THE MOST AMAZING thing about the garden in early June is the fragrance. I won’t bore you with pictures of the honeysuckle, we have all seen more than our share of honeysuckle, I am sure. In the winter, on warmer days, I can spend hours pulling it out of the camellias, off of trees, out of the gardens. It truly grows like a weed here. But, depending on the severity of the winter (northern people – stop laughing, right now!) the world smells so wonderful starting usually the beginning of May with Honey Locust, the Fringe Trees, honeysuckle and magnolias. What a joy it is to step outside on a still cool morning and breathe in the sweetness of the southern air. I realize every morning of my life how blessed I am to not be in a city, not be caged in an apartment, to be free to walk on my small acreage, fill my eyes with the beauty planted there and to even enjoy the weeds – or at least the weeds we call honeysuckle. Better than that, I have the joy of growing my own food and each day I love to go out and see how much bigger this is or that… maybe pick some strawberries, blueberries, or later on, some beans, cukes or tomatoes. It doesn’t get better than that.
This year i decided to indulge myself with some plantings I normally don’t have the time to mess with… i doubt they will winter over in my little greenhouse, but who knows? Every year is a new experiment. Here are a few of my plants and a lot of my weeds.
This hosta is so big, a neighbor argued with me and insisted it is an elephant’s ear. That is a yard stick standing in it… so it is nearly 4 feet tall. Behind it is a blue hosta which is almost as big, but not quite.
Right in front of that hosta are these plants and the new birdbath. i finally found a couple straggly strobilanthes… that’s it behind the pink Astilbe and Heuchera.
In the back yard, flowers grow in and around the veggies. On the left, just below the Adirondacks, are some potato bags. All the way on the right is a 4x4 space with cukes and tomatoes.
potatoes (in the pots) tomatoes, basil, peppers, and pansies. Qwan Yin and geraniums are tucked in the huge English Daisy plant. Who’d believe I cut that better than in half a2 years ago. On the right, potatoes (redskins), miniature roses, violets, iris, pansies and dianthus.
From the other side, this shows the clematis. Finished blooming under that is a deep red peony and not blooming yet, phlox. Out in the side yard, a rhododendron is in bloom.
Out front, the window boxes have impatiens that wintered over, geraniums (ditto), new coleus, and a couple new blue things – i can’t think of their names. And a close up of the mountain laurel.
I have a hanging petunia and a hummingbird feeder (being filled) in front of Rusty’s bedroom window to keep him occupied when he isn’t watching puffins or hummers on the computer. Pix of that on the next posting!
Hope you enjoyed my garden, disorganized as it is… but it is fun and something in bloom in every direction. Yes, it is a lot of work for me, but I can’t describe the joy I get from it. The lilies are just starting to bloom!
and my joy of joys, the Mountain Laurel is in bloom. 
The clematis is also in bloom this year, but I think it is a bit early. 
It has been hot for May, but then the entire winter/spring has been very warm, even hot some days. I am sure there are those who do not think 80 is hot, but I am a Mountain girl… or an Island girl so I measure hot and cold differently, I guess.
I think Punkin must be a mountain cat… he does not like the heat when it gets around 80. He gives up following me around the garden and heads for a place in the shade, often under a bush, but sometimes right in the middle of the plants. What is fun for me, but surprising for visitors is when he meows as we walk by and other folks do not even see him. I am sure he enjoys that look of bewilderment when they look around and no cat is to be seen… “Ow,” he repeats. Do you see him? 
count the square foot patio stones from the digitalis to see how far away they are from the Adirondack chair (2 feet) and you will get an idea of how tall they are.
The next to newest peonies bloomed. The newest ones are still growing. This is a good thing. Peonies seem to be scarce around here. Maybe it is just that they are so unbelievably expensive in the Garden Centers, I don't know. I brought my oldest ones down from PA, pieces of roots from peonies my grandfather planted years and years ago. 
He died in 1954, but the beauty of his garden lives on and on. 
Also, up in PA, there is a grocery store where they have the most beautiful miniature roses that usually sell for $5 or $6 in a little pot. I am a sucker for them, too. They never get taller than 1 foot, if that tall. I have brought a few home and they used to be out front. When I lost my big maple tree, the power company people that came and cut it up piled the logs right on my garden, and right on the mini roses. 2 managed to survive so I brought them out back to my St Francis garden. 
This is the time of year when my rarest plants bloom. I am proud to say plants since I now have 3 of them that have survived. No one around here knows what they are. Do you?
This is Mountain Laurel, the state flower of PA, and it grows wild up there with bushes 8 feet tall in places. This one is just under 4 feet tall.
Can you imagine a jungle of Mountain Laurel and rhododendron? Up there the Mountain Laurel blooms first, usually it's in bloom for Father's Day, followed by the rhododendron which also grows wild on the mountain sides. Rhododendron blooms for the 4th of July. 
I have also had questions about my tiny iris. They are about a fourth the size of my standard iris, which seems to be normal for Siberian iris.
