did my walk around...

And look what I found!

"Scentimental" rose (thanks Dynochick!)

delphinium 'magic fountains lavender / white bee'

threadleaf coreopsis 'Zagreb'

we've been told this is some sort of bean...my husband HATES it and we've been trying to get rid of it for a couple of years now - we're just not very diligent when it comes to pulling it up because it's in an awkward place in the boulder garden.

Oh, and look who's here...black and white kitty. He's been hanging around but won't let you get close. I didn't know he was sleeping under one of the Japanese maples when I went to do my tour - I scared the kitty crap out of him!
bear's breech - odd plant, but very prolific. You can take one little piece that you've pulled and stick in in the ground - it will look more than dead for a while and then all of a sudden, you have a new plant.

I answered an ad on craigslist and so I've got a guy coming out today to take some of my perennials because the garden is very OVERGROWN...anyone else?

Update: Dude didn't show...

a lone cosmo...

This was a surprise yesterday. A couple of years back, I purchased a bunch of flowers to decorate our other house when we were putting it up for sale. This was one that I had purchased. After they ran their course, I planted them in my garden.

Last year, this one had leaves, but no flower so I looked them up on the internet. It says that cala lilies don't survive cold weather and need to be dug up every year. So, I thought it was a goner, for sure.

Well, last evening when I was taking pictures, I noticed this in the middle of the Star-gazer lilies!

star-gazer lilies...

when we got home...

These were some of the flowers that were blooming when we got home.

I was very surprised to see that we still had irises...two years ago when we went to France at the end of May, I totally missed the blooming of all the irises and poppies. I think that because we have been having cooler weather, it's helped the lifespan of some flowers.

Oriental Poppies - these are really all one color, but when I took the picture, the sunlight made them look like they are variegated.

Roses

Dynochick calls this Purple Pavement

RhodieSalvia meadow sage ‘east friesland’

Can anyone tell me what the name of this is? It will have some pinky-purpley flowers.  (Update: this is some sort of Sedum).

chateau sun garden...

I am back from France...over a week now.

While visiting a château (Villandry), we came across their sun garden. I couldn't believe the amount of plants that they had in the garden that I also have in my garden.

Of course, they labeled their plants and I noticed that one was named slightly differently than what I thought. The Knautia Macedonia in France was called Knautia Macedonica.

When I got home, I checked it out on-line and it seems that I had it wrong the whole time.

what to look for in june...

In June, these are the flowers in my garden that we need to watch for since this is the month that they begin to bloom:

Lavender mountain lilies
Peonies
Poppies
Roses
Bell flowers (white peach bell)
Lilies (star gazer)
Bear’s breech
Coreopsis
Day Lilies
Delphinium
Hostas