4 Days In the Garden...

Foxglove

Salvia

"Coral Reef" Oriental Poppy

Siloam Doodlebug Daylily(3rd year)

Threadleaf Coreopsis (2nd year)

"Raspberry Pixie" Daylily (2nd year)

Meadowsweet (1st year)

Garden Phlox

Heuchera (coral bells)

Hollyhocks (2nd year)

"Coral Reef" poppy

"Coral Reef" poppy (front) standard orange poppy (back)

I lied. I thought the next update would be thrilling but between the rain and then steamy hot weather, I finished very little of my outdoor projects over the holiday weekend. Today and tomorrow the wee tot and I will be going outside to get our raised bed up, filled and planted. Maybe the next garden entry will have the fruits of our labor until then, these photos are of the latest blooms and growth over the last four days(and, with the exception of the very first photo,are in chronological order). :o)

In the Garden

My little one picked out Ranunculus for Mother's Day for my mom and myself.
I got the red (my favorite color) and grandma got the orange.

Boy, I can't wait to see what type of lily this is.

The little one's Japanese Maple tree is leafing out.
So cute!

This peony is growing like gangbusters and
at least three buds are set.

The poppy has a couple huge buds.

My 'Firewitch' Dianthus took last year off but will be in full bloom this year!

I've been applying Liquid Fence to my garden (Boy! Does it stink when it's wet but it seems to be doing its job so I think I can handle it.) I bought it directly from the company but it is also sold at Home Depot if you need something to keep the deer and rabbits out of your flower beds. The other nice thing about it is it is all natural(rotten eggs and such) so you can actually use it on food crops just not close to harvest. :o)

In the Garden

The hyacinth are done for the year but the violas are sending up buds again.
These look prettier this year than they did last year.

My poppy is getting a little out of control. Must be very happy near the house!

Unfortunately, the primrose are starting to fade.

The wee tot's Japanese maple tree (year 4)

Dianthus/fire witch
(year 3 but it didn't bloom last year after being transplanted the previous fall. Hopefully it will bloom this year. It does have good growth so I think it is setting buds. Fingers are crossed)

monarda/bee balm (year 1)

Bearded Iris (year 2)

Meadowsweet (year 1)

My jealous Oscar. He doesn't like me leaving him inside and then taunting him by playing in the flower bed :o)

The foxglove planted itself here as did the Labrador violets. Since the deer ate the lilies last year I'm not going to worry about it too much but I will be making sure the foxglove doesn't creep forward any further. And yes, there is a daylily in there also. This poor little bed needs some serious work in the fall!

I'm not sure which one is doing the crowding, the poppy or the phlox.
I have a feeling I will be relocating the phlox soon(since poppies aren't too fond of being moved).

The return of the salvia (year 4, I believe)

SURPRISE! A small rose bush growing in the side yard.

Another surprise, this peony is in our little side yard also. The neighbor had mowed over it and the rose most of last year so I never saw what color they could be. This year, we have no neighbors on that side so I will be putting a support around the peony, after I weed the entire side yard that is. I will let the little rose take shape as well and transplant some of the large daylilies I have in the front garden bed to make more room for the other flowers that are crowded.

Speaking of peonies, remember this one?
The above photo was taken on April 24th

Three days later, on the 27th

The very next day, the 28th

and today!
It blew my mind that this thing was growing so fast.
I swear the one day I could see it growing from one potty break for the dog to the next.
Crazy!