Flowers

There aren't many out, but there are a few hanging out in the garden. These are violas in the lower tier. They are great flowers for lazy people. If you put them in a pot, have pretty flowers all summer, then let some of the flowers go ugly, make seeds and fall back into the pot, they re-seed themselves. Come spring you just have to remember that there were violas in there so you don't pull them out as weeds! They are related to pansies and Johnny-jump-ups. They are edible! When they come on in larger quantities I am going to preserve some with egg white and superfine sugar. They are great garnish for sorbets and cakes.

Up top are primula- the fancy name for primrose. They are always such pretty, bright colors.








There are also a few flowers to be. The forecast seems good enough to uncover Paul's miniature rose bush. It is tucked into the protected corner with the compost bin and the retaining wall providing a little bit of wind protection and heat reradiation to temper the temperature changes. I still haven't figured out if it is a temperature thing or a nutrition thing that causes the leaves to be red instead of green.



Some more flowers to be are tucked underneath the butterfly bush. Butterfly bushes are one of the things that I cringe each year when I cut it back, but then am glad I did since it makes it have lots of flowers! They do what there name implies, they attract butterflies. I really need to start leaving my camera by the back door so I can catch more of the butterflies this year. The green leaves at the base are irises. I have two kinds. One are bearded irises. They get BIG and they look like they have beards- you would think people who name flowers would be a little more creative. The other ones are the ones that were hanging out in the fridge over the winter. The greens are up, so we will see if they bloom around Flag Day (June 14) hence their other name, Flags. This was a mixed color batch. I should have blue/purple, white and yellow. I also have a few lilies in there that I thought I accidentally killed last year...





All in all, by the end of the summer I should have a yard full of green and colorful flowers!





I have been trying to arrange the garden so the perennial flowers (rose, butterfly bush, peony) break up the vegetable garden, and are in areas that are harder to get to. I figure if I have to tend to the veggies all summer, but the perennials mostly at the beginning and the end, I may as well put them where they are hard to get to so I can pick my tomatoes/beans/cucumbers without having to do a balancing act.