With the bulk of the gardening work complete, it’s time to catch you up on all the things that have bloomed in the meantime. I brought as much as I could from the townhouse, and while the show so far hasn’t been as spectacular as it has been in the past, there’s still plenty of blooms.

First, the Lily of the Valley:

This is one of my absolutely favourites. Since it spreads so easily, I only brought a small clump from the townhouse. And when things started coming back this spring, I thought I’d lost it. It wasn’t until I started clearing out along the fence line that I found it buried under a pile of weeds. It’s now blooming and of course, smells wonderful. This clump will be moved at some point – when we move the fence and I create a “woodland garden” under the maple tree. But for now, I can just enjoy it as is.

The tulips are all done now, but you’ve yet to see my purple parrot tulips, which were the last to bloom.

Such a pretty little tulip. I plan to plant SCADS of tulips this fall, so next spring should be absolutely spectacular.

As the tulips died off, the irises begin to bloom.

This dwarf bearded one is one of my faves. It originally came from Mom’s garden, and it’s deep dark purple is almost black in some light. By the time we left the townhouse, I had several clumps. I brought two with me, and gave a couple to neighbours, so it’s legacy lives on there.

And speaking of neighbours…

These two gorgeous varieties came from neighbour Krista before I moved, though I completely forgot she gave them to me until they bloomed. To be honest, I don’t remember her giving me the burgundy one at all… but she said she did so I’m just going with it. She’s the most likely source, anyway.

These other two though… I do remember! They both came from the grocery store garden centre near the townhouse. It was odd to see anything other than purple irises there, so I snapped them both up as soon as I saw them.

New neighbour Sean has asked if I would like to do an iris trade when they are done blooming. He really wants some of those white ones and I’m more than happy to oblige. He has some lovely pale purple ones, so it seems like a good deal.

In other iris news….

This is my Shaker’s Prayer iris. It’s a Siberian Iris, so it’s smaller and more delicate than the bearded irises above. It came from the townhouse as well, and like the Lily-of-the-Valley, I thought I lost it at first. But, I was just mistaking it for day lilies. I planted it along the fence with the day lilies, and when the foliage first starts coming up, they are very similar. I’m so happy I was wrong, because I just absolutely love this one.

And the last iris…

This is my newest one – one of the native plants I showed you a few weeks back. It’s a Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor). It’s even smaller than the Siberian Iris, but so pretty. And how small??

Here it is with my hand just below it. And look at that little spider… it’s already attracting wildlife! That’s some successful native planting if you ask me!

Speaking of native plants. The native Loblia has started to bloom.

It’s not the most showy plant, but beneficial none-the-less.

Elsewhere, you saw my pretty sage plants last weekend, but they are worth another look.

I had sage at the townhouse, but it died off the year I did the garden revamp (the year before we moved). It’s nice to have it again, as it blooms all summer, and is a great pollinator magnet.. I have a third one, that I planted last fall, but it hasn’t bloomed just yet. (These two are both brand new this spring).

My pincushion plant (brought from the townhouse) just exploded this year. In fact, it did so well I split it into three separate plants and they are all just starting to bloom.

It’s more pink than purple, as it seems here, but it’s a fabulous plant that the pollinators love. And it blooms all summer long.

Over in the island garden, all my groundcovers are doing well. And my sagifraxa has bloomed.

It’s a very odd plant. It has leathery leaves shaped like sedum, but it grows low to the ground like hens and chicks. But it gets the little, delicate flowers on really tall stems.

I bought and Alpine Aster this year. I had them before, but they didn’t do well in the heavy clay soil at the townhouse. I figured they would do much better here. And so far, the second try is going amazing

My previous one was a white aster. This one, as you can see is a stunner of a pink. It’s an amazing pop of colour in the island garden.

The Lupin I brought from the townhouse is doing spectacular.

I actually had two varieties at the townhouse – this solid purple one, and one with purple and white flowers. The latter didn’t make the trip, it seams. But I had bought another Lupin in the fall, and it was supposed to be white, but…

Its apparently purple too! At least it’s a different shade (more of a blurple), but I was really looking forward to some white ones. Hopefully there will be some different colours in the seedlings I started (more on that tomorrow).

Quite a few of the asiatic and oriental lilies I brought from the townhouse are getting ready to bloom. And I planted some new bulbs in the front garden that have yet to sprout, but I just couldn’t resist these orange ones when I saw them at the garden centre.

They are a double bloom which I don’t see very often in lilies.

I’m happy to say, I did get a lilac bush… in fact, I got two!

I found one called Madame Lemoine, which is very similar to the white one (Beauty of Moscow) that I had at the town house. It’s quite small, and doesn’t have blooms yet, but I’m happy to wait. But I also picked up this one a few days later. It’s called Bloomerang!

If it sounds familiar, it’s because Dee has one in her yard. It blooms in both spring and fall! I can’t wait!