Your garden has so many things blooming right now, Anya! No wonder you want to enjoy and spend every moment in it, smelling and admiring the multitude of flowers blooming,

SoCal, I did not know that clematis does not grow well in your zone. I am glad that you get a beautiful bloom from it. Clematis grows very well in my zone so I often take it for granted. I should not though and should appreciate it more because it is such a consistent performer and bloomer year after year.

After peonies are done

Foxtail lily

Beautiful garden shots, Alex! What a gorgeous Sambucus! Can you post a closeup pic of foxtail lily foliage? I am curious what it looks like. THanks.

Beautiful, Alex! Such a variety of flowers! Love this kind of view! We are having a rainy and cold weather right now. Good for taking down forest fires close by but no more new peony blooms. I had to support quite a few peonies because of the wet conditions.

Anya, I am trying to inter-plant everything so I have a continuous blooms time from the spring to the fall using only part of my back yard. I noticed inter-planting combinations in one of Toronto public gardens and added some other plants as well. It is constant struggle, though as I have to move plants on regular basis. Some like different spots and some descriptions are rather vague. Looks like one of my elderberries kicked the bucket now after barely staying alive for 2 years in different places. I just hope that I do not have to move trees in a few years time if they are mislabeled or they overgrow allocated space...
Wet weather during blooming time is certainly not fun. Personally I'd rather cut some and put them in the vase and cut the tops of left over flowers if they are almost done than see them kissing the ground and lose petals.

I just moved 3 blueberry bushes to another area of one circle to make room for more herbaceous peonies. My pluot sends a big root down to my vegetable garden bed, no wonder the tree looks so bushy. Surprisingly, it's across a walking path, about 5 feet away.

Wonderful, Alex!! I noticed that elderberry, too. Do you do anything with the berries? I bought one of the foxtail lilies on markdown a few weeks ago. I planted it in a large pot of creek side soil that has a lot of sand in it. I've never had them overwinter in my regular garden soil.... too wet in the winter.

I got three inches of rain on Sunday. My hardy Lotus opened a bloom yesterday.

Thanks Alex! Their foliage has a bluish tint to it.

Wow, that is so beautiful, LG! Wish I can grow lotus up here but it is too cold.

LG, that's a beauty.

LG, your lotus in so beautiful! I always wanted to grow one after seeing them blooming in Beijing in Beihai park and in the lake on one of my friends parent Australian properties. I was worried about my foxtail lily as well, but I added a lot of grit right under roots and I cover their crown with a paper pot in winter to limit water intake. It seems to work so far. I am not big fan of overwintering anything in pots in Toronto, really bad track record.

Alex, I also don't like peonies toughing the ground, try to be in time to support whatever needs it. Diana Parks is one of the worst, such a weak bush! If the weather continues lie this I will cut all buds and put in a vase.

LG, I adorable lotus!

AlexUnder said:After peonies are done

Beautiful Black Lace Sambucus. So fragrant

Nice to see different plants, I don't think I have them here.
Here is my Love Song tree rose and next to it is Ebb Tide.

SoCal, your roses are lovely. Do you have Japanese Beetles there?

They have invaded Tennessee now, and I can't spray for them because my garden is for all the bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The birds have learned to eat them so they aren't as bad as when they first appeared over 20 years ago.

My Lotus is waving goodbye! I have two more buds coming up. I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I have a fence around it to keep the deer from eating it.

LG, I'm sure there are bugs here, I think I have saw flies, they eat the rose leaves and others, but I don't spray at all. I'm an organic gardener for more than 30 years.

Beautiful roses SoCal.

Thank you LG and Kokot. I have more roses than I have peonies.

Mieko2 said:SoCal, your roses are lovely. Do you have Japanese Beetles there?

They have invaded Tennessee now, and I can't spray for them because my garden is for all the bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The birds have learned to eat them so they aren't as bad as when they first appeared over 20 years ago.

My Lotus is waving goodbye! I have two more buds coming up. I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I have a fence around it to keep the deer from eating it.

Seems like the deers eat everything that tastes good! Wish the birds help me eat some of my JBs.

Your roses look great SoCal! I wish my roses are as neat and clean as yours. I think PA is not a good place to grow roses organically. Too many bugs and fungal issues.