All the spring rains have really produced an incredible show this year.  The iris are spectacular.  Some cultivars are very old, most are unnamed, many were given to me by friends.  A few that I moved last fall were stubborn and did not bloom this year, but I had other surprises with some blooming that have not done so in years.  So without further ado… behold the iris

Well that was quite nice wasn’t it?  The Japanese Iris (Ensata) will be along in a few weeks.. lots of buds though.

Greetings gardeners. The lovely tree peony in the last post is still blooming thanks to the cool weather and a parasol.  My garden club friend Olga gave me the peony years ago and last week she gave me a parasol to shade it.  The effect is stunning.  Thank you, Olga. I am posting this photo for you, Jessica. I don’t know Jessica but we “met” through garden blogging.  She lives in Devon, England and is the writer of the Rusty Duck Blog.  She and her husband are renovating an amazing cottage, and I thought this image might just bring her a moment of tranquility.

So this one is for you, Jessica.  I hope it gives you an ahhhhhh moment during the turmoil of  plaster and cob and mud and all the rest.  And I hope many of my readers will read her blog https://www.rustyduck.net/  and follow along as the renovations proceed.  Her garden is pretty special too.

Oh yes, and the iris have begun blooming.

Its the last day of May, and I have been so busy gardening I haven’t had time for posting.  The wet cool spring has produced lovely blooms and they have lingered a bit longer than usual.  June is about to bust out, and it looks like from the all the buds on the iris that its going to be a good year for them.

Epimedium “Yokihi”

Epimedium “Domino” and some primroses

Tufa trough

Dianthus in the rock garden

Refurbished front beds

Close-up of the clematis in the front bed

Baptisia and rhododendron

The hosta slope, primroses, and “snow in summer”

Old fashioned bearded iris

Peony “Early Scout” and Geum “Prairie Smoke”

And lastly – a spectacular tree peony gifted to me by garden club friend Olga

Happy Mother’s Day.  I lost my Mom almost six years ago.  She was a great gardener, and I still have some of her plants in my garden.  That’s the thing about gardens, they can keep those that have passed always with you.

April and May have been exceptionally wet here in Massachusetts.  We have Ireland level green though, and all those showers certainly brought May flowers.

One of our few sunny days… the back yard looking to the left…

…and to the right

Tulips, dwarf bearded iris, daffs and narcissus blooming

A new Hellebore “Penny’s Pink”

Epimediums and mini hosta in the hill

Redbud peeking out from behind a spruce

Iris pallida

Dwarf bearded iris

Hosta “Marmalade”

Epimedium “Dark Beauty”

Epimedium “Purple Prince”

The epimediums are stunning this year. I may have to do a separate post if the sun comes out!!!

April showers are here.  We returned home from sunny Florida to rather gray and cool weather here.  Typical spring and we even had a bit of snow.  An assessment of the garden revealed the usual rabbit and deer munching over the winter. Grrrr…..This past weekend was warm, and a few blossoms are peeking out.  There were even a few crocuses that the rabbits missed.  Bluebirds are house shopping and we had a visit from an owl.  I hope the owl stays here and enjoys some rodent dinners!

This view shows the newly cleared area that used to be solid forsythia hedge.  I know there won’t be many yellow blossoms this year, but the wildflowers will love the new area.

Fishing line to keep the deer away, chicken wire cages to keep rabbits away from the tulips

Epimedium starting to poke through

My sister gave me a whole lot of trillium corms for my birthday.  I planted them last fall and some are coming up!

Hyacinths pushing up the ground

An early saxifraga in one of the troughs

A pink corydalis from friend Kim

Someone is watching…..

This is the area where we “hoicked” out the lilac last fall.  Lots of space to move things into after the winter deer fence gets put away.

And lastly, first dinner on the porch.  It must be spring now.

Its spring.  Our time in sunny Florida will be over soon, and we will be heading back home in a few days.  I can’t wait to begin a new gardening year.  Until then, here are a few pix from our rental house gardens.

Amaryllis

Bougainvillea

And a sunrise…

We have escaped from the snow and ice for a bit and are spending some time in the St. Pete Beach area in Florida.  So instead of snowy garden photos to post, I have colorful flowers.  The place we are renting has a butterfly garden.  I know some of the plants – hibiscus, pentas, phlox, lantana, gaillardia but some others are unknown to me.  So I will just post a bunch of pretty but unlabeled photos.  We have seen some butterflies in the garden, and I may try to photograph those for another post.

Enjoy