Peonies Rule

Itoh Peony 'Bartzella'

Peonies rule in my garden at this time of the year, but only for a short time--aside from their beauty one great thing about peonies is that deer won't touch them! This year my Itoh peony 'Bartzella' is gorgeous, particularly with that touch of blue of the catmint flowers behind.

Peony 'Bartzella'

 

'Duchesse de Nemours' looks very sloppy this year--I couldn't find the grow-through wire hoop to support the flowers at the proper time, and the plant grew so fast it was too late to use it by the time I found it-- the large flowers are bending over on the ground. 

 

Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours'

'Duchesse de Nemours'

The no-name pink peony which I planted the first year here is also gorgeous, though this year's drought has made the flowers look somewhat blighted even before the buds opened.

 

Pink peony.

Pink peony in front yard.

On the other side of the house my 'dawn and dusk' combo is in bloom, but not as showy as in other years. I'd hoped to get the huge climbing rose 'New Dawn' back up on the porch pillar, but its thorns are so formidable, that for now I'll wait until late fall after the foliage has withered to try that.

 

Clematis 'Etoile Violette' with rose 'New Dawn'.

Clematis 'Etoile Violette'

As usual, the clematis seems to precede the flush of rose bloom by about a week. My 'Petal Pushers' and other roses are lagging behind, except for the red 'Double Knock Out' which I pruned back a lot in early spring, and fertilized generously.

 

Flowers in the back bed.

 

A few surprises in the back bed--which I've been watering regularly--were these native irises, known as blue flag (Iris versicolor). I'd almost forgotten they were there since they hadn't bloomed in several years, but this year they produced some lovely blossoms.

 

Blue flag (Iris versicolor)

Pink foxglove

 

I forget where these foxgloves came from--maybe they were a gift--and they're doing well under the Kousa dogwood back here. The native foxglove Pentstemon (Pentstemon digitalis) are also blooming along with the electric blue Pentstemon and a pink Gaura I planted this year. Only one of the blazing meadow stars (Liatris ligulistylis) seemed to have survived the winter, so I bought another variety, Liatris 'Kobold' to keep it company and fill the bed.

 

Electric blue Pentstemon and pink Gaura with Liatris.

Same shot, longer view with foxglove pentstemon.

I planted my anise hyssop seedlings grown from seed a few days ago, so now the remodeled west bed is complete. I added some zinnia seedlings also grown from seed to cover the browning foliage of the daffodils, but it will take some rain to get these going so they can be seen. The Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' and the ninebark 'Amber Jubilee" look so lovely in the evening sunlight!

 

Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' and ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee' in the west bed.

 

Of course, the bed will change over the course of summer when the daffodil foliage dies down and hopefully the 'Benary's Giant' zinnias take over. 

 

My left over irises blooming.

I'd abandoned these irises under the deck stairs last fall, intending to replant them somewhere or give them away, but never got around to it--it was a surprise to see them blooming even with bare roots! I guess this calls for a new iris bed to be dug sometime in the fall. I need room for more plants, as usual; the question is where?