Just for pretty, in no particular order, the ‘pile presents a pile o’ posies.
Rhododendron bud. The father of the man who helped me plant this bush was the designer of the original “bear” plastic squeeze bottle honey container.
Perennial “bachelor button”. Centaurea montana.
Water bejeweled siberian iris. I bought ten different siberian iris by mailorder, some 45 years ago, for ten dollars, and I can’t get rid of them. What a tenacious plant.
Columbine. Every year or two a seed rack lures me into buying another package of columbine seeds. I start them in a flat, and at some point, plop them in here and there. I like columbine. A little red and yellow columbine was one of the first flowers I ever fell in love with, at age two or three.
Post-rain, a pooped poppy plopped on a rock. Talk about ephemeral…one day this flower’s a bud, the next it’s at the peak of perfection, and seemingly the next it’s nothing but a pile of petals.
One of the last of this season’s tulips.
Siberian iris, another one, poses in front of a granite boulder.
Lemon lily. One of the earliest hemerocallis. Smells nice.
Foxglove. Digitalis. It’s getting naturalized on the place, and is starting to pop up in unexpected locations.
A dark purple bearded iris.
The dark purple bearded iris.
Rhododendron bud, bursting open. What beautiful form.
Rhododendron.
Amsonia, which some call “Blue Milkweed”. We’ve been planting milkweed family around here, to encourage monarch butterflies. In a good sign for this years monarchs, a friend has already seen some. And they were laying eggs. May there be many monarchs this year! Want to make more milkweeds? Here’s a link. https://blog.nwf.org/2015/02/twelve-native-milkweeds-for-monarchs/
Tree peony. Slow to grow. Beautiful to behold.
Doronicum, or “leopards’ bane”. This composite is new to me. I found some plants at roadside, and have dug a few of the rhizomes to grow “up”. Nice to have a super-early daisy.
Rosa rugosa. An invasive, but a well-mannered one. Such a smell!
I like the leopard’s bane best. But they are all beautiful.
Lovely! My brother-in-law has been planting milkweed around his property for years to attract the Monarchs. It’s amazing to watch the larvae devour the plants before they spin their cocoons.
Peonies and columbine are both so enviable here where we do not grow them.