year. (Side note: I had a huge sandwich for lunch today of that delectable lettuce you see there to the left of the bok choi. Yum!)