those crazy crows
strawberry and huccleberry flowers

My red Rhodie and white Azealea. The white one has had sparser blooms this year: I think need to prune her.

The Rhodie was pruned severely last year, to give a new RB some room. (LEFT)
The photo on the RIGHT was May 18 2012.



This lady is my favorite - three colors every year (red-pink-white). Each bloom progresses through the colors. I think she needs pruning badly: lots of very old wood and not all branches/trunks look healthy. (2012 photos)

This big old Bok Choy popped up from a lost seed late last fall, and then proved me wrong by OVER-WINTERING through many frosts and several coats of snow.

I didn't think Bok Choy were frost-hardy! And I thought they would BOLT in frost, not wait 4 months and THEN bolt!

April 9 2013


April 29 2013

Great photos all!!!
Mark I kept meaning to show you a photo of the cactus...look for it on Cactus and tender succs forum!

Rick beautiful rodies!!

Great photos, Rick, Mark, Jewell!!!!!!

Bok choy, go figure.
Nothing like surprise flowers

Thank you!

>> Nothing like surprise flowers

I agree. Once I tried to fill in an odd, dry spot with some old "seed mix", and surprising things kept appearing at odd intervals.

One weird, spiky "thing" appeared that was almost scary, then it turned into pretty Dianthus barbatus (Sweet William to some and, I guess, Stinking Willy to others).



I even got a fair amount of seed from them!

If the topic is "May Flowers", only the first photo is relevant. One bed got very weedy until I dug out the whole thiing this spring and SCREENED out the weed roots. I was "pretty sure" these weren't weeds and put them back into the bed. I'm glad I did because they recently turned into spiky, scary things, so they must be re-seeding Dianthus.

i just looked them up again: biennial? Hunnh? Says who? I guess no one told mine they should wait a year. Maybe it makes a difference that I'm right on the edge of too-warm-to-be-hardy.

Or maybe they spend one year lookiing like weeds to me, and next year they b loom?

I really SHOULD weed perennial and re-seeding beds more carefully!

Those are fantastic!

Laburnum - golden chain (or rain?) tree



Centaurum - mountain bluet



Centaurum next to almost opened up asphodeline - King's spear

Very nice Bev!!

Love seeing all the flowers I got a surprise today when the clematis had several flowers open at once and here are a few other things showing their blooms.

Nice Jewell!

Thanks Greg

I really like the clematis! I have several that I bought this year, and one has a couple of blooms which I'm anxiously waiting to have them open, one of the buds is so tiny I don't expect it to even do anything, but maybe it will actually grow into a bloom

Beautiful Jewell. I have buds on some of my clems too. Greg, so exciting for you to see you new clems bloom.

Here's a few pics from my place----
Echium russicum----
spanish lavender----
Delphinium pacific giants--

salvia hot lips---
geum 'cooky'---
lupine morello cherry---

salvia pink delight---
salvia madeline---

foxgloves---
salvia twilight serenade---

Duane, that's a lot of color! I love your delphiniums, but have a special place in my heart for our native foxgloves and lupines. Great job!

Wonderful photos Duane. You like similar perennials that I also enjoy. I'm always drawn to plants that make tall spires of flowers.

Here are some scenes from my yard this morning:

My favorite spring combo: barberry + Baptisia 'Purple Smoke'


I have lots of Spanish lavender, always covered in honeybees.


Island bed along driveway


Along driveway, purple erysimum, Jupiter's beard, lithodora, orange erysimum 'Apricot Twist', nepeta 'walker's low'


Mutant flower spike on my Veronica 'First Love'


Very exciting for me, this Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum', b/c I started it from seed 2 seasons ago. Blooming for the first time.


Wisteria is almost done.


Dianthus 'Firewitch'


Mother's Day gift for me:


A type of allium, I can't remember the name


Bed of irises