Growing

The sweater is an endless sea of purple stockinette, so let's look at flowers!

This is the columbine I dug up from my Grandfather's yard after he passed away.  It's been exceptionally gorgeous the last two years.

Hello, gorgeous.

Alliums amuse me. They're a member of the onion family, and there are a ton of varieties. (They all pretty much look like this to me. This will horrify someone somewhere, I'm sure.) They have great height.

'Bloomerang' Lilac - It's supposed to bloom again in June. We'll see!

I was thrilled to see the Itoh peony come back. It's surprisingly small, but I remain hopeful it will get bigger.

I love heuchera (coral bells) and can't seem to stop buying dark ones like this. File that under Better than a Crack Habit.

A weird plant, Clematis integrifolia, which doesn't act like a clematis at all. It doesn't vine. I love it. I find I love bell-shaped flowers in general, and it gets extra points for being such a gorgeous color.

These are anemone given to me by a friend. They're aggressive spreaders, but so pretty I really don't mind. I planted them next to daisies from another friend and let the two aggressive plants duke it out. It's a botanical cage fight out there.

Armeria maritima (sea thrift), a cute little clumpy plant with round, pink flowers.

Mazus reptans - it's become much more covered with purple flowers since I took this picture. It's a ground cover and a steppable. A friend (the one who gave me the anemone, actually) and I bought them at the same time. I promptly killed mine. Hers did so well that I was convinced to try again, and I'm really glad I did. It's doing great in the second site.

I moved this 'Delaware Valley White' azalea last year to make room for the Itoh peony and the Bloomerang lilac. It is very pleased with its new location. I'm very pleased an azalea is doing well in my yard. I don't have ideal conditions for it. It would like more acidic soil. I do throw some sulfur on it once a year... or when I think of it.

This may be my very favorite plant. It's Asarum europaeum, or European wild ginger. It's an adorable groundcover that likes shade. This variety has glossy leaves. There's also a Canadian version (green leaves, not glossy) and a Chinese version (bicolored leaves). The flowers are nothing to write home about, but the leaves stay green most of the winter, and it is verdant and shiny and beautifully shaped. I love it so much. I've killed a couple of these, so I was thrilled to see it made it this year. (Mine died back in the winter, which doesn't happen to the one at my work. I admit to coveting the one at work. One day I may show up with a shovel and ill intentions.)

Speaking of glad it didn't die, this is our Red Dragon Threadleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Red Dragon'). We've wanted one for years and bought one last year when we had the path built. Looking back at that post, I can see how much fuller the tree looks this year. yay!

Here's one of two hellebores that have survived. I have probably planted five or six of them. This one is 'Metallic Blue Lady' which looks neither metallic nor blue this year. I'm not going to complain. It lives and blooms. That's all I can ask for.

The is Brunnera 'Jack Frost', another nice shade plant (pictured here is obviously part-sun. Oh, well.) The leaves are pretty, and it puts up airy stalks of tiny, blue flowers.

We've had a really wet spring, and I think it's been good for the plants. I just hope we have some rain later this summer when we really need it!