Sweet Remembrances of Summer

It's official. The down-filled coat has come out of the closet and any hint of summer has flown off with the wind. I look at my garden, nothing but dried up leaves and keeled over stems, barren of any buds. Spring-time seems a long way off (actually, it is......5 looong months off.) It's a good thing I like to take photos; they remind me of what is dormant below the surface.

I planted this Lilac bush the year Mike and I got married. It's off on the corner of the house just a little way down from the master bedroom window, so when it's in bloom, the sweet fragrance drifts in to our room.

These may be your standard Stella day lily, but these flowers rock. They start blooming in June and the last flower I saw on it was in late October. They just keep going and going. I can see them all summer and fall out my living room window.

A new addition to the garden this year: A Hydrangea! I'm going to experiment next year with the soil acidity to see if I can turn these mammoth flowers a bluish-purple.

Now here is the most beautiful and fragrant Bearded Iris. Open your hand right now. That's how big these blooms are every May! I really look forward to seeing them each year, and wish their blooming season lasted all summer long!

My sturdy, dependable Daisies never fail me every June!

I really think these flowers got the shaft when someone named them Gladiolas. They surprised me late this summer when they bloomed. I'd forgotten all about them being in my garden!

And I think these babies are my favorite.....Peonies. Aren't they stunning? I have them in white, pale pink, and raspberry.