Pretty Pink

Pale Sweet William in the back centre garden.  This was just moved here on the weekend and didn't miss a beat.

Japanese Iris Again

It's starting to lighten up and look more like the tag.  It's really quite large and beautiful.  I can't wait to have a whole patch blooming next year.

White Bellflowers

Snapped this pic between the raindrops - something else from Mom's garden.

Lots of rain today and the gardens needed it.  The ring garden flooded and emptied several times.

Mock Orange is Blooming

Our mock orange is starting to bloom out front.  Seems to have recovered from the move last fall just fine.  Here is another picture.

Japanese Iris

A new purchase this year and this will be the only bloom.  Doesn't look like the tag picture so I'm not sure if the name is right.

A new Dutch iris is starting to open that's really dark.

New Plants

Bulbs on sale!
3 lilium LA hybrid 'Trebbiano' (pale green) - front garden near Apeldorn lilies
8 gladiolus 'Home Coming' (mostly white with pink throat) - back centre behind rock and front of Snow Fairy

Pineapple Lilies

These are not really lilies but that is the common name.  We are pushing the envelope a bit with these.  We orginally purchased 3 and only 2 came up.  The following year only one came up and bloomed.  Last year that same one didn't bloom because it was overshadowed by a huge patch of monkshood that has since been moved.  This is one of those plants that seems to move around in the garden and doesn't show itself till late June.  This year we are happy to find 5 plants coming up!

More Hens & Chicks

These are pinker than the other patch I posted and surrounded by wooly thyme.

The back garden is looking great, even without all the blooms, and I think we actually might have more grass than weeds in the back yard.

Marmalade Coral Bells and Other Blooms

This reminds me more of caramel than marmalade but it does get more orangish as the season goes on.

My rose is blooming today, along with the Blue Moon catmint.  Mom's tall purple and white bells are starting to bloom in back and the Moonsilk iris patch looks awesome.

Pink Clematis

Unknown - I have 2 plants that I think are the same.  Here is the other one.  The number of petals seems to vary.

Tiny Bellflowers

These are a tiny version of the tall purple and white ones that are also just starting to bloom.  This is hidden away in the back fence garden.

Remember to move some up front to the rock garden in the fall!

Blue and White

Blue and white of catmint and snow-in-summer caught my eye today in the east side path.

Front Garden

I'm waiting for it to burst into bloom!

The hostas in the east side path are filling in perfectly - saves a lot of weeding and grass is hard to grow there.

Purple Salvia

This is the first year that my purple (perennial) salvia has not gotten all floppy and leggy - and I really like it.  Might be time to pull the pink one back out of the reject patch.

The snowmound spirea is blooming.  I obviously didn't do a very good job shaping it last year!

Dutch Iris

First to bloom of 50 mixed bulbs planted this spring.  Looks like I'm only going to see perhaps 10 bloom this year.  If I get many of these blue ones, I think they're going to move over by Danielle's orange lilies.  About 2 feet tall.

Sweet Kate looks wonderful and Mom's pinks have all opened.

Blooming Veronica

This is a small one in the front rock garden planted last year.  The 'Aztec Gold' is also in full bloom.

Siberian Iris 'Moonsilk'

It is far from pure white but still beautiful!  There will be LOTS of blooms this year.

Mom's Beauty Bush

I gave this to Mom for Mother's Day many years ago and got it back when she moved into her apartment.  These flowers are tiny.  It's planted out front by the road.  Here's another shot.

Another Clematis Blooming

Another unlabeled dollar deal last summer from Sobeys - opened today.  'The President' looks beautiful up front under the trees with a few more blooms.  Danielle's lilies have all started opening and they're much taller than last year.  The dark pink Sweet William in the ring garden has lots of blooms.  One patch of red catchfly has its first bloom.

Mrs. Galley's Columbine

Another first time this year.  Brought this columbine back from the Galley's cottage 4 years ago and the caterpillers always got to it before it bloomed.  Last year I moved it to the fence garden and they're leaving it alone.

Pineapple Lily is up!

Always waiting for these to come up and today was the day!
Snowmound spirea blooming beautifully!

Unknown Clematis

This one I got for a dollar end of season last year and it's another unknown.  It's back by the oil tank on the garage and doesn't get much sun.  Only 2 blooms but they're huge.

Danielle's Lilies

Aside from everyone who bought potted lilies, these are the first to bloom in the neighbourhood again this year.  Perfect for the orange/purple theme that's going on right now.  Windy today.

Planting Annuals

Posting late for June 14th...
Planted petunias, salvia, snap dragons, geranuim.
First sign of Danielle's delphiniums.
Danielle's orange lily first to bloom again this year.

The President

Very exciting!  It's 4 years since I bought this clematis and my first time seeing it bloom.  I moved it here to the front ring garden last summer after it spent a couple of years against the back fence.

Kenilworth Ivy

It started on top of the rocks but seems to like it better growing through them.  It is very small and likes the shade.  I've been pulling ferns out of here since Kelly first built the wall and this year I'm giving up.

