Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM) - Garden Division

"Garden Lace" - Image courtesy of La Pivoinerie D'Aoust.

Yes, it's peony blogging! While I was away, the first of mine opened up. It is a variety that Nicholls Gardens, from whom I bought my stock, refers to as an Angelus (Auten 33), although it looks very, very much like the Garden Lace pictured above. Very nice, indeed. All the rest of my peonies are about ready to cook off too, although we're supposed to have cool and rainy weather for the next few days, so that might put them back a bit.

Also, my columbine is going gangbusters, not just the yellow that I mentioned a couple weeks ago, but also several whites and magentas, together with one that has a white flower coupled with spurs in red and blue. I was rather shocked to discover I actually had to stake them on Saturday, something I've never associated with columbine before. But these plants are three or four feet tall and top-heavy with flowers.

What else? The Siberian Iris is in full swing - I've got two thick plantings of them in blue and peach. Also, the salvia is starting to come out. Meanwhile, most of the more summery flowers - the black eye susans, coneflowers, shasta daisies and whatnot, are beginning to form their first buds.

It occured to me while surveying everything that I seem to have an aweful lot of pastel colors in my garden, lots of lavenders and yellows and blues and whites. Perhaps it's high time to start adding some dashes of boldness here and there - some bright reds, for example. (The exception to this is the peony plot itself, where several of the plants do have bright red flowers, but that's on the other side of the fence from the main beds.) I am planning to hit up the local nurseries this weekend to see if anybody has some half-price foxglove - I may have to keep my eye open for some other plants as well.

Oh, several of you have been wondering about the exploits of Sauron's Wraithrabbits. Well, so far, no depredation that I can see, although the furry little bastards are lurking back along the wood line. Last year, it was a young one that caused all the trouble - I believe the mature ones were too big to squeeze through the fence, or at least didn't really try till they saw Junior going at it. In the short run, I'm going to try using some blood meal to keep them disinterested. If that doesn't work, I'm going straight to Daisy. Really. I'm not kidding this time.