Things are off to a good start!

I think everything is a couple weeks behind time this year, but the Iris and columbine are finally adding lots of color to my front bed.

Same bed looking from the street to the sidewalk. I really like the foliage on the varigated iris this time of the year.

This message was edited May 27, 2008 9:07 AM

Near the front door are some columbine with allium in the background.

And a cherry colored lupin just starting to bloom is in front of more columbine.

Beautiful! What are the eye catching dark blue and white iris? Love the columbines and cherry lupine!

My columbines are in full color.

My neighbor gave me a bunch of lilliput iris and I planted them in clumps where I had room. I fell in love with them. They bloom between the short border iris and tall bearded. Now I need to lift and separate.

Beautiful, billyporter would you mind telling me what the red blooms on the fern like stims are.Thank you, Mike

Wow, your Columbines are fantastic! What is the name of the double or triple pink and white one in front? The dark blue and white Iris is Stepping Out. I saw it listed as an historic. Guess that makes me historic too. It's the first Iris I ever grew and I sure have shared it with a lot of people over the years.

susan

beautiful gardens! i think that red bloom is a fern leaf peony. I WANT ONE!!! they are sooo cool looking.

I'm a big fan of mixing columbines and irises! I've been planting them together, and I'm getting a lot of fun "first blooms" this year. :-)

Gorgeous, Susan! Are the summers hot there? I've never had any luck with Lupines, nor have I ever seen one growing here and I assume its because of our hot, humid summers.

Our summers are too hot for lupines to do really well here too, but I keep trying. Here is a photo of one from 2006 that did wonderful. This was the first flush of blooms and then it rebloomed heavily too. If I remember right though, it died out sometime in the heat of the summer. This will be the first year that the Cherry one blooms and I'm excited to see what it will do. So far it's cooler than normal so maybe it will make it.

Susan

Oh, that's interesting indeed! Now I'm going to have to try them again!

L - I love the colors in your garden. Really pretty.

B - Is mqiq right? Are those fern leaf peonies? What ever they are, I love them, and have to have some. Does the foliage stay nice all summer?

--Pam

You both have beautiful gardens.

I've never had any luck with lupine or foxglove; I have to stick with liatris for that tall spikey look.

Susan, I remeber your gardens, and as always, just lovely!
Sherry

Susan, love your lupines, but I too haven't had any luck with them. Any pointers you can give me on planting location, etc.?

Afraid I don't really know very much about Lupins. They have been very hit and miss for me. I do know they don't like to be transplanted and need good drainage. The lavender one that did so well for me a few years ago was planted near the base of an evergreen tree. This year I have a cherry one that is doing well on the north east side of a shrub. We have been having a lot of rain and somewhat cooler wheather than normal so that may be helping. Will be interesting to see what it does once it gets hot.

I think Billyporters red Peaonia is Paeonia tenuifolia. I also love it very much!

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62914/

Thanks everyone! Sorry to have been gone so long.

Yes, they are fern peonies and I love them! The foliage will die down this month and I'll have to mark where they are so not to dig into them.

I think all the columbines are Grandmother's Garden. I got seed from a neighbor.

Lincolnitess, Love your pix, your gardens are beautiful!

Lincolnitess, I was just reading about Stepping Out. It was in a book about scented flowers. Does your's have a strong scent? My neighbor has lupines reseed every year, but she doesn't have a lot. In fact, this year sahe thought there weren't any, but we found a few after all.

Thanks. Stepping Out does have a nice scent. It's one of those very reliable old ones that I've never found a reason to replace. Just does so well every year. I really like the looks of the fern peonies too. Have never tried them. Things are rather quiet in the garden right now. Columbines still blooming and daylilies just starting. Mostly only scapes. Do have a couple kinds of salvia in bloom.

susan

Lovely, as always Susan. I tried lupines one year but they didn't return for me. I do like the spike look they add to the garden.

Here's a shot of the back yard. Just a couple daylilies in bloom and the Goat's Beard. A couple more weeks and there will be lots more daylilies. The very bright yellow daylily is Middendorffii, one of the species daylilies. It is a blooming machine this time of the year and will bloom again in the fall..

Susan

Lincolnitess- Love your beds!

Hi all,
I would love to have some variegated iris. How do I find them? Does anyone know of an online store that sells them? How tall do they get?
I tried searching the plant files but I could not find anything....

I have a few small ones to trade.

Susan you have one spectacular garden.

Susan, I have an early blooming daylily that I just call early yellow scented. It smells, as in stinks. I wonder if it's the same as yours?

MiniPonyFarmer, I ordered mine from Jungs. I got the Zebra and Aureo Variegata. Zebra got 2' tall and the other 1'3''. Both have the light purple blooms and koolaid scent.

I don't have a good picture, but they can look like a fence when in a row.

I think my varigated Iris came form Jungs too. They were suppose to be the white and green, but ended up yellow and green. Billyporter, my yellow early daylily does have a smell. Not a bad one to me, but not really good either.

Here are some photos taken the last few days. Lilies are doing really well and daylilies are getting started, but not a peak yet.

For some reason, I find this red, orange and purple combination very interesting.

The tall lily here was suppost to be Midnight, but I think it's a Pink Perfection trumpet.

Moonbeam coreopsis, betony , coneflowers and some daylilies are blooming in the front strip. By next week there will be lots more daylilies in bloom. Annual are just getting started.

Pink Asiatic lilies.

Susan.... 'For some reason' ....
The only reason is that it's just flat-out gorgeous!
You can't tell me the color combinations were accidental...
Fabulous!

Susan, I love orange and purple together already, so throw in red and it's incredibly beautiful to me too!

Susan you have one beautiful garden.

ditto ! It's beautiful !

WOW, beautiful colors, tidy beds. Very nice!!! Your beds are why I need to move things around in mine!