There is a rainbow in my yard!

Check out what is blooming this week in my yard...it is so great to have some color again!

Lilacs! I love these awesome bicolor lilacs! I bought them just after they bloomed last year at a discounted price. This is the first time I've seen them bloom in person and they are amazing! Unfortunately, my darling Diesel did a little unwanted pruning on one of the lilac bushes this winter and it is just now developing leaves, so it probably won't bloom this year (though at least it isn't dead, which I thought was the case!). Can you believe that these flowers smell as good as they look? I wish my whole yard was full of these!

Strawberries! I transplanted these berry plants from my grandparents' hillside to a container by their window when my Master Gardener grandfather could no longer go outside to see what was blooming in his gardens. After he passed away I brought the container home to enjoy a little bit of his hard work year after year. I can't wait until the berries come--they are so sweet and yummy!

Wallflowers! Check out these orange beauties! I have a thing for warm, bright colors (despite my current business colors...which by the way will be changing in the near future so stay tuned!). These are the only flowers I have purchased this year which is quite a change, though I also purchased four shrubs and four rose bushes :). With our remodel and busy plans this year I wasn't quite sure if I could handle more responsibility in the flowerbeds. But I couldn't just walk past these cheerful plants and leave them all at the store, so a few are now sunning themselves at my house.

Roses! I have nine rose bushes at my house that I transplanted from my Grandpa's after he passed away as they were his pride and joy and I couldn't just let a stranger take them. I've also got several bushes that came with our house, were bridal shower gifts, impulse buys etc. I think I've inherited my grandpa's love of roses! Oh, plus the four new roses I bought this summer to fill in a few gaps in the front flower beds. They are all getting some buds on them but this is the first rose to show some color. It is one of my grandpa's and one of my favorites (but I say that about all of them!). It is bright yellow with a wonderful strong scent.

Coral Bells! These little firecrackers were a leftover from our friends who lived our house just before we purchased it. These things grow in leaps and bounds each year and I'm constantly dividing them and moving them around the yard. I think in three years I've got 10x as many as I had when we moved in.

Irises and Rhodys! Both of these were leftovers when we moved into the house...they were about the only things planted in the flowerbeds. I love their bold, rich colors and enjoy their foliage year long.

There is Diesel--he likes to make my daily rounds with me in the flowerbeds.

Daisies! These were part of a wildflower seed packet that I planted last year. They are now taking over all my flowerbeds. I am trying to embrace them and not let them drive me crazy, but....it is a struggle! I enjoyed catching this little bumble bee taking a break from all his buzzing around.

Pansies! I found these in the field by our house. I moved some to the flowerbeds when we first moved in just to add some color in the corner and now they also would like to take over the entire universe. I'm begining to wonder if daisies and pansies have some sort of complex that makes them so passive aggressive...

Lupine! I love these wildflowers. Their shape is so unique! I started with one little lupine plant and these too have begun to sprout up all over...but they can stay because they add such a unique dimension to the flowerbeds.

I'll keep you posted as more exciting things bloom this year...I've got roses, several varieties of lilies, some other bulbs whose names are escaping me, butterfly bushes, perennials etc. Happy Gardening!