A Welcome Reprieve

After a wicked hot summer this Labor Day Weekend was a breath of fresh air~ literally. Blue skies, wispy clouds...

...a relaxing breeze...




What have we here?



A perfect perch!



'Cripple Creek' still going...



Some fresh new blooms on the Dianthus.



and a return to more summer like weather today.



A wonderful three day weekend♥

The Fragrant Spring Garden

Fragrance has never been a priority for me in choosing plants for the garden. The appeal for most plants that I choose is purely visual. I guess that shouldn't be surprising given my history of obsessions with the visual world.

Nevertheless I couldn't help but notice the fragrances wafting in the garden yesterday as I worked~ and all from just two Spring beauties, Dianthus & Phlox.

Bath's Pink is extremely fragrant. I have a few different types and varieties of dianthus growing in the garden since they love my conditions here but none are even close to being that fragrant.





This is the first bloom that I have seen from this self seeded plant. I don't detect much fragrance from this one or it's likely parent.



The fragrance is not as strong from Phlox pilosa var ozarkana but the size of the planting makes it quite noticable. This is a vigorous spreader for me. I have to keep it from overtaking its neighbors despite the assistance I get from the rabbits in reigning it in.





Of course this specimen and its ilk were a big focus of my time spent in the garden yesterday.



I finally got a couple of decent shots of the Geranium maculatum. The plant is only a couple of years old and has to lean out to the sun from a jungle of Buddleia lindleyana suckers and a Ruby Glow barberry. I had to cram it in there for a little shade since it's scarce here.





The iris show has begun~ Japanese Roof Iris



A very prolific passalong with small blooms for its tall stems. I'm not fond of its proportions but it works okay around the mammoth Miscanthus 'Cabaret'.



I'm still waiting for this favorite to open~ Rare Treat( indeed! lol. It hasn't multiplied nearly fast enough for me)



It's a cloudy and windy Sunday here. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of yesterdays tornados in the Gulf states.

Late to the Party

I must admit that I completely forgot Garden Bloggers Bloom Day this month. In all honesty I had barely paid the garden any mind at all last week. I shudder to think what it will look like if I don't get up from this desk and get to work soon! I have pulled some weeds and removed some old stalks from last year but I have way too much garden for "some" to be enough.

What I have done is collected some images to share of what's blooming now despite my neglect:)

Dianthus 'Firewitch'



Coral honeysuckle



California poppy



An unidentified iris from a great lady



Viburnum bracteatum 'Emerald Luster'



American Fringe tree ~ Chionanthus virginicus



Sweet Betsy ~ Calycanthus floridus



Sweetbay Rugosa rose



Indigofera amblyantha



Salvia 'Maraschino'



Have a great week!

Flashback April 2009

April 16th to be precise. Digital cameras are a great substitute for a garden diary. Since I didn't post a Bloom Day entry for April 09 this can serve as my year to year comparison for 2010.

Coral honeysuckle



Salvia 'May Night'



Japanese maple~ I believe that this is just Acer palmatum 'Atropurpureum'



A prolific noid Bearded Iris



Salvia 'Cherry Chief'



Epimedium



Eastern columbine~ Aquilegia canadensis



Mom's passalong Dianthus



Just a little sunshine to brighten this cold, dreary, WET winter!

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In loving memory~ Pudder 10-04-91 - 01-28-10