What's Blooming?

Today we are receiving a much-welcomed gentle rain. It also must have rained through the night as the dastardly young raccoons "cooed and sighed" outside our bedroom window, but that's another story.

I planted some of my vegetable garden yesterday after supper after coating myself liberally with bug spray. (I had a black fly bite right under my eye to which I reacted in such a way that it looked like I had taken a blow to my eye! But that's faded and not itchy anymore, so I didn't want a repeat performance.) I managed to put in potatoes, onion sets, green beans, peas, beets, and lettuce. With my wonderful strawberries this year, my garden seems so much smaller. This weekend I will put in tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and a zuchinni plant. It sounds like a lot, but I do not put in much of each.

So, in between rain showers I went out to take pictures of what is currently in bloom at this old house on May the 30th. I feel like things are a little bit early this year. While dodging the mosquitos and taking pictures, I also saw lovely fat bumblebees and a hummingbird. I wasn't able to capture any in photos however. Please resist the urge to reach into the photos and pull out any grass and weeds infiltrating my gardens!

This is the first peony to bloom. I must have planted it at least four years ago. It is very small and has only ever given me one bloom. But it's beautiful when fully opened.

Centaura- in the twilight it almost glows. It also self seeds in lots of places, but it easy to control by digging it up.

This cranesbill (perennial geranium) is a mainstay on the property. I have no clue what its specific name is, but I have put clumps of it in various locations and it always does well.

Purple iris- I have "weeded out" many of my irises over the years due to despising the grass that grows up between the roots, but it is still a beautiful shot of colour early in the summer.

Pale yellow iris. I prefer this to a rather golden colour that I have seen in other places. It teams up nicely with the purple colours that arrive at the same time.

One of my favourites, Siberian Iris. I love its long, slender, elegant look. I had this type of iris in my July wedding bouquet many years ago!

Purple salvia. These are lovely, and if cut back, will rebloom later in the summer. They also self-seed, often becoming a bit of a nuisance, but the bees adore them.

I call this our lilac tree. I don't know if that is actually what it is. It was a gift many, many years ago. It virtually hums with bees when in full bloom and smells like heaven.

I love lupins but am not able to keep them growing for any length of time. These are just coming into bloom.

This is the brand new Red Prince Weigela (yay, an actual name!) that I planted a little while ago. It is obviously happy because it is about to bloom soon. I have a couple more of these on the property and they are a beautiful showy colour.

Hope everyone has a well-rested, or productive weekend (depending on what your plans are) and enjoy a coffee on the porch with me.