Better Late Than Never

My peonies finished their blooms some time ago but I am finally finding a little time to post and thought it was better late than never to show them. All were gifts from the prior owners, a couple that loved to garden.

I love the yellow in the center of the hot pink one (notice I have no clue as to it's real name.) I'm not sure what happened but this one started coming up in the middle of the pink bush. I had a bush of the dual color but this year, there were only a few blooms. I think I dug some up for someone and didn't realize how much of it I dug up. Hopefully it spreads again.


The wild daisys just
grew by the peonies.
I liked them together
so I let them stay.

A Cart Full of Favorites

Elizabeth at Garden Rant is having a contest to give away five Troy-bilt garden carts and I sure could use one. This is what I'd be using now if it didn't have a flat tire again. It was left as junk by the previous owner and John keeps repairing it for me. It won't be long before the plastic will have to be held together with duct tape.

So, the contest. I have five (5) to give away so your chances are good. I had a few ideas for possible comment tasks, including writing a classic sonnet and describing and solving the most important issue facing home gardeners today. But, in the end, I came up with this: list your five favorite plants (presumably that you could put in this cart) and briefly explain why they'd be the ones you'd rescue from your garden if it was threatened by catastrophe. Or just say why you like them. Troy-Bilt will send a cart each to the five best comments, as determined by me (representing Garden Rant).

I wouldn't have had a prayer of winning one if I'd had to write a sonnet but listing my five favorites plants can't be that hard, can it? Wait a minute - just five!?


#5 - Crocuses. They are the first plants I see here in the spring and give me hope that the snow won't last into June. They wouldn't take up much room in the cart - instead I'd use the cart to shovel off my flower beds into the cart and haul the nasty white stuff away. I could have blooms two weeks earlier like everyone in town!

#4 - Monarda / Beebalm / Oswego Tea. I love everything about this plant; the bright red color, the way it spreads without taking over, it's tall, lasts all summer and the mint scent is wonderful. It also blooms right around the 4th of July here and the flower heads look like miniature fireworks.

#3 - Daylilies. My goal is to have enough varieties to bloom all season long. The season is so short here that shouldn't be hard. I love the grace of the flowers and variety of colors. If I could save just one it would be this one that I have no name for. Why this one? Besides the great color combination, it was a gift from my sister.

#2- Peonies. We had very few flowers when I was growing up but we always had peonies. The flowers are huge and just scream "Happy Spring" to me. Even after the flowers are done they stay attractive for the entire summer and they are virtually care free. Mom's peony now resides in my garden and if I could rescue only one, that would be it. I do have several others however and some of them need to be moved so the cart would get a workout.


#1- Hosta. Even before I started gardening I had hostas. They grow in the shade but don't mind a bit of sun, weeds don't grow under them, they come in so many sizes that there is one for most any spot. I love the mounded shape and even though I'm not a big fan of the flowers they attract hummingbirds. They are quite hard to kill, although I have lost one called First Frost. A plant by that name probably had no business being in my garden anyway. I need to rearrange my front bed and the cart (and a small crane) would come in very handy for moving this hosta that is competing for space with the bleeding heart.

Heirloom Blooms

We always had peonies in the back yard while we were growing up. After they were done blooming Mom would mow right over them and every year they'd come back. Two years ago she was no longer interested in keeping the one remaining bush and let me dig it out. I divided it into three and last year got just one bloom. I'm thrilled that all three have bloomed this year.

This one is near the back door where I walk by several times daily.

This one is not as happy looking but still blooming.

The third one only has one bloom so far. The foxglove in front just started blooming yesterday. The foxglove I found growing at the edge of the woods and moved to the garden.

BJ and Angie decided they wanted to rip out everything the previous owner had planted along their front porch and start from scratch. So of course I helped myself. I was quite surprised by this bloom yesterday.

The columbine that Country Girl gave me last year is still full of blooms.

I'm loving this little patch of salvia, tickseed and dianthus right now.

Delphinium started from seed last year.

A huge patch of daisies. Another gift from Country Girl.

Blanket flower started from seed last year. I moved this to the new bed at the back of the house and now every bloom is facing towards the house.

St. John's wort shrub. I just bought this last weekend. It's supposed to get 5' tall and wide, covered with this little flowers.

Also blooming:
Iris
Bleeding heart
Pincushion flower
Fushia
Stella D'oro lilies
Lupine
other day lilies
chives

Tanks to Carol for hosting the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!