Thursday, June 4, 2009

Summer is Here!

Today I can finally say that summer has arrived in my little shaded garden as my peonies have begun to bloom. I love peonies. Their petals are so delicate, yet they create layers and layers of dimension and colors. Often times, it is raining when they bloom and I don't get to enjoy them. But this year, they are not predicting rain until early next week and then, it is only light sprinkles so it shouldn't ruin the beauty of my peonies.
I only have three that have opened, but I wanted to share them with you.




Because we live in an area known for rain, I find myself racing to see if my flowers will survive our weather. Sort of a game to see which will arrive first. My flowers or the rain? I must admit, this year is somewhat disappointing for me because I wasn't able to work in my gardens or plant a vegetable garden because of my broken ankle. So my gardens are not full of beautiful blooms.
I'm not a master at gardening. In fact, far from it. But I love to have freshly cut flowers around the house, which can be difficult since our property is mostly shade. I have a sister who is what I would call a Master Gardner. As long as I can remember, she has been knowledgeable of gardening. She knows most of their Latin names and all the tricks to get them to grow to their fullest. When I first moved up to our house I wanted to put in a couple of garden areas and solicited the assistance of my sister, brother-in-law, and my husband. My husband did a lot of prep work before the big day while I was at work.
My sister and brother-in-law arrived early that Saturday morning and we were outside working in my gardens in 20° temperature. The ground was solid as a ice as we planted all the bulbs and plants I had purchased. But we managed to get everything in within a couple of hours and that spring, we had some of the most beautiful displays of color. We had daffodils, crocus, and several varieties of tulips welcoming anyone who entered our property.
I can only hope I will be able to properly prepare my garden for next year's display.

1 comment:

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Ohhh pretty flowers!!!! I, personally, would welcome some rain - my webbed feet are beginning to dry up - and they say we'll get some showers on the weekend. I hope so. Maybe you won't get them over there - but I hope we do.