Now that we finally have some sun and warmer temperatures here everything is popping out. My corner bed exploded with color last week-end and my Nearly Wild Rose, Columbine, Candytuff, Dianthus and Euonymus make a colorful display. I expect the Peonies to open in the next week or two with the Astilbe, Lilies and Shasta Daisies following right behind to add even more color. In the back of the bed (not visible from this angle) are several varieties of the smaller Hostas since that area is pretty much shaded by the tree after 11:00.

Very pretty and cheerful, Patti!
Also very pink, which I like very much!

Thanks Lynne, I guess I'm kinda partial to pink flowers too because it was my Mom's favorite color for flowers. She always liked the pink and white color combination in her pots and containers.

Realy pretty, Patti. Pink is not my favorite color but I can appreciate it. Thanks for sharing your 'corner' of the world.

I'd love to have a bed like that ! I like it !

Look at all the bud you have on your peonies. I can't wait for the year mine are like that. Do yours produce seeds? Or do you deadhead or use the flowers for cut flower arrangements? I love peonies. I bet you can tell that right? I'm glad your garden is blooming so well.

What a great flower bed. It`s so pretty!! I love peonies. I have a deep pink one, but it only ever gets 1 or 2 flowers?? I thought it was going to get more this year as I could see tiny buds, but they haven`t developed. So I`ll be satisfied with my 2 flowers this year, too. lol I did move the plant so that might have something to do with it. Thanks for the pix. Sue

Oh geesh, I really don't know! Being a teacher, I hate questions I can't answer, but I don't even have a clue on this one! Sorry!

I do deadhead the peonies when they start to get get tattered looking and are no longer attractive. I used to cut them and put them in flower arrangements, but I quit doing that two years ago. The paved area in the right of the picture is the driveway into the church and school parking lot so it gets a lot of car, bicycle, and foot traffic. Well, when I was out in the yard one day a car stopped and the driver asked what happened to the big pink flowers in that bed because she had brought two friends with her so they could see them. After that, I decided more people get to enjoy them if I just leave them there, so that's what I do!

Your flowerbed looks wonderful! I'm still trying to decide what colors to use and pink is at the top of my list.

Joanne

So Pretty, looks like a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery:-)Love the colors!

I love your flowers. Very pretty and poetic with the bird bath.

Joanne, if you're looking for pink flowers I've got a loooong list! What zone are you in?

Is it true that when you first plant peonies it takes 3 years until you get flowers?????

I just bought 3 plants and all had buds. The 2 pink ones the buds died and the white one still has buds, which haven't opened yet.

Hi Patches,

I'm in zone 6 and have a mix of full sun, partial shade and full shade. Hoping to find pinks for all three areas. Thanks!!

Joanne

What a pretty garden area, Patches. Very nice, good job with all the pinks. I'd love to see progression pics throughout the summer.

We were out taking close-up pictures of the flowers that are blooming. Roses, Peony (1), Purple Passion Vine. Clamatis (1) Poppies, a Sweet William that is so dark, it`s almost black, just beautiful! My hubby picked that one. Good taste. My Dead Nettle is blooming and my Coral Bells. Maroon leaf with white flowers. The contrast between the two looks nice. The Dead Nettle gets lavendar flowers. Must keep it cut back as it is a ground cover. My shasta daisies have buds and some of my coneflowers. Isn`t gardening wonderful I look forward each day to strolling around to see what`s new and I`m hardly ever disappointed. Wish I could share the pix with you all. Will have a dig. camera next year!! lol Sue

Here is a picture of my Coreopis that is blooming.

Patches, those are GORGEOUS!!!

Wonderful patches.

It's raining out right now but I agree walking outside to see what is blooming next is just one of the bennies of a garden. One of the sparkler ornamental onions bloomed a nice bright yellow and the one lone carnation bloomed too. It's a very vibrant salmon color. And the dusty millers are blooming. They take a long time to come to full bloom I was suprised. Then there are my Zinnias and delphia(sp). And my mini rose is just going crazy with blooms. And the double up impatiens has lots of blooms as well. And then there is the hosta. I'm loving my garden it is so cool.

That is such a nice, bright picture to wake up to, Patti - thanks for sharing it! I don't think I'm familiar with that one - do you know which one it is? The leaves resemble dianthus I think.

I'm trying to figure out the angle you took this picture in - are those windows, or glass on the ground?

Thanks Mel! At least, I was finally able to post a picture of a flower that wasn't pink!

Actually, I think that's one of the best rewards for all the hours and work you put into a garden. My miniature roses are pretty sad looking this year and I'm not sure they are going to make it. I can't imagine what the problem is because they have always been very nice before. I planted some inpatiens about four weeks ago and they are not really responding like they have in the past, but perhaps the strange weather we've had around here has something to do with it.

Geesh Lynne, if you are asking me for the genus, species and variety of Coreopis, I have no idea! The mother of a friend of mine gave it to me and just told me it was a Coreopis.

Actually, the leaves are larger than the leaves on a dianthus and spaced much further apart on the stem.

The basements around here have little windows just below ground level to let the light in, so they have something called window wells. What you seeing here are plastic covers that go over the window well to help deflect water or rain from getting in the well and maybe leaking in the basement.

Gotcha Patti - I was thinking that's what the windows were, but yours are sooooo clean!!!

Patches gorgeous picture of the Coreopsis is probably Coreopsis grandiflora Sunfire or Sunny Day.

WOW, you're good Rosie!!!

Thanks for that!

Thanks Rosie! When I started my first perennial bed my neighbor's mom would bring me flowers from her gardens when she came down to visit. She usually only identified them by their common name so that's all knew.

