Spring bloomers ~2012

I have been so lax at keeping up with my blogs lately. I guess when the weather gets nice enough to be outside ~ that's where I spend most of my time, not inside on the computer. This spring has been unbelievable ! The weather has been beautiful and the rain seems to come often enough that I haven't had to do much watering at all! We had such a warm March that many plants decided to show themselves earlier than normal. Some of them suffered though, when the cold came back for a bit. Two of my hydrangeas got burned but have recovered and are blooming but quite a few of my spring bulbs didn't fair as well. Just as they were starting to really pop up, the frost hit again and killed them off. All in all ~ my gardens are doing very well. In May, my flowerbeds looked like they normally do in July. Here are some of my favorite photos so far this year ~

Peaches and cream Columbine

Trailing Petunias

Blue Iris

September Charm Verbascum

Red and White Columbine

Blue Columbine

Just couldn't get enough of these beautiful large blooms!

Peaches and Cream Columbine

Lewisia

Talk about recycling ~ this bowl was delivered to my office, filled with sandwiches.  Immediately, I requested to keep the bowl as I envisioned this solar fountain to use in my gardens!

Bachelors Button

Clematis

This little corn snack was hanging out in my garden ~ I trapped him in a critter keeper to observe for a few days before setting him free!

Butterfly Weed ~ in the milkweed family and a host plant for monarchs!

Lolypop lily

Shasta Daisy

Love this new one~  Passionflower Clematis

A bud for Oranges and Lemons Gaillardia

Day lilies

Dahlia

A bee drinking nectar from a pink Speedwell ~ you can see it's proboscis down inside the blossom!

Fuscia ~ one of my favorites!

Love this lily ~ not sure what variety it is yet, but it is striking!

Scarlet Passionflower

The end of one of my flowerbeds.  I recently purchased the Oriole feeder on the left side ~ still desperately trying to attract them to my yard.

This is another section of the same garden ~ the white butterfly house was a hand-me-down from a fellow gardener and dental hygienist!  The white sphere in the bird bath is a water wiggler ~ moving water attracts more birds than standing water.

Thanks for stopping by ~ hopefully it won't be months before I update again!

Get outside and enjoy some nature in your own back yard!