Memorial Day weekend ....

Sundrop Oenothera fruticosa (primrose) is always a welcome sight in May. Its vivid yellow flowers really stand out. You couldn't ask for a more care free plant.

This is white Astilbe planted next to Oakleaf hydrangea.

Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort). One of it's active compounds, hypericin, functions as an antidepressant for mild to moderate depression. It has shown anti-cancer properties, when stimulated by certain wavelengths of light, in its capacity to cause cancer cell apoptosis, or cell suicide. 

This is what happens when you let broccoli florets go to flower. It seemed like one day it was harvest time and the next it was twice as big and blooming.

The Gold Flame Spirea has recovered from being transplanted.

An unusual Veronica x spicata "Tickled Pink" plume made for an interesting architectural photo.

Leucanthemum superbum Aglaya popping open after one season in the garden.

Rosa Oktoberfest now fully in bloom. This is a vigorous rose that never disappoints. Huge flowers, long bloom season and it repeats in the fall.

We have no idea what the name of this ground over is but is has a nice yellow bloom in May but can quickly choke out small plants. 

A serpent in the forsythia!

A small northern brown snake checking out the view from the forsythia. And no... I didn't kill it. They are small and beneficial to the garden.

Rosa Easy Going is just that; easy going. It exploded this year with so many flowers you might think it was a new Knock Out variety. It produces large 3 to 4 inch blooms with a light fragrance.

Strike It Rich, a 2007 AARS Winner, has great color and a nice fragrance. We had one that grew quite large but the voles ate the roots out from under it.  This one is in its second season and doing fine.

We loved our Grace Smoke tree so much we had to have the Cotinus coggygria Golden Smoke bush. Its foliage stays chartreuse which stands out against darker greens. It doesn't "smoke" as heavily as the burgundy variety but its a nice accent specimen. I still say the Grace variety has the best foliage color.

Rosa Oktoberfest in all its glory. Its a very tall and robust rose with large flowers.

A closeup of Oktoberfest to show the size and form. Classic symmetry.

The dainty poofs of the Gold Flame Spirea stand out over the lime green to chartreuse foliage.

A nice shot of purple Campanula finally blooming!!!!! It has taken years to get this far because it always gets eaten by voles. For some reason these escaped detection and crawled through the solomon seal and hosta providing the effect we were going for. Click the image for a larger view.

A group of while calla lilies. We started a large bed of calla this season so we expect quite a show next May.

This is Cytisus Pomona in full bloom. They started selling these at Home Depot this year. Easy to grow and quite showy. They claim it likes neglect and dry conditions but we water it and planted it in compost. Looks happy to me!

A rose by any other name ...

The AARS Award winning Mardi Gras from Jackson Perkins never disappoints.

The fragrance of Ebb Tide is a nice strong spicy clove. The color is actually a little darker than this image might suggest.

Rosa Easy Going went nuts this season. It has so many blooms this season heavy rain has flopped it over.

Rosa Cookies and Cream is usually more red than pink but this is quite beautiful.

Pink Double Knockout is another heavy bloomer. This year we had one in another bed get munched by voles. It survived but didn't recover in time to bloom as heavy as this one.

An unknown species of pink floribunda rose.

Rosa Sterling Silver has a beautiful bloom but is very stingy with the flowers. Its not a vigorous plant but the fragrance is worth it the wait.

Rosa Livin' Easy, a 1996 AARS Award winner, is a new introduction to our rose garden this season.

This is the other Sterling Silver rose. Only a single flower but well worth it.

Our Digitalis is in its final days. This was the center of an amazing bright white Camelot.

Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls' is not the showiest species. We have this planted (and intertwined) with the classic Wisteria sinensis. We hope it blooms next season.

Japanese Fleece Flower or Fallopia japonica “Variegata’ or Polygonatum cuspidatum ‘Variegata' has the most amazing foliage.

A clump of large purple bearded Iris germanica.

An unknown pink Peony.

Lots of rain lately and the flowers are many...

The Foxglove (Digitalis) is in peak bloom today. We grow ours from seed and they never disappoint.

Dame's Rocket (Hesperis) and Digitalis together under an oak tree.

Exbury Azalea 'Gibraltar' displaying its vibrant orange blooms. This plant has been a slow grower and quite fickle for us. We've had them die but we keep replanting.

A mixture of roses; Livin' Easy (front-orange) and Easy Going (back-pink/apricot).

Pink Double Knockout Rose with Cytisus 'Lena' (Scotch Broom). Turns out this is a great paring.

A yellow Calla Lilly (Zantesdeschia) with an unusual yellow leaf.

We planted this Lychnis flos-cuculi 'Lychjen' last spring and it really came to life this season.

Two gardens on the left of the property.

Clematis Proteus has two distinct flowers on the same vine. These are single blooms but it does produce double blooms from time to time.

Philadelphus Mock Orange with red climbing rose.

The classic white calla lily.

Yellow Flag Water Iris does well even if its not in a boggy setting. It must be kept moist or it will not bloom well.

This is a monster 6 foot digitalis.  The photo does not do it justice. Absolutely stunning in person. We plan to let this one go to seed.

A nice purple Iris germanica.

We planted this white clematis `Gillian Blades' next to a Nelly Mosure. We expect a nice contrast when they bloom next spring.