How does your garden grow?

How does your garden grow?  For me, slowly these days.  Our cool and rainy spring has stalled a lot of our growing this year.... but I must say, the perennials have loved this weather!  I'm trying to be a "glass is half full" kind of girl these days.

The flowering bushes and trees have been spectacular.  The lilac, magnolia and rhododendron have all kept their blooms for a record number of days and have been COVERED in blooms this year.

My peonies have more buds than ever... and they're all about to burst!  Did you know that ants are attracted to peonies buds because of their high sugar content?  Who knew that lots of ants is a GOOD THING!  Since  I currently have only two peonies, I don't cut any for in the house.  I'd love to have a peony cutting garden so that I could bring arm loads inside!


My white impatiens are slowly starting to come to life.  A few white blossoms are visible in a few of my shady spots.

Nothing like the evening light as the sun goes down at Red Gate Farm.

Happy little Columbine growing up through the old azaleas.

My volunteer lupine, surprisingly is pink!  And very far away from my other lupines.

My favorite hostas, named June, are loving this weather.  They are so full and lush this year.  Filling in between them are my homegrown impatiens.

Standing under the Rhodie... in the rain... you can see the bright orange azaleas at the front of my house  Do you notice the curving sidewalk?  My husband put this in.  The curves follow the foot print of the house.  He's quite the concrete guy... he likes to have nice clean edges for his lawn.  Of course, it gives me lots of flower beds to plant.  He's planning a new one for around the pumphouse.

Looking back towards the veggie garden and the field where the tractors have been working non stop in the evenings and even into the night to prepare the field for potato planting.

At least the cheerful flowers and blossoms brighten up the grey days that have returned to Red Gate Farm and the Pacific Northwest.  Our long term weather forecast is for a cooler and wetter June than normal... at least July before we return to a normal summer weather.  However, they are promising us a warmer and drier fall... we'll see!


The long awaited, three day weekend is upon us!  Happy Memorial Day and weekend!
 

linking up
to

Comments

  1. Your hostas are lovely and peonies are fabulous. We cannot grow them in our terrible heat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh how I love the simplicity of a hosta. And the sleekness of the lupines. This was a lovely post. Glad you are enjoying the spring flower show of your yard. Isn't it grand?

    Di

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you stop by my blog I posted a few pics that you can see "how well my garden is growing"

    Out of control that is!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunatly, it is the last thing on the list, and it keeps growing!

    Your garden is so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your yard really does look fantastic! And how fun to get a surprise lupine!
    I'd love to have armloads of peonies, too. I love the way they smell!

    It's cold and wet here, and it does make better perennials. But I'm to the point where I'd be OK with warmer weather and less flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Red Gate Farm is a lovely place. Everything looks so nice. I didn't realize that ants like the sugar in the peonies, I just knew it took the ants to open the blooms, interesting!

    Have a great weekend!
    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  6. What lovely gardens and property you have ! Wonderful photos ! All the rain we have had has made everything grow like crazy including the weeds YUK ! lol Have a great day ! PS just a heads up some bloggers are having blogger problems !

    ReplyDelete
  7. your garden is breathtaking. isn't june a perfect name for your hostas?

    xo
    ~molly

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love lupines! There are several fields around here full of them. And I received my first two peony plants for Mother's Day, I'd love to have a cutting garden too.

    Despite all the rain, your yards look gorgeous and are such an inspiration!

    Enjoy your long weekend!

    ~Andrea~

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are a lot farther along than i am up here near Seattle! I can't wait for those peonies to finally explode! xoox tracie

    ReplyDelete
  10. PS - Thanks for linking up this post at Cottage Flora Thursday's - this is our largest party yet! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. just used your photo in an invite to invite more gardeners to Cottage Flora Thursday's - hope that was okay?!? if not, let me know & i'll remove it. xoxo, tracie

    ReplyDelete
  12. So far the only things growing are weeds, forget-me-not, hosta, weeds, buttercup (did I say INVASIVE weeds?) and my list of things to do!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please, feel free to leave a comment... it really makes my day! Chris

Popular Posts