Front border - East side

I trimmed all of the dead branches out of these Snowmound  spireas earlier this spring. They were in full bloom on June 4, along with the purple Walker's Low nepeta.

Transition

This little garden helps the front garden wrap around the side of the house and down the hill to the back yard. I spent part of the day on May 30th weeding it. The little North Star cherry is finally beginning to look good. The bottom picture was taken on June 4. Note the Fairy Princess peony in bloom!  

This is the east side of a circular patch of grass that I call the secret garden. You can sit on that little bench and disappear from the world. 

Keeping Guard

I removed a couple of cotoneaster shrubs from the border that tended to day back in the winter. It seemed as though every spring I was cutting out half the shrub - winter kill. I replaced them with some weigelas - the one in front is Sonic bloom pink and the two I planted are Rainbow Sensation, which have a pretty variegated leaf. While I was working, this barn swallow was keeping an eye on me. Pretty sure there was a nest full of eggs in the birdhouse.

Pond Irises

May 30, 2016. The irises in the pond are in full bloom. There are native blue and yellow in the bog area and along the stream are Siberian iris - Caesar's Brother.  Irises have the ability to remove pollutants from water - even heavy metals. Planting them along the edge of a drainage pond would help keep lawn fertilizer from seeping into the water.

Baptista offspring

This yellow Baptista is a volunteer - it sprouted from the seed of the Starlite Prairieblues Baptista, (behind the yellow one in the photo) which was the second hybrid  Baptista to be bred. I plan to move this guy to the back yard, where there will be room for him. A mature plant is about 6 feet across.

Bridal veil spirea

My love affair with this plant began years ago.  It was 2003 and I was working at a garden center. Stocking shrubs was one of the many tasks that filled my hours at work and one day I was putting the bridal veil spireas into their spot. One of the tiny shrubs already was showing the arched form of a mature shrub and I told it that it was beautiful. Luckily, no one was around to hear me talking to a tiny shrub! Their blossoms only last a short time, but truly a beautiful spring show.

Yellow peonies!

May 21, 2016. Yellow peonies in bloom! These plants are pretty young and yet they managed to provide a few lovely blooms.  Love them because they are yello & also because they don't need to be caged. 

As you can tell by the date, I'm a little behind in my posts. Very hot & sticky today, with storms brewing, so a good time to catch up!