FAVORITE HOSTA - FRANCES WILLIAMS

there are many beautiful hostas, but frances williams is the most dramatic! this shot followed our big rain...the leaves are so hydrophobic - will you look at this surface tension! this comfy droplet is lentil-sized. frances williams reveals her colors and textures!

SOUTH STREET GARDEN PEAKS

the south side street garden is in peak.... with a gaudy broom,nora barlow columbine that have somehow developed spurs... here is the view from the curb... you can see the pearl bush in the back on the left

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT

i obtained this spectacular rhody a few years back on a jaunt with my mother to rosalyn nursery on long island... wonderful that it is reaching its glory to honor mother's day, because every time i see it i think of her! happy mother's day, mom!this adorable indian lantern is my daughter's gift to me today... of course hubs is getting me a bandit (plus cherry chocolates, my vice!)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

and what mother would not want to spend the day in her garden?
the tree peony is in the square garden, here is a still-perky bloom the tree peony, with some dissipated blooms and some youthful
the square garden slowly awakens... the tree peony is out of the picture on the left, the japanese maple in the center wants its pruning.
i let strawberry 'lipstick' run rampant in the square garden.

FOOL'S FRONT GARDEN

our house is almost 100 years old, and like many old houses, is situated close to the street. the pink dogwood is a wonder from all the front windows. our property goes up to the white car in the distance. this view is looking north; many of the neighbors have spectacular trees. looking south is yet another close up of the woodland garden under the dogwood. past this garden, on the other side of the driveway, is the pearl bush. pink trilliums and muguet in the woodland gardenhosta frances williams unfurls in the afternoon sun in the back garden

SPRING PEARLS

This is exochorda, or pearl bush; pictured on April 28...and now the bush is spectacularly blooming.

BLUE BLOOMERS

i love blue flowers and have a few blooming now, like dwarf iris...camassia...variegated brunnera...
columbine that my mother gave me...
veronica waterperrry (my favorite veronica)
here's a clump of them...
bluebells...
and the very weedy bugloss my brother gave me!

DISSIPATED PEONY

tree peony, had too much fun in the sun, and now wilts like a tired ball gown. i think these flowers are more beautiful in their ruin than their heyday.

SUNSET ON DAYBREAK

the sun sets behind magnolia daybreak's last flowergood bye until next spring!

MAY PHOENIX RISE

m. ruby bud rises like a phoenix from flowers pastm. daybreak is beautiful even after petals are shed akebia flowers parachute from cherry espalier close up of cherry espalier with akebia buds

EPIMEDIUMS - A WONDERFUL MOTHER'S DAY GIFT

yet another post about epimediums! but here i make my plea that someone buy their mother one of these wonderful plants for the shade garden. if my hubs is reading, i would like 'bandit' from darrell probst.

this one is crimson queen... the flowers are more than an inch acrosshere is a small white one, with an oak leaf for scaleanother white one, wish i had the name of ita common red epimedium, which, in addition to the dime-sized red flowers, has red edging on the new foliage, which is so pretty en masse

APRIL COLORS CLOSE-UP

omphalodes, one of my favorite woodland flowers, is about the diameter of a pencil eraser the flowering almond is unusually vivid this year i was excited to see this daff back-lit by the sun

columbine are just openingeveryone must have bleeding hearts! here they dangle in front of variegated solomon's seal.

WHITE REDBUD GLOWS

in the north garden morning sun
at its foot is ligularia desdemona and a double woodland anemone...whip out the macro, these flowers are about the size of a dime...what i like about redbuds is that they flower from the bark; here is the base of mine...
ah spring!

MIKE TYSON BIT MY SQUIRREL

this fella must have mixed it up with the mike tyson of squirrels

EMERGENT WOODLAND GARDEN

this is my favorite garden with variegated solomon's seal, epimediums, vancouveria, maiden hair fern, nectaroscordium, hostas, brunnera, and more. you may want to click on the picture to enlarge and see detail.

WHIPPET EGG

luna doing her egg impression - we are having an April drought so i had to water today!