In bloom this week: May 23, 2017

The weather seems to have gone from early spring to mid-summer in just a few days. Three days in a row over 80 degrees, a little cool down expected tomorrow and then back over 80. I still have seedlings to plant, did some tonight, hoping to get the rest in tomorrow. My garden loves the weather, something new is blooming every time I go outside.

In the rose garden:

Rose and chives

Rose and catmint

Dutch iris

Aquilegia

Chives

Bearded iris

Creeping bellflower

Bearded iris

Allium

Allium and catmint

Clematis by the mailbox

Flower garden next to the house - this area will eventually be shaded out by the maple tree that I planted this spring, but the flowers are still happy for now:

Lupine

Delphinium

Bearded iris

Bearded iris

Bearded iris

Aquilegia

Nearby, new clematis and rose to climb up the shed:

Sunny hillside and meadow:

Douglas meadowfoam and white meadowfoam

Camassia

California poppy

Lupine

Aquilegia

Thrift

Sedum

Coming soon - my first peonies and a new rhodie!

In bloom this week: May 9, 2016

Oriental poppy, lupine and irises

Flowers are taking over my vegetable garden, and they are the stars of the yard this week. A giant blue bearded iris that had languished in a shadier, weedier section of the yard for years is very happy here. Lupine and oriental poppies are also flourishing. Delphiniums that I just planted last fall are still small, but in bloom.

Lupine

Delphinium, still a baby plant

Oriental poppy about to pop

Bearded iris

The roses are in their full glory, this time of year makes up for all of the weeding, watering and disease control! Roses are not low maintenance plants, but they are gorgeous.

I've planted a lot of lavender in the rose garden this year; it's all very small still, but here is one lace leaf lavender.

Lace leaf lavender

The one Dutch iris from last week has turned into a nice little cluster. This is also in the rose garden.

Dutch iris

Salvia, or at least this plant, was sold as an annual but this is the fourth or fifth year that it's come back to life.

Salvia

Next week: maybe a hollyhock? Nah, it's probably a month away still. They didn't bloom until very late in the summer last year, but I grew them from seed and was surprised to get any blooms the first year. 

Hollyhock

In bloom this week: May 2, 2016

There is no such thing as too many rose blooms

Before I fill this page with roses, a few other flowers that are blooming this week.

One blue poppy, this is meconopsis 'Lingholm'. I bought two plants from the Rhododendron Garden in Federal Way in March, this one is blooming now and has another bud visible. I can't tell yet if the other will bloom this year.

Blue poppy

Common camas, just planted earlier in the spring. The great camas finished blooming last week, this looks very similar but smaller. I hope to have more of both next year. 

Common camas

Aquilegia, on my sunny hillside - see the cottonwood fluff? No wonder so many people have allergies right now.

Wild strawberries, mixed in with the aquilegia. I planted these all over the hillside years ago, now getting rid of the grass that grew in and finding these still surviving. They get very tiny berries, hard to even pick. 

Wild strawberry

One Dutch iris, in the rose garden.

Dutch iris

Now, a few more roses!

The iris is not quite blooming yet, but getting closer. I tinkered with the succulents in the pot behind it, and also see the lupine getting ready to bloom on the right.