These funky plants are just the thing if you want something funky in your garden.   They are in the allium family and are bulbs.   They are very cool at all stages of development.  They  are all twisty when they first come up  and then the buds swell….

then they stretch out

then they start to unfurl

opening a bit more

ta da!

close up of the blossom.. aren’t they cool?

Well the old guy finally came down today…  its always hard to watch a part of the landscape disappear, but the tree was rotted out and was in danger of falling on someone or something.   Unfortunately, he had to come down…….

The glorious bearded iris are still going strong but the Siberian Iris are sharing in the show.   I have lots of different kinds inherited from many people.  The center of the clumps die out eventually so I dig them up, move them around and give some away.

This one was here when we moved in..  I like the bud phase.

Here it is in bloom – morning light and a bit overexposed

These used to be up in the main garden.  We transplanted them along the garage when we built it in 2012.  The iris have been very happy here.

A very full clump

Some more buds

Same grouping in bloom.. these came from friend Peg

These shorter ones came from friend Kate M.

I think I got this from a garden club sale.. love the bright yellow

The lupine are here at last.  When we moved in there was a lawn area on the east side of the house. It wasn’t great grass anyway and burned out in the summer.  It seemed like a waste to mow it so we stopped.  There were lots of lupine in the garden so we took the seed pods and scattered them over the area.  The next year they came up and year after year the meadow changed.  More lupine grew and so did lots of other things.. some good and some bad.  We have it mowed once a year in November and knock the whole thing down.  We do mow a winding path through it (a la Sissinghurst in England).  This allows me to get up close with the plants and less of a chance I may encounter my least favorite creepy crawlies.  I wouldn’t say this is the best lupine year we’ve had, but its pretty nice.  If you live nearby.. come over and stroll the meadow..

The murk continues this morning.  Foggy, cool, gray, heavy rain.  Looks like a nice weekend coming up but until then.. here’s some rhododendrons and azaleas to cut though the gloom.

This tangerine number came with the house

Looks great against the weathered gray fence

This orange one also came with the house

Together they are quite a sight

A spot of pink in the hillside – sundappled so the color is a little off

The ones on the left were waist high when we moved in 13 years ago

Now they provide a very colorful screen for the porch

I’ll close this wowza post with a poppy.. a few remain from the ones that were here when we moved in.  It came up through the blueberry bushes

The big boys and girls are showing off their stuff.   Many of these came from friends or our local garden club sale.  Some were here when we moved and some came from neighbors.  They are all gorgeous.  The bud form is as nice as some of  the blossoms.

This one came from neighbor Jeff

Unknown pale yellow

I love the frilled edge on this beauty

Old fashioned iris – came with the house

Another old fashioned one

This one smells like grapes –  from Whitney’s Farm

This velvet beauty came with the house

Beautiful white from friend Sue B.

‘Happenstance’

Pallida variegata – I think this came from friend Chris L. (unfortunate tag from some other plant photobombing the shot)

More of the Whitney’s Farm iris

This one came with the house – I love the color contrast

This one was here when we moved in .. I think it is ‘Mme. Cheroux’

Its a misty moisty morning.    I ventured out in the garden to take a peek at some things that opened up this morning  and discovered that the skeeters have hatched big time.  They chased me back indoors.  I have some photos of dew on the plants from a few other mornings and this seemed like a good morning to share them.

Lady’s mantle

Stachys byzantina

Tree peony petal

Tree peonies

Blue grass

Iris bud

One of my favorite sections of the garden is the Alpine Garden.  The area is a steep slope to the left of the stone steps leading from the upper yard to the lower yard.   When we moved in, the area was overrun with strawberries and various  groundcovers.  A waterfall of hens and chicks spilled over the edge.  I tried various things trying to hold the slope but not much worked.  Five years ago, we went hiking in the Italian and French Alps on a trek called Giro del MonViso with some Swiss friends…fantastic trip.. here’s some video of the area I found on the net  (http://www.cuneo360.it/itinerari/102 ).  The wildflowers were amazing too.   Two weeks after we returned, we learned that our hiking companion and friend Ruedi (whom I had know since high school) fell off a trail while climbing and died.  I made the Alpine Garden as a tribute to him.  I have put some plants in this garden that we saw while hiking together.  Others are suited to rock gardens.  Some have done better than others but the garden is thriving.   I will look through my file and get the proper names for these petite gems , but in the meantime here are some photos.

This is the Alpine area to the left of the steps.

Some new babies

Aquilegia alpina

Mazus reptans

Dianthus

Antennaria ‘Nyewood Pink’ (Pussytoes)

Androsace primuloides ‘Chumbyi’

Dianthus ‘Sternkissen’

Orostachys iwarenge in a field of Sedum nevi

A close look at the rock structure and hens and chicks and sedums

Campanula

Some baby sempervivum

More plants coming later…

These beauties have been blooming for a few weeks..  some of  the colors differ every year since they reseed and mutate.  Some of the names are long gone but the flowers are still beautiful.  The leaves often get a leaf miner which is unsightly but usually other foliage covers that up and the blossoms float above it all and strut their stuff.

Here is an alpine only 3 inches tall that bloomed in the alpine garden back in April

Wild columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

Burgundy and white bi-color

Common purple

I think this one is called Green Apples

Burgundy colored double

A pale pink one

Ah beautiful word, June.  It conjures up all sorts of wonderful things.  Today lived up to James Russell Lowell’s poem:

“AND what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;”

The garden is full of color, unfolding buds, and promise of things to come.  There are also invasions of bittersweet in the lupine meadow, red lily leaf beetles, and some ugly little green caterpillars eating the rhody leaves. Ack.  I’m trying to focus on the good stuff.

Clematis climbing up a blue spruce back where the shed used to be

Not much blooming – but lots of color.. love that foliage

Geranium macrorrhizum – I’ve had this plant forever.. moved it from a few houses.  It smells wonderful when you brush against it and the leaves turn a gorgeous burgundy in the fall.

Forget-me not .. almost spent

A funky viola complimenting the hosta ‘Marmalade’

Allium

I can’t remember what this is..

Centaurea montana.. also called perennial cornflower

Rhododendron buds

Tree peony from friend Olga

Zizia aptera.  I got this cool native plant a couple of years ago on a visit to Nasami Farm – the native plant nursery of the New England Wildflower Society.  It is also called Heart-leaved Golden Alexander.

Variegated Comfrey from friend Marilyn

Variegated Solomon’s seal from friend Sue B.