April Showers Brought...

SPRING FLOWERS!  YAYAYAYAYAYAY!

I have been slacking big time about posting these pics, but I will partly blame that on the Hubs...he had left the memory card for the camera in the other computer.  So, without further ado, please, enjoy some pictures of my amazing flower gardens, courtesy of the previous owners of my home.  I just cut them and enjoy them :)

At the beginning of May (when it was hot as Hades here), this is what was blooming:

This is the giant yellow rose bush in my backyard.  Every year it looks like death, and every year, it comes back, bigger, and with more amazing yellow roses  And these roses are fighters...this bush has been stepped on, mauled by dogs, survived an attempted replanting, et cetera.  Obviously, it likes this spot, and here it will stay.  The weird camera angle is because nothing else around this bush was blooming at the time, and the rest of my backyard garden area looked like bona fide crap.  So, think of it as "artistic."

These are the azaleas in the front yard.   Because I live in Richmond.  It's required.  They bloomed early and fast this year because of the ridiculous weather.  I probably should trim them so they are not so haphazard looking, but I don't really know anything about that.

This is the side of my house.  Oddly enough, this is my favorite flower garden area.  We live on a corner street, so this side of our house actually gets the most visibility from the road.  It used to be a giant mess, but this year, the Hubs put in the stone border and re-mulched the area for me as an early Almost-a-Mother Mother's Day gift.  He's a gem, and he rocks my socks.  The thing on the left is some yellowy flower.  I actually planted this one.  It loves this spot.  Then there is another rose, and on the right, my peonies.  I LOVE them.  It's my favorite part of spring, when they all start to bloom ridiculously.  Don't worry, I have more pictures of them :)

Here's the yellowy thing up close.  It really is pretty, and looks very nice when cut and placed in a long, slender vase.  I would tell you the name, but I don't know that information.

Yay, here are the peonies.  They are so beautiful, and so pink.  I think I might have planted one or two a few years ago, since they started coming up and do so well on this side garden.  There are bright fuchsia ones, the multi-colored pink ones that you see on the left, light pink ones, almost white ones, and my favorite, light pink with fuchsia ends.  I love them.  I hate that bugs love them too...when I cut them, I have to have them sit outside for a day so the bugs all crawl out of them.  Gross.

This is a more recent development, perhaps in the past week - but here are my hydrangeas in the back yard.  This has to be my most favorite plant in the yard.  One, because it's blue, and it's so different from all the pinks (and looks so nice against the brick), and two, because it reminds me of a trip the Hubs and I took to Nantucket a few years ago.  On that island, there are hydrangeas every four feet.  And they are glorious.  And I have one of my own.  And I actually planted this one.  The best part is that it keeps producing the little snowballs of flowers, so I have plenty to cut and put in my house, in my office, everywhere!

Here are Thing1 and Thing2 trying to make an appearance by my purple hydrangea.  This has been here forever, and is the most hardy plant.  Something about plants in the 1950's...I swear...they don't make them like they used to.  Whatever/however the old owners planted these things - it was the RIGHT way.

If you're looking for something to plant, I highly recommend any of these flowers.  Believe me.  I have a black thumb. I am astonished I haven't killed these things yet.  They seem mostly care-free and low maintenance, which is great, considering the last time I actually worked in the yard, I accidentally drove a small garden stake through my thumb.  True story.

So, that's what's growing in my garden this spring. I need to take some more pictures of the hydrangeas - they are really blooming now. They have less bugs in them, I am noticing, which is great for cut flowers. I hope you enjoyed the pictures :)

ETA:  I don't know why the formatting in this post is all wonky.  I'm working on it.  I am obviously not a technological genius.