Missed Half the Garden Season in Blog....

So the entire month of June was raining and about 50, July started out promising, but still has not been able to shake the rain, seems we get 2-3 days of sun then 2-3 days of rain...which makes for taking pictures a bit soggy......so I have missed a lot of bloom shots, but the flowers are still growing and are not parched, and I haven't had to water hardly at all, so have to look at the glass as half full :)

The hydrangeas are gorgeous this year...still have 2 that have not bloomed in years, and am really thinking that they are not meant for this area (zone 6) so, this year I will burlap them , one last try, and if they don't bloom in the spring, they will be dug up , potted, and garaged over the winter (one last try!) to see if I get blooms in 2011.....I am one determined gardener!!

So anyway, here are a few photos of the hydrangeas currently blooming in July.

Here is a light blue hydrangea....



My newest hydrangea, really just starting to bloom, should be a deep pink, this is a dwarf, does not get more than 2 feet tall, and blooms all summer, good for a small hedge I would think.



My "Sweet Chris" hydrangea (otherwise known as "big smiles". How could I not have this in my garden?.



My "First Red" hydrangea. Only had 1 bloom last year so was excited to find 6 this year.....love how this one ages to a cranberry color.



And lastly, my favorite colored hydrangea, My "Nikko Blue" hydrangea...second photo complete with nesting grasshopper and frog, how cute!.

A few more iris's opened this week.....

These came from my friends across the street, Jen and Tim, well, it came from Jen, but really came from her mothers gardens. (She recently passed away and Jen has been transplanting flowers before they sell the house.) She actually gave me the rhizomes 2 years ago, just after they moved in, and the first year I got the most gorgeous huge bloom, and she got none. I felt so guilty I immediately lifted that iris out of my yard and returned to her. This year I have about 5 or 6 blooms, and so does she, so we are all set :)




This one I bought a few years ago. It's one of my favoites because the petals are iridescent..so pretty when the sun shines on them...




Pretty Blue Iris....



Also very excited to show you that the single Peonies are opening, the double ones will be a few more days...but aren't these awesome?



One of the Peony plants in full bloom...background...catmint, purple and white iris's, and some ice pinks blooming on the rock wall.

Memorial Day morning stroll

Best thing I like about being a "Morning Person" is that peaceful walk in the garden early in the am with coffee in hand...this morning I had to stay away from the woods edge as I could hear the fox pups on the other side of my rock wall....we have a family, mom and 6 pups (which now seems to be down to Mom and 3 pups) living under a neighbors shed.........there have also been Fischer sightings (and hearings- that awful screeching) nightly, which may be why the pups seem to be dwindling.....I am surprised my outdoor cat has made it all these years.........

Today a couple more iris opened...
This one I "snuck" from my Mom and Dads yard, I have not seen them blooming in the location they have them , so decided to take 1 rhizome and try in my yard, not bad for the first year..I didn't expect a bloom for a couple years...This iris, I think, comes from my Mom's Grandmother's yard...Will need to get the story (and fess up to the snatching, when I ask for a few more )



This Iris has no history, just another pretty one I bought for the yard...



I also brought out my hummingbird feeder yesterday, and within the hour, the little ones came calling....this little guy came this morning while I was having coffee on the deck......

The Iris's are Blooming!!

One of my 2 favorite blooming times in the yard (the other is the Peonies!)

The smaller iris's have gone by and now it's time for the Bearded Iris's to shine....

I have several varieties and know I will be wanting more!

This is the first iris I ever had in my yard, after seeing some gigantic double blooms on the work desk of a friend ...he said he would "share with me " when he split them...he shared several colors but when I transplanted a bunch to my new house...I must have only brought along the more predominant one in the grouping....affectionately known as the "old Lady Iris's" because they are very traditional, and found in older gardens...These actually came from his grandmother Edith's yard...so there is some real longevity here! Thank you for sharing Dana, and opening my eyes to the world of Iris's



No Story for this one, just a pretty bluish/purple bearded Iris.



