Raindrops and Blooms

Oriental poppy.  Click for full view.

 Siberian iris.  Click for full view.

 Chives

 Reblooming bearded iris

Rugosa rose

Wet Leaves

We have had some very rainy days and the tree leaves are very shiny with the water.
The wet leaves are reflecting a lot of light even though sky is overcast which brightens up the landscape.

The leaves look almost variegated.

All polished and waxy looking.

Red is Robust

 Red is a great colour to add some punch to the garden.  It's a strong enough colour to work well in shade.

  Some marigolds come in lovely shades of chestnut red with bright yellow centres.

 This is an unsual bicolour verbena, but solid rich velvety reds are easy to find at the garden centres.

On another note:  The other day, we saw these two horses galloping around their field in spite of the fact that the palomino is due to foal any day now.  I can't imagine running around that close to a birth.

The chestnut mare is a bit lazier than the palomino.  Here she is eating grass as she rests.

Purple Perfumers

 Dark purple is not my favourite colour of petunias, but I really enjoy their spicy fragrance so I usually have some in a pot on the back deck so I smell them on the way by.

Heliotrope has a lovely sweet fragrance, like vanilla to my nose but I have read that some people find it smells like cherry pie.  Full sun, moist rich soil will keep it growing optimally, and giving you wonderful wafts  of perfume. Warm late afternoon sun is especially good for releasing the fragrance. It's not always available at the garden centres but it is fairly easy to start from seed in early spring.

Another Pretty Moth

A blonde in a pretty pink and yellow outfit.

Including Native Plants

 I'm not a very tidy gardener, and I tend to let enthusiastic plants have their spot in the garden even if I didn't plant them there.  Often, the effect ends up being quite attractive.  In this photo, Looking Glass brunnera is tucked in with wild blue cohosh and red trillium.

 Wild foamflower flourishes with a some good soil and provides a nice patch of groundcover.  It can handle being quite dry, but it does prefer shade in the summer.

 The large leaves and dramatic markings of the native Jack-in-the-pulpit can hold their own place in a garden with hosta and plain green brunnera.

A native yellow violet, that has finished blooming, fills in between a hosta and tiarella.
The native plants are usually pretty tough and less prone to insect damage. Even if they don't have showy flowers, the leaves are often attractive shapes that add interest to the garden.

Hay There!

A  hay-dee-ho from my horse, Pepper.  He hopes you're enjoying cutting the grass as much as he does.  Don't you just love his whiskers?