Bright Morning

First of the large poppies opened this morning.  The patch kind of got flattened by the last rain storm we had.  I've been seeing them blooming in other gardens for a week now.  Carrie up the road has beautiful HUGE white and pale pink ones

Iris Patch

Danielle, just to familiarize you with these iris - since you didn't know you had them :)  In the fall, I'll move the ones that are butting up against the barberry and start another patch.
Sunny and warm today!

Mom's Geranium

I had never noticed that these have fine red lines through them till I took this close-up.  Cranesbill geranium... came from Mom's garden and grows like crazy so I have several patches around now.  I also have it in white - planted last summer.

White Alpine Aster

The cool thing about these asters is that they bloom so early.  June is waiting month... the first flush is gone and the big stuff hasn't started yet.  It does mean that I really appreciate the stuff that blooms now.

Nelly Moser

First clematis blooming this year - Nelly Moser.  This was new last year and only had one bloom.  We are in for a treat this year.  This bloom opened yesterday and 4 or 5 more opened today in the sun.  It opened with lavender edges and lightened up after a day.  Bloom about 5" across.

Seeds are Sprouting

I have seeds coming up which is exciting because I haven't planted seeds outdoors before.  California poppies and red flax are sprouting, and even a 3 year-old package of calendula seeds has turned out to have some life in them.  Still waiting for Danielle's delphinium.

Last of Danielle's Iris

You don't see much yellow in my backyard but this one looks good back there!

Camassia

Just starting to open.  It's taking a long time for 3 small bulbs to turn into a patch!  These were planted fall of 2008.

Another of Danielle's Iris

New things blooming every day!  I love this one!

Alpine Aster

Started blooming yesterday in the front rock garden.

Sun Rose

Just started blooming in my rock garden.  These are small flowers - about an inch - but there are lots.

Korean Lilac

It has finally found a place it seems to like... right out by the curb.

Gold & Blue

I've had this for 5 years and it stays as a nice little patch and doesn't seed all over the place like it's country cousin.  The foliage is similar in colour to the Sweet Kate spiderwort and golden barberry, also in the back garden.

Digby Daylilies

Early yellow daylilies - these are tall and bring the first real splash of colour out by the road.  (They came from one of Kelly's relatives in Digby.)

Mom's Iris

The first of Mom's to bloom this year, by the old well.

Danielle's Iris

It's iris day!  This one didn't bloom last year.  Came from Regina the summer before - pleasantly surprised to find it's a tall bearded iris.  Rainy again.
(Orig picture replaced by this taken with my new camera.)

Alison's Iris

No idea what the name is but  it came from Alison's garden before she moved.  No yellow bloomed at all last year so I'm surprised to see 5 or 6 stalks that will bloom this year.  In this spot I also have 3 iris stalks coming that are different than anything I thought I had here - so hopefully I'm in for a pleasant surprise.
(Orig picture replaced by this one taken with new camera.)

Along the Fence

I still marvel at how nice this garden looks at this time of year. Unfortunately the blooms will be mostly gone from here in another month.
It poured down rain all afternoon and evening so I didn't get much done outside today.  Lucky I got my pictures just before it started.
(posted late for June 5, 2010)

Blooming Weigela

We got this unknown weigela when the neighbours across the street asked Kelly to dig up some shrubs a couple of years ago.  Since they were throwing them away, we adopted them.  This is at the very back of the backyard.  There are layers and layers of blooms!

Planted some annuals, including cyperus 'King Tut' behind the big rock in back.  Kelly moved the Japanese garden juniper to the back turret (along the fence near the deck).

Purple Sensation

A shot between the lilies.  You can see one orange poppy blooming but there are tons of buds ready to open when the sun shines.

New Azalea & Rhodo

Well it's been raining for a couple of days so we decided to see what was new at the garden centres.  Picked up dwarf asiatic yellow lilies 'Tiny Bee' for the front rock garden to replace the bluebeard.  I've been wanting a particular orange azalea for a few years now and was holding out - but an azalea exbury 'Fireball' had me drooling and I caved.
My other purchase was a miniature rhododendron impeditum - which I have been looking for since I got jealous of my neighbour's.  It's low and spreading - at 10 years it'll be about a foot tall, which is about 6 inches taller than it is now - perfect for my rock garden.  I'm moving my Japanese garden juniper to the back fence garden to make room for this among my heathers and heaths.  It's done blooming already but here is a picture in bloom.  Taken me this long to get my first rhodo and it'll probably be my last until we buy a bigger place.  (Well... there is another dwarf variety I've been looking out for :)

Pink Ladyslipper

This is not quite in our garden, but Kelly is working on extending the garden so, by next year, it might be.  Behind and to the right from the large foreground flower, is another one.

Surprise in the shade

This popped up beside the house this year and looks suspiciously like a Jack Frost brunnera (but better)... which we had for only one season 3 years ago.  Either that or it's a mix of plain brunnera and our Looking Glass one.  How it ended up here among the hostas is another mystery.