Couldn’t paint this if I tried. Within days, the most magical creations appear on rotting wood stumps.

After years of struggle in the herb garden, this rose is coming back full force this year. I’ve always said I won’t mess with roses for their upkeep can be a chemical challenge. Well, it made it and is now covered with buds like this first one. Definitely worth the effort (which btw included no chemicals here!).

Well, my brain cells are aging and the tag’s missing, so I have no clue what the name of this flower is. But now in its second year, the clump has doubled and I’m thrilled!

Somewhat difficult to capture in a photograph… the layers of texture: The crisp peony buds on their bright green foliage in front of spikey rosemary, with the stone backdrop of the house. I stand in awe. (and yes, the rock’s making waves… :-)

This penstemon is about ready to open. So delicate, so precious.

My friend Nancy is a fellow garden nut and I’m always inspired by new additions to her collection. While mountain laurel is native here and grows profusely around their house, this hybrid is absolutely spectacular! The color in the photo is pretty close to real: the buds literally look like candy, about as pink as it gets!

Every year I watch the ants on the peonies in the back yard. From the time that small flower buds appear, each one has a few ants on it. They seem to be just hanging out, not busy tending to other insects or substance. Correction: the substance must be the fragrant aroma of the peonies. No doubt intoxicating! It seems that the ants are literally getting high on the scent.

A friend told me that there is actually some kind of symbiotic relationship between the ants and the peonies, that the plant would not flower were it not for the ants’ attention. Interesting. Haven’t been able to find anything on the web on this, would love some more info! Until then, I’m enjoying these fabulous creatures, green and legged ones alike!

Planting this barberry bush in the herb and flower garden was an experiment - a successful one may I add. This baby is simply stunning, the photo doesn’t really convey it. The red is deep and morphs toward green at the base of the stems where the sun doesn’t hit. Right now, tiny red berries are forming. All year long, this simple bush adds color and texture, I love it!

The backyard is filling out nicely. Every Thing is so lush. I can’t even bring myself to mow the buttercups! The whole fence is covered with honeysuckle, just about ready to explode into bloom and fragrance. The somewhat “contained” bed to the right in front of the angel is full of raspberry bush, loaded! It’s the first year. I have a feeling I’m kidding myself that this baby will let me keep it contained like this…

This one’s happy sitting in an inconspiciuous spot between rocks and mulch.

There are moments that I’m in complete awe of creations such as these. It’s all a dream…

Seeds from a friend’s garden started the two red columbines. Now in their second year, they are almost three feet tall and a couple of feet wide, a huge cluster of red and yellow blossoms. Think I’ll be spreading some more of those seeds.

The black columbine was added to our friends’ resting spot (a.k.a. the pet cemetery) last year and came back with a vengence this year, tons of black blossoms! Well, they’re actually closer to a dark purple, not quite what you see in this image.

Buddha’s chilling out by the “creek” that’s now making its way across, or rather through, the walkway. Fresh flowers in a tiny blue bottle, one of the many bottles that still keep emerging through the garden floor. The steep, once wooded lot was obviously at some point also used to dump their trash. Serenity reclaimed.

These purple clematis blossoms are a good 8″ across and absolutely stunning! Ricki cut old chainlink fence and attached strips of it as trellisses for the clematis plants. Seems that a few hours of direct light are definitely enough for these delicate beauties.