We somehow managed to make it to Friday which means we’re joining our hosts, Rosy and her brothers in checking out what Mother Nature is sharing around Blogville. Don’t forget to click on the highlighted link to see other posts.
To say this has been a helluva week is an understatement. I feel like I’ve been pulled through a knot whole yet rather than highlighting the ugly, let’s focus on the beauty that we’ve seen. So sit back and prepare yourself for a long visual string of some of my favorite flowers around the Ranch garden as well as from around my neighborhood.
After 15 nanoseconds of spring, the Mile High City fast forwarded directly to blistering summer heat despite the calendar saying there’s [technically] three more weeks of spring. Lupines, irises and peonies are front and center. You’ve probably guessed by now that I have a love affair with poppies that are also front and center all over city landscapes. My favorite shade of poppies are the salmon pink colored ones. Just look at these gorgeous blooms from a nearby neighbor’s garden. Every year I say I’m going to plant one of these and every year I can never seem to find one. Sadly this year, diverse and interesting plants are in even shorter supply at big box stores and many of the small greenhouses I’ve shopped at in the past aren’t open or their supplies are severely limited.
Bearded irises are also have been making their appearance known. I dug this guy up from my previous yard. It’s nearly 20 years ago and is always a showy beaut. It starts out ‘black’ and fades to this dark purple as the bloom opens. It’s my absolute favorite of the iris collection around the Ranch.
After what looked liked a less than stellar year for the lupines, they’ve been giving Mother Nature the middle pedal. “You won’t squelch us,” they seem to shout.
A wide drift of Cerastium tomentosum, more commonly known as snow-in-summer, makes me and bees very happy when it blooms. Starting out small, it grows each year and fills in the space it’s given and then some. It’s beginning to cover the flagstone walkway as it blooms and will need corraling after blooming.
Peonies are the showy guys in my garden. Magnificently scented, they are in their blooming glory. It’s probably my favorite garden flower and I only wish they lasted longer. A couple of peony bushes were hard hit by last month’s freeze and it seems like blooms will be less this year but no less lovely. You can almost smell their heavenly scent.
A tour around my garden is never complete without a look at a simple but always reliable annual shot of color. I abandoned planting annuals years ago but Snapdragons continue to volunteer freely with a bit of encouragement from me (i.e. water) and it’s always interesting to see how the colors change and morph each year with some help from pollinators no doubt. Originally these guys were a solid shade of light pink without the yellow spots on their ‘throats.’ Talk about hybridizing.
Along our regular daily walks is a professionally xeriscaped front yard that changes with the seasons to always look beautiful. Normally cactus doesn’t pique my interest but look at these amazing colors. This garden always has color and texture guaranteeing a long stop to check everything out.
Along with these cactus and other xeriscape plants, were are a few bright rose bushes proving once again that xeriscape doesn’t necessarily only mean cactus and rocks to look beautiful.
We hope your weekend is safe and you’re able to take in the beauty that’s out there. Stay safe, stay sane and keep smiling.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
