Rita, anything going on with your lupines? I do love those!

No. They are all dead! I am thinking that in spite of the fact that they were so, so, very beautiful I am just not going to replant them this year. Instead I just plan on buying a flat of snapdragons and planting them there in the Lupine garden section. When I put the lupines in I need at least twelve plants and that is an expensive project when they turn out to be annuals. I just don't want to spend the money as I am spending my money on bulbs this year.

Things don't always work out for me. For instance I planted at least 6 nice beautiful new columbines in a row in this little gardenbed in the back of it. I called it the columbine garden. Only two of those came up this spring which really annoys me. I really loved the way it looked last year. I bought them in home depot so I guess I will be shopping in HD for replacement Columbines soon.

Hurray, today I spotted bloom stalks coming up on a few of the Dutch Iris. The ones looking to bloom are some that are in between my TB iris in the mid backyard TB iris bed.

I planted my dutch iris two years ago, nothing last fall. But I have already ordered more from Brent&Beckies and intend to get more yet. I have decided on were to put some new ones.

The flowers are just so stunning. Look like iris and yet nothing else looks like dutch iris. And the vivid color combinations are fantastic. Unlike true iris, dutch iris are small bulbs. Look like onion sets to me.

Rita, your garden is just gorgeous. I love the shrub border. I really like shrubs - even if they don't flower. And, your bulbs are inspiring!

Thanks, Juli! I have lots of shrubs that do flower but were not planted for their flowers but rather for the fruit. Fruit that people would eat and also for fruit that attracts backyard songbirds.

Here is my Shasta Viburnum in flower now. It makes small berries that turn red when ripe and the birds eat up.









And some of the azealas are blooming.

Rita, your shrubs are very pretty!

Thanks! I wanted a shrub border to attrach backyard songbirds and to look like the edge of a woods. Turned out pretty good.

Rita, I just wanted to show you my trees

Service Berries
Love your garden

WOW! Those are magnificent. I don't have any serviceberry trees. I used to have a stunning Grandiflora Serviceverry, which is a small tree growing to about 15 feet but it just went up and died all of a sudden last summer. I really like yours. Well, at least I have plenty of shrub serviceberries here.

They look tall but i'm standing below them. I think they are 15 to 20 feet.
I like your Shasta Viburnum! I thought it was a hydrangea. Hope you remember to show it in the fall with the berries.

If her Viburnum is like mine, the birds eat the berries before I get a chance to get a good photo. As the berries start turning red, the birds eat them just as fast. that's the reason I got them, so the birds could have natural food, but I never thought they would eat them that fast. I also have a wild Beauty Berry shrub that has really purple(pinkish) berries and they usually eat them just that fast too. I'm about to get enought of the beauty berry shrubs that they can't eat them all. They come up all around in the woods. I think the birds eat the berry and then deposit the seeds in their pooo around the woods. They are a very airy type shrub.

I love Viburnums and I hope to add more this year.

Blessings, Mona

Beautiful gardens Rita, just stunning.

I am so behind on keeping up with the threads. Rita, I don't know how you do
all the gardening and still find time to post pictures. You've gotta be wonder
woman.

I bet your flowers slow the traffic too with people trying to get a good long look.

I love to take pictures of the gardens!

That's lucky for us.

These are ROULETTE daffodils I got from Brent&Beckies and planted last fall. I have them up top there over by the daylily driveway side slope. I love them because of the big showey flowers that are white with all the orange and green in the trumpets.

What beautiful trees and shrubs. They are just glorious in bloom.