Catching up

June is just a blur, which is too bad because so much happened in the garden. Here's an attempt to catch up just a bit.

Lots of rain and mostly cool temperatures made for a beautiful spring. Favorites include allium triquetrum, which lasted and lasted along the walkway;
the seedpods of the baptisia;

the always-reliable clematis that Betsy gave me twenty years ago as a housewarming present;
and the absolutely gorgeous peonies that threw bloom after bloom this year. The clump's gotten quite big, it might be time to move some of the daylilies, as I keep threatening to do.

This year the rhododendron was incredibly floriferous and was really beautiful for the first time ever (this is an inherited plant that fills up some space quite nicely though I might not have sought it out myself). No pix, just imagine it. Then I finally caught up to Adrian Higgins' article in the Post that notes this is the "best spring ever" for azaleas and rhododendrons, thanks to last year's drought. Apparently, too much moisture promotes leaf growth over flowers - who knew?

May in the garden

So much has been happening over the last few weeks. Lots of rain and very cool weather has made flowers last. The Delaware Valley azalea bloomed early for some reason - it's usually a welcome surprise in June but it's been in bloom for about a week already. The clematis that Betsy gave me when I moved in is blooming by the mailbox. Several kinds of iris - I think they're Japanese iris but maybe they're Siberian? - are in bloom or even just gone by. A pale creamy white one, and a striking yellow are just going by.

Best of all is the Sarah Bernhardt peony. This is probably its fourth year, and it's just going to town. Big flowers with hundreds of petals, pale pink streaked with darker pink, a pungent scent, and when the flowers start to fade, you can cup them in your hands and feel the silky soft petals fall into your palm.

And then there's the foxglove, and the tiarella is still in bloom, and the sunny garden is a sea of blue with catmint, amsonia, sage, the ends of columbine... Never go away in May again, it's too wonderful to leave!