Well, I guess we're back to pink because here's a picture of my Dianthus! I love these because they have such a heavenly, sweet smell and the scent reminds me of Carnations.

i was given some dianthus this year. they do have an absolutely heavenly scent, don't they!

Great flower bed patches. Nice to see a picture.

Yes, they do and I love it,

Patti you have some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen.

Very pretty indeed!!!

I don't think I've ever smelled my dianthus!
I'm going to have to get down there and give them a whiff!

OHHHHHHH.... patches one prettier then the next.

I'm glad you can post these. We're having so much rain in our area that our plants can hardly grow let alone flower, so seeing yours made my day, thanks again.

Thanks Jimmy, Lynne and Rosepetal!

I know what you mean about the rain. We had so much rain and cloudy, sunless days that I didn't know if I would even have a garden this year.

Don't forget to post a picture of your stargazer. That is one lily I just love. Can't wait to see yours.

Rosepetal, I've got other lilies ready to bloom so I was outside today looking for my Stargazer Lilies in the spot where I thought they were last year. I'm not seeing anything coming up from the ground that looks like it could be them. I don't know if I've lost them from all the rain we had or if it's too early. Of course, maybe I've got the wrong spot.

Anyway, here a picture of one of my Stargazer Lilies from last year and I'm really hoping I will have some to post from this year.

Hey patches,

Thanks a million, what a beauty, Flower Shop ones don't compare. MMMMMMM....I can smell it all the way up here.

Thanks for posting this.

Rosepetal, don't you just love

I try to plant flowers that have some scent to them because it's so enjoyable to go out in the yard take in all the wonderful scents. I guess that's why I love my lavender and honeysuckle so much. They have all these air freshners you can buy but none can compare to the natural aroma you get from flowers.

What beautiful flowers, Patti!

I agree Patti.

Well, it seems a lot of my lilies have been are opening these past couple of days, but there's still no sign of my Stargazer. Here a picture of some of the lilies which just have opened since the other day. I hope they're still there tomorrow because we got some really strong winds and heavy, gutter-gushing rain tonight, so I'm sure all my flowers took a beating.

Gorgeous, Patti! I only have 2 Lilies in bloom right now, in my Lily garden. (Everything is so slow this year, with the cooler weather we've had this summer.)
It looks like we have some of the same kinds...


Do you know what their names are?



(BTW, I always remove the pollen-laden stamins, so the blossoms last longer. I see that you don't do that.)

Patty, I don't think your yellow one is the same as mine because yours is huge and it seems to be on a shorter stem. What a stunning lily!

No, I don't! I also don't have a lily bed. I have lilies planted in all my beds and never think to do it.

Patti, in regard to your Stargazer Lilies, has anyone ever mentioned their tendency to revert to plain ol' hot orange\red after a few years? I thought I was losing my mind the first year this happened to mine and I was not a happy camper. All of my other old Lilies have done the same thing so now I have lots of pretty lilies that all look the same. lol!

NO, I've never heard heard of this! I'll let you know what I find out!

Rosie, this is what I found out today about the Stargazer Lily. She said that they belong to the genus Lilium which are the true lily plants and Liliums don't change color! She also said they should bloom for me in July or August.

Well, this gives me some comfort knowing they will not turn out to be red or orange and also that maybe I haven't lost them.

Thanks for the info, Patti. I wonder if cross pollination from all the bees could be the reason I no longer have white, yellow, etc??? ALL of them are now the same color. Too weird! lol!

Thanks Patti and Patty

Boy, it's really been blistering hot here the last few days but it's good for my flowers! Everything is beginning to bloom and it's so nice to see all the flowers again. Of course, I think a lot of things are running behind schedule because of all the cloudy and cool weather we had this spring.

Here is a picture of part of the perennial bed I have planted along the fence.

Very pretty flowers Patti

Nice picture, Patti...your flowers sure look happy there. Everything here has been ahead of normal growing\blooming times due to the drought conditions during the fall and winter, I guess.

Found this yesterday when watering some containers. Could this be a "Toad Lily" in the pot with some Persian Shield cuttings?

what pretty flowers i used to have a whole bed of daises outside my kitchen door where i used to live ..i sure miss seeing them...thanks for sharing.

Oh Rosie, that is so cute! because I've heard of them but never seen one. I just saw one in my garden on Monday and I don't remember seeing any at all last year. Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

Maybe you should post this in 'Mystery Plants'.

Patti, he must be trying to put down roots because he is back in the pot today. What is so weird about it...that 12" pot is sitting on an 8" chunk of concrete and I can't find his ladder anywhere. Hmmmm...you don't suppose he is a she and may be laying eggs?

Geesh, that is strange. I know they can hop but this one must be an olympic jumper!

Rosie, you had me so excited because I got 2 toad lillies this year and I can't wait to see them. As I was scrolling down I saw the purple flowers and said to myself,"Well, that can't be it." And lo and behold, I saw him/her. LOL I just had to sit here and look at the screen. Couldn't believe my eyes. Actually, I think it is pretty cool. Sue

Thanks Everyone for the pix. I love lillies. And the Stargazer is my fav. I got one this year and am going to plant it in the ground and hope it comes back next year. I wish I had room for a whole bed. Sue

Patches ,

I love your welcoming committee........Flowers.

Well done..

dodge

Here's some of the flowers blooming in one of my perennial beds, but I don't know how low long they are going to last with the temperatures we've been getting here this past week. We're under an excessive heat warning for the next 5 days and I'm afraid it's going to take a toll on a lot of my plants.

Look at these lovelies -





Forgot to post pics of these till Triss and I started talking bout orange flowers. I gotta figure out a way to winter these. Anyone have any info on that. Their tropical but I dont want to lose them. Can I just keep them in the garage, or do I need to let them have rest period?