Spring Recap of My 2021 Garden

 My garden is always a awash in hues of purple in early June.  This year is no exception.

I've had these old purple iris for over two decades.  They never disappoint me.

I also love the light purple of chive blooms.  I have quite a few chive plants.

Many gardeners look at this plant (sometimes called) spring phlox as a weed.  I think it has its place when kept controlled and not allowed to over take the entire garden.  I redid this area last fall and although I did not plant these, there must have been dormant seeds in the soil..  I decided they were perfect for now.

This Miss Kim lilac has only bloomed for me once (I have had it many years).  Last year I made sure to give it extra water -- even a few buckets of water with Miracle Grow and look at it now--TONS of buds about to burst--I am thrilled!

I have been weeding in the gardens for about two hours each day for the past week and I am finally making progress.  I will never get to the end, but I am feeling pretty good about what I've accomplished.  I just wish it would rain.  We are in drought status right now with a 95 degree temperature (unusually  HOT for lower northern Michigan this time of the year).  With temps like that I felt it was a good day to be inside trying to figure out how to make a post.   It seems like Blogger changes every time I decide to make one.

I bought some very unusual container plants for the deck this year.  I love containers that are different, so when I saw these I grabbed them!  Lemon coral sedum with begonias in the center:

I bought three of them.

In the bicycle centerpiece I put 'Forever Blue' Felicia...such a dainty flower in blue and yellow .

I am missing my pillows on the deck furniture.  I will have to go search the basement to find them.  Now that the avalanche of  pine pollen has finished, I can bring them out.

Inside I am enjoying this nostalgic bouquet of lilacs that I picked from the bush I planted 25 years ago from small clumps dug from my parents huge lilac bush that was on property once owned by my grandparents. 

 A lot of family memories in this bouquet.  What a treasure to have these lilacs in my yard!

Iris Begin to Bloom

We got home today and found that it was raining. We were so happy!  It was  a light gentle rain. From my bedroom window, I noticed some yellow iris in bloom. I decided I needed a pic, so I dodged raindrops to get some pictures of the three different iris' that opened since I left Friday.

This is an old pinky-purple with a yellow beard.  I have no idea what the name is, but I like it.

 You can see that I also have a lot of chives and purple spring phlox in bloom.

I am trying to get the spring phlox to bloom in only the wild garden areas.  I pull most of it out in the more tame gardens. That stuff will take over very quickly if left to seed.



I have tons of this common purple iris, but only these few have opened.

 I was thrilled to see these yellow iris.  I knew I used to have some yellow, but they have not bloomed for the past few years, so I thought I lost them.

I hope it continues to rain for a few days as we really need it.  With a little rain, new flowers will be blooming every few days.  We both have to work tomorrow, so while rain will put a damper on the local Memorial Day festivities, it won't really bother us at all.  I guess that's the positive about having to work on holidays. We have no plans that the weather can ruin. :)  I hope if you are off tomorrow, you have better weather.

48 degrees in mid-afternoon on June 10th?

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.............my poor tropical containers are really struggling to survive in temps like this.

It is just 3:30 in the afternoon. 

I am going to  have to check the low for tonight.  I may have to cover those poor tropicals.



I noticed brown spots on my Purple Heart.

 I suspect that unusual color is from the recent cold temperatures.  Does anyone know for sure?

Although my Purple Heart is not happy, I prefer living with 48 degrees to the 100 + degree-days that many of you are having!

Despite the cold temps, I donned my long winter coat and went out and took some pictures to show you what's happening in my gardens.

I have dozens of purple iris in bud and a few in bloom. Here is the left side of arbor #3:

 the right side of Arbor #3

a few feet up from the above pic, showing the chives and allium:

Way in the back I have a lot of orange poppies just beginning to flower.  I am trying to keep the orange poppies way back in the wooded area where they can grow wild.

Up by the main arbor where there is more sun, I have a lot of iris in bloom:

I spotted my first spittle bug foam today on this poppy. 

There is a little bug in the middle of the foam. I was not in the mood to squish spittle bugs today, so I just left it as is.


I decided this unusually cold June day called for some freshly-baked cookies.  I recently bought some  cookie dough from a co-worker who was peddling her young daughter's current school sale. (Don't get me started on schools sending this stuff home with 5-yr olds--have you ever seen a kindergarten kid selling this?  No. It's always the parents who peddle the stuff at work) Anyway the mom told me the tub makes 48 cookies; I had a weak moment and bought two tubs of this cookie dough - $10 each.  The tub actually made 24 nice-sized cookies...that's $5 a dozen--outrageous--I had to cook them and do all the clean up! (If you made them half-dollar size, you would get 48.)

 On the plus side the cookies are good --very sweet, but good.  These are a peanut butter/choc chip cookie.

Even though they are expensive, DH will love them on this cold spring evening.

Iris

This is a good iris year. I never know how many will bloom because I am always moving them. They usually don't bloom the year after being moved.


I think only a few bloomed in this big clump last year.

Here are a few shots taken in different directions from the same iris clump:

Toward the rockwall garden:

Toward the woodland paths:

This big bud

opened into this

I was hoping it would be a blue color because a few years ago I bought a "blue" iris and have never seen it bloom. I think maybe this is the iris. Often what they call "blue" is really purple.

I do love bud shots.


Here is a very old pass-a-long variety whose name I have never known.

I've always admired its brown-toned coloring.

This large pink variety was purchased in a grocery sack full of rhizomes at a garage sale.


All in all I am happy the iris blooms this year.