This was my last Iris purchase.....I get a lot more of them from friends, which makes them that much more special...but I digress... this grouping, I planted 2 years ago, too late to enjoy any blooms last year. This year I was happy so see blooms forming, and recalled planting blue Iris's in that spot (I seem to have a love of the blue and purple colored plants)

When the first bloomed opened, I was surprised (and pleased) to find they were a pretty purple and white Iris, unlike any others I already had. Then a couple of them started to bloom in a totally different color, which was NOT supposed to happen, as this was not an assorted bag of iris's....but I am happy now because, again, they were not similar to any iris's I already had, in fact, other than the new dogwoods, I don't think I have anything "peachy" in the garden.

Catching Up with the May Blooms

Still A lot of blooms I am not posting, it's just too overwhelming to have so many photos in one blog, next year (if I am still doing this) I will post as they bloom, so there is a timeline of color !)

Here a few more flowers blooming in my yard in May.....
A Varigated Wegiela getting ready to bloom.. (I have several varieties....only 2 are varigated.)



This is a tiny (notice it next to the wild strawberries in photo) Iris that I got from Chris's brother Bob over a decade ago, doesn't spread like crazy so its a nice iris to have...not a lot of moving around required.



Last year we planted 2 new dogwoods...I bought one just before Mother's Day , much to Chris's dislike (as that was his Mother's day Gift idea)



And one (much bigger tree) Dogwood he bought me for my birthday ....guess he had his heart set on buyng me a Dogwood (either that or he had no other ideas :) )



The picture of the whole "shrub" did not come out well, so all you are getting is a branch...I bought this 2 years ago as about a 2 foot shrub, and planted it in a bed of compost ( I call it Garden Gold) 2 years later this "shrub" is 8 ft tall! Think I will need to trim it this year. It's Gigantic!!



One of the may varieties of Columbine I have in the garden....



This is a Snowdrift Crabapple that we planted the year we moved in...We had a gorgeous pink crabapple at our old house and I wanted a couple for this yard...Bought 2 when the pink buds were puffing out, and low and behold when they opened they were "white" blooms, hence the name "SnowDrift" DUH!



And lastly.....My bleeding heart...I think the most graceful Perennial in the yard, but unfortunately at the woods edge because they like shade......

April Showers and Flowers

Going back a month, as promised, to post some pictures of the few things that are flowering in my yard in April, being in zone 6, that isn't much.........but they brings thoughts of the warm weather to come and many hours of toiling in the garden........can not wait for the warm weather! (which today , May 21st is supposed to hit 90!)


One of the first flowers to bloom are the Grape Hyacinths..they are so cute in their little mounds, and they multiply nicely (which is usually a good thing!)



My Weeping Cherry tree is finally starting to establish...we had to dig it up, and replant it the year me moved in (5 years ago) so I think it's finally starting to like its new home....





This is a Dwarf Fringed Bleeding Heart (with a PJM Rhododendron blooming in the background), I got this from a friend at work (Thanks Brian) who likes gardening as much as I do....I have had it about 5 years and last year I split and shared with my friends Tim and Jen. I like this version because it blooms all summer, unlike the traditional Bleeding Heart.....




This is a "First Years Bloom" in my yard, got it last year on clearance (can't pass up a sale, even if it's flowers!)
This is a Leonard Messel Star Magnolia...will get about 20 feet, it starts out with purple rosebud like heads and then opens up to this pinkish purple color....can't wait till it gets bigger!



This is also a "First Years Bloom" in my yard, got this last year from my friends Tim and Jen, who love to garden as well, and are in the process of reforming their yard (they bought their home 2 years ago, so they have been doing lots of gardening!)

This is a Prunus Persica- NCSU Dwarf Flowering Peach- that they got on a vacation to NC, Tim's brother works at the JC Raulston Aboretum http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php...
and gives them lots of specimens, which they were nice enough to share.... (side note, they got one too, and mine was the only one that flowered this year, so I feel a little guilty)




And lastly....this, is the new aggrevation in my life....Mr Groundhog, living under my neighbors shed....ate all the bark off my lilacs before I even spotted him.....hopefully he doesn't kill ALL my gardens this year....(note to self- purchase a have a heart!)

Creating a Garden Blog

Ahhh, I may have been bitten by the blog bug....... there are two hobbies that I really enjoy...Gardening, and Photography...what better way to show some of the pretty plants growing in my garden than to photograph them , and display them in a blog at their peak!!!

I will need to "catch up" with April's plants, as I only decided to create this blog this morning, as I was taking photos in my garden...hope you enjoy...