Each Little World

IVOM: End of May arrangements

I made a lot of spring bouquets this year, but never any with my early Peonies. So I clipped a couple of the last ones to put in this rather Asian-feeling container. I put a little "frog" at the end to hold the flowers but it made the basket tilt.

I decided to add a dwarf 'Cherry Garde' Iris to pick up the color in the interior of the Peony. 

Alas, I waited a little too late to cut these. They barely made it through the night.

I spent a couple of years getting rid of Lily of the Valley that had colonized a major area of our property. But it is such a lovely flower and has so many memories for me that I planted them again.

The mercury glass vase is decorated with Dianthus. I planted a few varieties with white flowers this spring and hope to put them in this vase next year.

I planted this variety — Convallaria majalus 'Hardwick Hall' — for its historic association and its decorative foliage.

A garden visitor

There are some garden visitors that you long to see and they rarely stop by. Then early one morning, suddenly there they are.

Alas, it looks like he got a bird and not a rabbit based on the feathers Mark saw after he took this photo from inside the house. Nevertheless there hasn't been a bunny in sight for most of the week. Hope Mr. Fox decides to make us part of his regular route.

Wordless Wednesday

(Double click to see the detail on the bug).

Garden quirks

Over the years I've planted three different Paeonia japonica; each one from a different nursery. They look identical to each other until you look into the flower. No idea if these variations mean they are indeed different types of Peony plants. Despite growing these three for a number of years, this is the first time my attention was captured by these differences, rather than the beauty of the flowers. 

The Moon Garden

Mark went out late Saturday afternoon with his camera after he glanced up the steps into The Moon Garden and was intrigued by what he saw. 

The opposite side of the path in the above photo.

Paeonia japonica 

Malus 'Tina' at the peak of perfection.

The Yin Yang bed and the path to the West Gate on the right.

Looking back to the east side of this upper garden.

Wordless Wednesday