Monday, June 1, 2015

Peonies and Other Late May Delights

Delphinium 'Bluebird' is starting to bloom in my Front Border. One of my favorite flowers,
probably because they are unusual for Iowa (due to our hot summers). They are certainly
glorious when they can be persuaded not to die and maybe even to flower as a bonus.
They seem to tolerate this spot in my garden for some reason, so I think
I'll let them stay.... :-)


My gardens are in full swing -- some of the most delightful flowers are blooming now: peonies, iris, clematis, poppies, lupines, field daisies -- and the roses and delphiniums are just getting started too. It's a very exciting time in the garden!

I've been pretty busy planting the last things I have left to plant, mostly annuals and a few perennials. Then I intend to mulch quite a few areas and will undoubtedly spend a lot of time getting pickup truck loads of wood chip mulch from our local landfill and putting it on some garden beds. The weeds are gearing up too, unfortunately, so this will be a crucial time to get on top of them.

And I've vowed that I will not make any new flower beds this year, but I'm thinking about doing a major overhaul of one of my larger borders next year, and I've been thinking about exactly how I might do that... we'll see. We gardeners are never satisfied, are we?

But back to this year -- here are a few things that are blooming in my gardens lately:


'First Arrival' Itoh Peony is indeed the first bloom from the
six new Itoh and tree peonies that I planted in April.
Very exciting! 


This 'Sarah Bernhardt' Peony I moved to the West Island last year is looking good. I love peonies!

Clematis 'Multi Blue' shows up well against my white garage. It blooms fairly well considering that it's on the north side of the building and rarely gets direct sunlight.


Clematis 'Henryi' is blooming nicely in the White Garden.

The Pond gardens are outlined in 'Sweetness' Dianthus that live up to their name -- the scent can be smelled at some distance. The 'Prairie Breeze' Buck roses planted in the corners of the four beds are also starting to bloom. And even the water lilies are blooming in the pond. Puppy approves.

A closeup of one of the water lilies.

Snow-in-Summer (Cerastium tomentosum) is blooming for the first time since I planted it near my garden shed door.


An impulse buy from Menard's the other day, right next to my front gate.
I thought the birds were so cute!


I hope you are enjoying many lovely blooms at this wonderful gardening time too. Thanks so much for reading my blog when I know you must be incredibly busy in your own gardens!  -Beth


12 comments:

  1. Your pond garden with the Dianthus corners looks wonderful including the wide view on the fields.

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    1. Thanks, Janneke -- how nice of you to say so! -Beth

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  2. I love all your pretty pink flowers, the peonies and the dianthus, smelly, too!

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Jane. The smelly flowers are the best ones indeed! -Beth

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  3. Your garden is stunning, Beth. I love the delphiniums and daisies against the picket fence. I have a similar combo, but your garden is way ahead of mine. I am crazy busy, too, but this has to be the best time of the year! P. x

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    1. Hi Pam, I'm so glad you stopped by! The delphiniums and daisies are certainly pretty together, aren't they -- a classic combination, I'd say. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  4. I am doing exactly the same things and the same plants are blooming here. I wish I had a truck to haul mulch but I settle for grass and leaves to use as mulch. I love delphiniums but never can keep them alive thru our summers so I gave up. Lovely photos. Your snow in summer is so pretty, you inspire me to try it again.

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    1. Yes, I'm not sure why these delphiniums have lived as long as they have, but I'm very happy that they have! And I've read that the Snow-in-Summer is short-lived too... I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for visiting! -Beth

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  5. Hi - I've just come to your blog from 'Roses and Lilaccs'

    What a lovely post and your flowers look great. I think this time of year we can get some stunning displays.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Hi Jan, thanks so much for visiting my blog! Yours is a very interesting one; my husband is a mostly "paleo" eater so I've been aware of the benefits of the low-carb way for some time now -- I'm glad you are helping people become aware of it and to maintain this way of eating! -Beth

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  6. Hi Beth, I love your pond garden! It's great to see the water lilies blooming. Very pretty. Your peonies are just gorgeous, especially the ITOH. My peonies are almost done blooming already, sorry to say. Things seem to be progressing a little early in the gardens this year. (I noticed mosquitoes too - boo!)

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    1. Hi Beth, My peonies are on the way out too :-( but the roses and delphiniums make up for it, I think. Peonies always seem like such a short-blooming flower, although I know that if I got early, mid and late blooming ones I could have almost six weeks of them. I guess mine bloom mostly around the same time so it seems like they're here today, gone tomorrow. But flowers in general are pretty fleeting -- that's why we need to plant ever more of them! Thanks for reading, -Beth :-)

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