Are you Superstitious?

Are you Superstitious? My first reaction is 'no, absolutely not'. But then, I do knock on wood regularly and have been known to toss a little salt over my shoulder now and again. I am fond of black cats, neutral towards the number 13, and I absolutely would not walk under a ladder, but that's just for safety reasons.

But I digress. The reason I am thinking of Superstitions is that my first Iris Germanica is in bloom. It is the near black 'Superstition' and is said to be the darkest of the irises. I am completely captivated by this bloom, which stands well over 3 feet tall.

In contrast to the dark flower on light background, here we have a light flower on dark background. A white cosmos. The simple and delightful shape of the bloom makes me smile.

Do you see what I see? One of the blue flax isn't happy with it's expected colour, and has chosen white instead. I think it is trying to gain the attention of the birch it is planted under. The other flowers don't seem to mind. In fact, it makes them appear all the more blue!

My little geranium is blooming well now, this picture reminds me of how badly I need to weed the bed, and that I should't hang a birdfeeder over a flowerbed (this area use to be grass). I had gotten behind on maintaining this bed due to the aggressive Robin. I have a very sad update about him, there were torrential rains & storms here for about 36 hours last week, during which he vanished. I am sad to think of what happened to the eggs (or chicks?) in the nest. Especially given how very hard he tried to protect them.

Stella has just started to bloom! The other daylilies are still setting buds (except Bonanza, which has yet to send up a flower stalk...). The garden hose makes for a nice sculptoral element ;).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm thrilled with 'Stairway to Heaven'. Could the little blue flowers be any lovelier?

It is doing a good job tying together my problem child bed. The mix with anemones, violas and sweet woodruff is quite pleasing.

The tango wiegela is growing well, although I had to hard prune quite a few branches that didn't make it. The little trumpet flowers are a nice addition to the dark foliage.

Time for Roses! Not sure why I didn't have any before this year. 'Sunrise Sunset' is covered in blooms, they are not quite the colour I had hoped for and are a little shocking, but it seems happy and healthy so it is a welcome addition.

I much prefer the delicate beauty of Morden Sunrise. Although she only has one bloom, it is so very elegant she has already become a favorite. You may notice the few black spots at the bottom of the picture, any advice on how to treat them would be appreciated, since I am a rose newbie.

Here is another favorite, a well established good old fashioned bleeding heart. It is missing some of it's gems due to little hands, but still looks great. It takes up a lot of space, and it somewhat unruly, but I think it adds to it's character.

Enjoy your time In Your Garden! :)