in our garden

hosta bed looks best as the early morning sun rakes across the leaves

Tropicana begins to show us some Orange!

first purple iris on May Day.

antique lavender-blue sweet smelling iris were here when we moved in,

I see them all over DC in other old home gardens.

lavender flowers and if you look closely you will see the green seed pods of the "money plant" that develops silver white coins as it dries out over summer.

pen pal Cor's purple iris gifted from France

Japanese roof iris, the last bloom this year. (latin: Iris tectorum)

clematis last year only had about 3 blooms...

In our garden the flowers are coming out fast and furiously the past few weeks. It is such fun to watch and record as it all rolls by so quickly. Adding more plants that flower is always done this time of year when the ground is just getting warm and the rains are plentiful to keep roots growing. Cool nights and warmer days to help them settle in to a new home. Soon the hot will return but this time of year we only have burst of heat now and then retaining the perfect weather for flowers to grow and bloom and new plants to settle in to new beds.

I am always up lifted when a new flower opens or a plant from last year outdoes it's previous season's performance. The new blooms on the lavender-blue clematis are spectacular and it is only the second year in a temporary pot. I find that lost flowers are often forgotten but the lovely returns are encouragement that we too, will survive another hot summer or cold winter. Gardening and visiting gardens are a source of hope and restoration. I wish more people had gardens and visited public gardens.

This week I heard the songs of the House Wren return to the garden in our yard this week where he will find a nice clean house just the right size hole for him. I am impressed with all the new flowers that I found this morning. A purple iris just opened for the very first time. It was planted two season back and finally has show it's first color in our beds. The first rose of the season is opening and several small columbines have show their first colors.

Meanwhile, I am worried about the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; this is the the latest reminder that we all need to conserve and lessen the demand of energy used in this country while we are looking for alternatives to fossil fuels. Turn off a light, unplug a vampire appliance until you need it, or go to bed at sundown, if we each do our little part it will add up. There is still hope in the garden.