The Air is Hot!

The Lime Green Sunflowers are still blooming. I thought they would be taller, but at 3.5 feet, they still look nice! The Caladiums are putting on a good show right now!

They are finally up!

My Caladiums are finally starting to put on a show....finally! I planted the bulbs in May! Next year I will start the bulbs indoors first.

I'm GLAD I had Glads!

These are Glads from bulbs I planted last year. I didn't get the chance to dig them up last fall, but they are blooming faster than the ones I planted this year!

Why I Garden

I love, love, love, cut flowers! I like to see them in my yard, but in order to not feel guilty about cutting (have no idea why I should feel guilt!) all my color out, I grow tons of flowers!

My favorite cut flower are my Carnations. I love their spicy scent, and if I put a small vase by our bed, I can enjoy the smell all night!

Man, it's hot out here!

It's been very hot for the past few days. We were supposed to get some rain today, but I think it rained for about a minute! Looks like I will be watering tomorrow!

Just some shots I took this afternoon, before the rain was "supposed" to come!

Let the heat begin!

It's not quite hot now, but it will be in the 90's in a day or two! Here is my Lilly. I have 3 of them, and after 2 years of feeding the bunnies, it decided to award my patience with several blooms! I planted a few black Hollyhocks 2 years ago and they decided to bloom this year. I had given up, so I was surprised when I saw buds.Gallardia Fanfare after I moved it. It didn't seem to mind the move.

A reseeded Peony Poppy.

My Herbs and new fountain.

Bachelor Buttons

Ok...it's off to water!

I planted some Iris's around the Black Gum Trees (9), White Nepeta (3), and Red Dianthus (3).

I also moved some red Salvia that I thought was a "no show", so I moved them to the front of the front bed. I planted 3 Blue Eyed Grasses close to the one I planted last year..

Some May blooms!

Red Poppies....so hard to capture the true red color of these!

Yellow Missouri Primrose blooming for the first time today. This Mini Rose (do not know the name) took a big hit with our last frost and I didn't know if it was going to make it...but it's blooming today! This is another bloom color I just can't capture.

The window box is growing well. It's too bad that the Japanese Maple was damaged, but it looks like it's going to make it.

A surprise bloom! I have a White Coneflower in this bed, and after 5 years, it reseeded!

The White Coneflower is to the left of this picture.

Behind the hanging basket is my TINY Endless Summer Hydrangea. It was planted last summer and I was hoping that it would fill the space to the left of the window box...but, just like all the other plants....it was hit hard with the frost. It's coming back, but I don't think it will grow much this year.

My front bed as you walk up the walkway.

Reseeding Love in a Mist in the front bed.

Penstemom Huskers Red.

Veronica Blue. I just love how the ends bend over...such a pretty pale blue color!

Potentilla Melton's Fire I winter sowed last year. I moved them a few days ago to the side and front bed.

A close up of the Melton's Fire bloom.

Coming around the corner to the front bed.

Surprises

The plants don't look too great, but I have my first blooms on our Water Hyacinths! They are supposed to multiply quickly, but they haven't....so I was surprised to see a bloom!

Butterfly Weed starting to bloom. I winter sowed these 3 years ago. I have white ones too.

My first winter sowed Petunia and my first Petunia bloom! I winter sowed them in the basket and just slipped it in a sweater bag.

These Geraniums were bought 3 years ago. I have overwintered them for 2 winters and they even bloomed in the garage! I didn't water them either.

Rouge Cardinal Clematis and a winter sowed Blue Veronica.

Poppies in the Poppy bed....I didn't plant any of them this year.....all reseeded.

Let the rain come through.

After the rain I took a few pictures.

Above is a view of our front bed. To the left are our window boxes. This picture was taken while standing on the driveway.

Here's a picture from the opposite way. This is the second year for this bed.

Here are some of my Red Hot Poker plants. These are at the corner of our side bed.

This Clematis in in the side bed. The buds are on the ground due to the rain, which just stopped!

More Red Hot Pokers in our front bed.

Gallardia Fanfare, which just started blooming. I bought this plant 2 years ago.

A little slice of heaven

DH surprised me with a new patio set for Mothers Day! I have hearted a set for several years now. I now have an outdoor room! Our deck is in the shade from about 4pm on, so we really use it for most of the summer. Sitting on the loveseat, watching the Cardinals and BlueJays flying around, listening to the new fountain, and having my dogs snuggled up with me was pure heaven!

He bought two extra chairs for when we have company over...now we have seating for 6! My Blue Salvia was just "plopped" into this urn. This plant, for reasons unknown, spreads rapidly through my beds, so I just stuck it in this urn and it's now blooming.

Second picture is my Petunias. I winter sowed them in this container and they are about to bloom...not bad for starting by seeds!