Iris-sistible!

Ok, I feel another love affair coming on-- between myself and iris!  No dear rose(s) not to worry you are not being replaced.  I have enough "love" to go around!  Thanks to plant swaps, generous friends, boost jobs from cemeteries and unsuspecting vacant lots (and one weak moment in Walmart)...I have collected quite a few.  Each day for the last few weeks I run to the garden and find a new gift has opened.  I only know the name of one of these so feel free to help me ID some of them if you can.

A plant swap beauty...it is a ghostly blue color- very unusual I think and I love the ruffled petals.

Supreme Sultan...my Walmart Iris.

I have no idea about this one but it is a very small bloom and short in stature.  I love the pastel color blend.

I have been coveting the white/purple blends in others' yards...Surprise!  I have one too!  I love the edging of the purple with the white, it makes it glow.

This year a generous co-worker gave me free reign to get flower starts from her mother-in-law's yard (she's in the nursing home).  She must be a lover of iris too..I found 3 nice varieties there including this one.  Yay!

The next two are the dearest of all as they came from my mom's house.  She had them for years until they had all but stopped blooming.  About 4 years ago I laboriously dug them all out, shared with my sister and co-workers then planted the rest.  It took 3 years for them to start blooming but they have been faithful since.  The pastel lavender has a sweet scent that carries on the wind.  Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and say "hi mom!"

Thanks for sharing my "presents" with me!

Who's on First?

Reminds me of the Abbott and Costello routine!  I have been experiencing a lot of firsts this year in the way of blooms.
This siberian iris came from a yard sale 2 years ago...well worth the $1 I paid for the pot.

It's not a bloom yet but I am excited to see what color this peony will be.  I bought it when it was a little whiff of a thing about 3 years ago. It was a Fred's dollar store plant in the moss baggie!

First bloom on another "found rose" from last year.  This has been a vigorous little thing to have started from a stick last year!

Lastly, not a flower picture but another installment on the "Stairway to Heaven" project as I like to call it.  I sure do have a wonderful and handy hubby!

April Foolin'??

Well I'm wondering if mom nature is trying to April fool me??  I was thinking I would not see any blooms from the snowdrops I just planted last year.  Look what I saw today!  I thought they were called "snowdrops" for a reason!

Another surprise I found was on my wisteria.  It stubbornly has not bloomed for probably 6 years now and I'm wondering if these are bloom buds?  I am always disappointed to see them leaf out with no blooms so I'm not getting my hopes up.  I can't remember what the buds looked like before the leaves emerged. 

My catchfly is blooming too, love its early pink blooms.

Lamium "chequers" has a nice purple surprise for me.

Looks like I'm not the only one that is loving these 80 degree temps and that's no April foolin'!

Crocus and Croakers

Ah, the sounds of spring!  Just in the past few nights have I heard the springtime song of the "peeper" frogs.  I
was surprised to find one last night resting on the arm of my porch chair!  Please stick around and eat some of those horrid japanese ladybugs!

Now for the sights of spring.  I was happy to see this little purple fella-

My variegated sedum is stretching out further-

White hellebores are just catching up with the pink ones-

Tulip in my tire planter testing the air-

Purple hyacinth is not sure just yet-

Pink lenten rose has added some blooms for company-

It is amazing how just a few warm days and rain can bring on spring!  It only gets better from here!  Stay tuned....