The Roses Are Blooming

 

I love this time of year when the roses have their first blooming. They fill the garden with color and a fantastic floral fragrance.

The old garden rose has some company this year. I added two roses beside it and they have both done really well. 

This is the Lady of Shallot.

I was surprised how orange it is when first blooming, but it fades to a gorgeous apricot.

The garden is littered with rose petals this week, and gorgeous weather makes it delightful.

I tried bubblegum pink Supertunias this year in the raised beds in front of the one garden, and they are really filling out nicely. 

In Victory,

Sherry

Peach Rose Bouquet

 

I have dreamed for many years of having roses to put in vases and never thought that it would happen for me. My one son and my husband have been adding to my rose collection this past year, and I do believe I might have roses for most of the summer. 

First to bloom have been the peach roses. Here we have the Life of the Party rose and Carding Mill. I grabbed a handful of blooms and added anything in bloom that matched. Here I have two Icelandic poppies, euphorbia, and lamb's ears. It reminds me of being a little girl again on the farm I grew up on and bringing home a fistful of flowers, of which I believe I did often. 

In Victory,

Sherry

When the White Lilacs Bloom

When the white lilacs bloom, they look lavender. The scent is absolutely heavenly; you can smell it as soon as you exit the back door. 

Many flowers are in bloom now; one of my favorites is the pansies.

Then I walked through the garden and made a bouquet of all that was blooming at the same time as the lilacs. I believe, now I will be in blooms until frost. 

In Victory,

Sherry

White Spring Arrangement

 
Here I put together a white spring arrangement in a wire basket found at a thrift store.

In this are hypoestes, dusty miller, and bocopa plants.

Also some all-white violas.

With other plants, they look really pretty. Sometimes white is peaceful and works really well for a grouping.

Do you like white plants?

In Victory,

Sherry

Real Time

I am sharing a real-time look at the garden today. It has been raining for a week, and it is in the upper 40s. Some springs just don't spring as fast as others. Here is a look at some of the things I have been working on. 

These are some containers I have been putting together. 

I discovered euphorbia this year, and I really liked its lacy quality.

Some autumn colors I put together that will look amazing later in the year when this is all filled out. 

A thyme that overwintered in this pot got a new planting of pansies to go with it.

This will be my shade container of choice to later place on the front porch. 

A container of pansies I made several weeks ago that has exploded in blooms; they really like this weather.

I have yet to share this white arrangement. I made a post on putting it together. I will post that soon. It likes this weather also.

The tall dianthus that I discovered this year. I like them better than the cottage pinks because they work great in flower arrangements. Every year is different in the garden. This is the year I am really excited about, for I will be closer to achieving that cottage garden look.

How is your garden going? 

In Victory,

Sherry

May Flowers

Here it is May, and the flowers are all deciding to bloom at once. What a wild spring it has been here.

I found a new-to-me teapot at a thrift store that looks like a cottage. Does anyone else get excited about such things? Probably not.

Here is a page out of Edith Holden's 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.' I never get tired of this book's illustrations. I wonder if she ever knew how popular it would be.

Has Dianthus always come in a long-stemmed version? Somehow I missed that. I only knew of the cottage pinks that were very short, but these are perfect for cutting and flower arranging. I had several of my cottage pinks die this winter, so I replaced them with these long-stemmed versions. 

Soon the peonies and the roses! It will be marvelous.

In Victory,

Sherry