I’ve got a lot of almost ready to fully blooms outside at the moment, due to all the rain. The pinks and Russian sage in the bottom two pictures have buds all over the place. I’ll actually be interested to see what they look like at the end of the weekend with all the heat.
The bad thing about the rain is that it knocks my big bearded iris right over. On the plus side, that means I have a nice large vase of really lovely smelling iris inside for my weekend enjoyment. This isn’t always a plus, because I’ve had the rain come through some years before the iris are fully flowering, and knock them out before they ever get to flower. Fortunately, things worked out this year. I think next year I may get some peony cages. I’ve tried staking before, but there are so many stalks that seemingly appear overnight, it gets hard to keep up. I’m thinking peony cages will cut down on that work.
Speaking of peonies, those should be out soon. I’ve seen a ton of budding plants, all over the place. I’m hoping this year to get over to Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, which is the headquarters of the Maine Audubon. They have a peony garden that I’ve been meaning to visit for years.