Garden Lovelies

I really do love spring the best. Watching tiny spikes poke up from the ground and turn into beautiful blossoms in the matter of just a few weeks never ceases to engage me, and to make me happy.

With that said, I just want to share some of the beauty of my early June garden.

The beard of an iris looks so much like a caterpillar. Usually flowers mimic bugs to attract those bugs, but the iris isn’t pollinated by a caterpillar. Perhaps the butterflies want to care for the little fuzzy? Maybe bees want to eat it? Whatever the reason, they’re beautiful and fascinating.

I’ve planted several tree peonies over the years. Only one survives, but it’s amazing. Here’s a bud photographed on Tuesday afternoon.

The very next day, a mere 24 hours later, that bud opened into this stunning flower.

Last year I showed you my little shrub I call “the queen.” It’s a native pink azalea that has, unfortunately, been unsuccessfully transplanted from its homes by lots of people in the last few decades, dramatically reducing its number. I only moved mine because it was going to be bulldozed where it was.

So here she is in my garden in 2010 – alive, and flowering, although not strongly.

This year, she put on quite a show. Here’s a closeup of a bud cluster…

…and a more distant shot so you can compare it to last year.

Several years ago, I planted a very colorful spurge called Fireglow. It’s sort of taking over that garden area, but is so beautiful I’ve let it.

Then I have a few new volunteers this year. One, a quince, will be allowed to stay. The other, an as-yet-unnamed flower/weed/beauty/invasive, is here for now, but may be gone as soon as it flowers and I can identify it. It’s really become quite prolific in one of my gardens, no doubt because of all of our wet weather. Without being able to see its flowerheads, I’m vacillating between cowbane, fool’s parsely, and a valerian. I hope I’m not too sorry I’ve let it stay as long as I did.

While my garden takes lots of my time, and my back and knees, I love doing it. Except when I’m moving many wheelbarrows full of mulch. 🙂

Your turn: what’s blooming near you?