I am slowly getting used to my phone. I think when Windows put out their phone, they made every action the opposite of the iPhone. It’s going to take a lot of getting used to. Not to mention remember all the passwords for my various apps 😀

The summer flush of blooms is beginning now. The star of Persia allium are starting to fade now, but the blooms kept getting bigger and bigger. They have to be at least 6 inches across!

The only thing about these is that the foliage is yellowing as they are blooming. You can hide that by planting them among perennials that have slow growth so their green will cover the allium foliage, but not block the blooms.  I need to do that.

I did cleome from seed and then I bought some because they are much further along than my seedlings and they are flowering:

That mushroom still makes me smile whenever I look at it. The rustoleum really held up over the winter, too. Bonus!

Pam’s choice foxgloves:

I was trying to be artsy with the composition.

The Fair Bianca rose is ready to burst. There are over 2 dozen buds on this plant!

It smells heavenly.

The calycanthus bush I planted last year is actually flowering this year:

These blooms smell kind of like apples.  It grew a ton in the past year. I did comparison shots on my garden blog.

Also – my peonies bloomed!  I purchased 2-year-old peonies last year and was rewarded with blooms this year.

Out in the back, it’s a little slower, but coming along. I was worried last year because slugs got to my astilbe and munched them to nothing. However, they survived and here they are:

I need to buy some Sluggo this year, now that I know they are rampant in this bed.

Heuchera Spellbound:

It’s blooming here, but it is really hard to get a picture of the bloom and the plant together.  All that stuff on the surrounding ground isn’t mulch, that’s leaves and bud debris from the ash tree that shades this bed. It’s a very messy tree.

Night ruler:

The irises in the back are still blooming, which is nice since not much else is LOL!

The other exciting thing is lupines!  I planted babies last year, but I had no idea if they would do okay here.  2 of them died, but 3 came back.

Maturing buds:

The full flower.

I had mixed colors of lupine, red, yellow and blue. Two of the survivors are the blue ones and the other one is really small and doesn’t look like it will bloom. So, blue seems to be hardier.

Doing a treat for myself on Saturday. Visiting Rosewood Gardens. It’s a nursery with an English garden display. I wanted to go my birthday weekend, but it was too early for the roses. Now they are in bloom and my Rebel will be getting a workout!