Our visitor of late

Weird, right? More white than black. Hmm.

On the verge of blooming

Walking around the gardens tonight I realized that sometimes things on the verge of blooming can be just as beautiful as the full bloom.

Bellflower:



Daisy:



Yarrow:



The one I can never remember the name of, and I need to move because the daylilies are shading and crowding it:



Hydrangea:



Hydrangea from Steve's Oma (finally, it will bloom!):



Astilbe:



Rudbeckia:



And, of course, the rose:

Pretty white blooms

Happy Anniversary to Lisa and Guy! 15 (or 14?) years ago today they got married and gave this Silky Dogwood as wedding favors:



The Snow on the Mountain that we brought with us from Cold Spring is also in bloom (yes, that is Chocolate Mint mixed in there):

Busy day in the garden!

Good morning!



One big project I tackled today - the weeds and mint that have taken over the azalea bed on the East side of the house.

Before:


During:


After - there is canna planted in there, and the delphiniums our godson brought us on Saturday:


(The transplanted volunteer sunflowers don't look so good now, but they'll bounce back.)

This coral bell planted itself in a crack of our sidewalk last year, earlier this spring I moved it back into one of our beds, and it is doing great! (Sweet William and Geum in the background)



I put some annuals in pots for out front:





We bought these at a new-to-us garden center, Sabellico, yesterday. That place is *huge!* We will need to go back, they had so many irises! Here is the millet and Toothache Plant:



and the Toothache Plant up close (the tag says you can chew the leaves to numb your gums, yikes.):



Dirty feet are a good sign of a long, exhausting and fulfilling day of gardening. :-)

Nothing sweeter...

Seriously. You haven't smelled sweet until you have smelled the intoxicating aroma of my great-grandmother's roses, some of which now reside in our yard.



The Steve irises are doing great, as usual:



Mom was here a couple of weeks ago, and as we pulled in the driveway she said "Look at them all smiling at us!"





Uh, yeah, the volunteer sunflowers are *everywhere!* In the ground, in the pots (apparently I used soil from last year that had seeds in it...) We really need to thin these so some will get big and strong and flourish.



I think this rose is called Peppermint:



The peonies are in full swing!



And, yum - fresh bok choy from the garden with dinner:

The outdoors is dangerous!

Last weekend, the high winds brought down part of one of our big trees. Luckily it fell between the new blueberries and the asparagus bed, and not right on top of one of them.




And then I caught poison ivy, and two days later I pulled a tick out of my side! I may never go outdoors again!

But, this may convince me to - my score from the Dutchess County Master Gardener Plant Sale:





The rhododendrons are still going strong, and I'm trying to notice details more, so a close up is in order as well.





The columbine I planted last year is looking well. So deep and dark! If only I could remember the name...

Pink! and, I wish the Internet had Smell-o-Vision

The pink azaleas out front always bloom after the ones on the side of the house. They are going full force now!



These little guys planted themselves!



Yup, Cilantro!



The Highbush Cranberry from Lisa and Guy's wedding is blooming, and very tall! I would say almost 7 feet.



And this is why I wish the Internet had smell-o-vision - the garden smells so good right now! And, that scent means it's almost Christa's birthday! :-)