And the Garden Played On

I'm not holding my breath, but I think maybe the monsoon season has ended here in northwest Ohio. May brought over 10 inches of rain, which is way over normal and it prevented us from doing so many things in the garden.

Because of the construction of the conservatory last fall, we had to move several plants to a temporary location in the vegetable garden until this spring, when the plan was to then move them to their final destination. I wanted to tear out a large section in Max's Garden where yarrow had spread too much and wasn't performing well and the yellow scabiosa was threatening world domination, starting with my garden. I'd be using some of those moved plants in this area.

So as you can see, one action depended on another and the entire garden depended on all of it. The continual rains just didn't allow for any of it, but I decided to go ahead and play in the mud. I realize this isn't the best way to dig out plants and plant others, but it was never going to get done if I didn't! I may lose some things, but such is the life of a gardener.

If I hadn't had these grandiose plans for the garden and the plants had been where I wanted them, the garden would be looking just fine, in spite of several times where it looked like the swamp it once was 150 years ago.  The cold temperatures and soggy soil had some effect on the plants, with some of them skipping blooming altogether (yes, tulips, I'm talking to you!), but for the most part, the garden played on:

Siberian Iris 'Flight of Butterflies'

Siberian Iris 'Chilled Wine'

Unidentified miniature rose

I trialed this Blooms of Bressingham Penstemon 'Prairie Twilight' last year and it
did well right out of the pot. It came back even more robust this spring!

German Bearded Iris 'Red at Night'

Unidentified German Bearded Iris

The inside of that same iris has some amazing color going on!

Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'

Geranium sanguineum

I don't remember planting a white Dutch Iris, EVER.

Dianthus 'Testar Red' just gets bigger and better each year.

A bumblebee goes after the nectar in Baptisia 'Twilite Prairieblues'.

Columbine (Aquilegia 'Origami Red & White')

White wild Geranium

Perennial Flax

Geranium phaeum 'Lavender Pinwheel'

Supertunia 'Bordeaux', Osteospermum 'Soprano White', Penisetum 'Fireworks',
Lobularia 'Snow Princess', Tradescantia 'Purple Heart'

Aquilegia 'Little Lanterns'

Allium christophii in bloom

Bloom on Syringa lanciniata. Too bad it isn't very fragrant.

I don't know the name of this yellow and pink columbine, but I love it.

Columbine (Aquilegia 'Clementine Salmon Rose')

Columbine (Aquilegia sp.)

Peony season has begun, just in time for the Van Wert Peony Festival. Romie and I are happy to welcome Chris Tidrick (From the Soil) and his wife, Melinda, to our home this weekend! We'll be going on a tour of several gardens and hopefully it won't rain on the parade tomorrow night.

I wish I knew the name of this one! It's a beautiful shade of pink/almost coral.