poplar road

The Oriental poppies bloomed well this year but those seeds get everywhere.

Edible chestnut or horse chestnut? No idea, but the blossoms are gorgeous.

My earliest flowering bearded iris.

My seeds hardly grew, but these original lupins are huge.

Lupin leaves after the rain.

Rain on daylilies, which are just showing flower buds today.

Sharon identified these hostas. A frog nestled in one yesterday.

I've spent hours searching but can't identify this vine.

All three apple trees will be groaning with fruit this fall.

Mmm, three weeks to cherry season. The apricots will be next.

These didn't bloom last year and now rodents are eating them.

I mistook its skinny leaves for daylilies but it's another iris.

The irises drowning in weeds by the apple tree all bloomed this year.

I dug these dwarf ones out to replant at the front by the roses.

Here is yet another iris, just one stalk of this colouring next to the big clump of 2-colour purples. Two more iris varieties are coming up, one ruffled marigold yellow and the other a yellow and blood red combination that was choked out by the orange poppies last year. If the rodents eat them I'll be really, really ticked. Also coming in are the daylilies, and today the first blossom opened on one of the mock oranges. Love that scent. So far there are three tiny California poppies open in the "field" – if you remember from last year – one pink, one coral, one red. It looks like there are fewer there this year, but I sowed seeds of them in three new spots so we'll see how those do. In the midst of the poppy field (which is coming up daisies or "Mayweed Chamomile") there is a cane or two of raspberry. Birds, I guess. The actual raspberry patch has recovered from a llama attack on the long weekend and is covered in blossoms. The extra-prickly indestructible wild roses are in bloom with shots of magenta everywhere, and the more elegant tea roses and climbing rose will flower soon. Oh, and the dozens of lilies and gladiolas I planted this spring are growing very well (minus one rodent casualty). Can't wait to see if the lilies are stargazers (they were donated in a bucket by the neighbours so I've no idea what they look like).

All this rain has meant few watering days this month, but the fruit trees especially could use some sun. And the weeds are harbouring bugs in massive numbers. In the few hours I spent digging up and cleaning off the dwarf iris rhizomes for replanting, I was eaten alive by bugs attracted by my sunscreen, tiny bugs with big vicious fangs. I have little tracks of three or four bites, all itchier than mosquitoes. Am scratching right now. I'm looking forward to the hotter, drier weather so I can be outside without bug repellant. Anyway, June is shaping up to be a great month, and not just in the garden.