Happy June!

♫ June is Bustin Out All Over ♫

June is here and one half of 2018 is about to be over!  Seems like the days are flying by quickly.  We've had a wonderful amount of rain that my garden truly loves.  Unfortunately there have been places not too far from us that have experienced severe flooding.  Our area has mostly been spared, except the usual streets close to the river.  Today as we traveled across the Rappahannock River it was a angry, muddy, swollen mess of trees and branches rushing downstream.

The Jackmanii Clematis is blooming earlier than usual.  I think it really likes the rain.

I cut back all of the clematis rather severely in late winter as they really needed it. They have managed to come back and almost cover the trellis again.  Nature never ceases to amaze me!

The Oakleaf Hydrangea is beginning to bloom.  We bought this shrub many years ago at Monticello.  It appears to like this spot and we enjoy seeing it from our patio.

I clipped a few blossoms to put on the dining room table yesterday.  Do you take cuttings to bring inside?

This little area is our view from our patio.  The Stella D'Oro daylilies are beginning to bloom as well as the Rose Campion.  The Gayfeather Liatris will be blooming soon.  It's my plan (ha ha) to have something in bloom all season.  Plants have a way of teaching humility!

My sister gave me seeds to lamb's ear years ago and that's what we thought this plant was.  She has a huge patch of them and told me to make sure I really wanted them.  After researching the bloom I found it was not Lamb's Ear, but Rose Campion.

In our large perennial garden the Astillbe is emerging as well as thousands of Rudbeckia.  I've been removing them to the trash and am considering getting them out of this bed. Too much of a good thing can take over.

Can you see the small bee that happened to show up on the Astillbe when I took these pictures?

This is an afternoon shady garden that really likes ferns and various other shade loving plants.

This Pulmonaria is safe with this bunny, unlike the ones I've shown you earlier.

The last of the peonies have all bloomed except this one lone blossom.  I'll miss bringing them indoors.

This male cardinal comes back to the apple feeder that is full of his favorite safflower seeds.  The squirrels don't like them so it's a win-win at this little feeder.

The male robin visits this bird bath often to clean his feathers and take a bath.  We so enjoy sitting on the patio and watching his antics and the others enjoy our little garden.  Now if I can just stop seeing all the work I should be doing in the garden, instead of relaxing!  Happy June! ♥

Beauty Amidst the Painting of Our Home

♫ Cardinal Birdsong ♫

As I've mentioned we are having our home painted inside and out.  We hired wonderful painters that are doing a great job.  All this being said, we still are working quite hard at doing all the prep that needs to be done with our possessions.  All pictures, mirrors, china and drapery has to be taken down and stored where they are not painting. I'm washing the curtains and hanging them on the line to catch the breeze and the sunshine.  They smell amazing off the line!  I consider myself to be a pretty good housekeeper, but do you know how much dust can lurk behind furniture and pictures?  Whew, what a big job!  Painting really can be an eye opener!  I know why we don't do this as often as we should!

Meanwhile the garden is keeping me centered.  Even with our awful freeze, we have lovely blooms left on our dogwoods.

Our resident cardinals always brighten our days.  How could you not get a thrill when you see their beauty!  The dogwood is the state tree of Virginia and the cardinal is our state bird.

The winds have been blowing and the cardinal was dancing up and down on the limb.

 He finally decided it was time to move on.

The garden flag features some of my favorite friends.

Ajuga reptans

Pretty soon I'll be busy potting up some annuals for the patio.  I can hardly wait.  My potting shed will be getting a paint job as well.  You can see it needs it!

Meanwhile the bunny and I are waiting for warm days ahead spent in our garden.