As I’ve mentioned before, we have peonies planted in two spots. The ones along the driveway always bloom first. Then in the back yard, we have one single peony and one tree peony. Unfortunately the tree peony didn’t survive the harsh winter, wild little boy, and over zealous lawn mowing husband. At least the single one looks good.  

I volunteered at our elementary school’s native plant sale last weekend. The bad news is I accidentally sold someone something that I thought was a blackberry bush. It wasn’t. The good news is that I bought the following:

Penstemon digitalis — tall white bearded tongue

Liatris spicata — dense blazing star

Hibiscus moscheutos — rose mallow

Aster novae-angliae — New England aster

Iris versicolor — Blueflag (I actually bought some of these last year and they’ve done really well–those are the ones in bloom. I decided to fill in with several more near the front corner of the house, around the hibiscus militaris.)

Matteuccia struthiopteris –ostrich fern

Virginia rose (I thought I bought one of these last year but it was a swamp rose (rose palustris). I bought two and planted them near the swamp rose but I’m thinking I might move them to an even shadier spot. )

I highly recommend a native plant sale as a school fundraiser. Great way to meet people in the neighborhood and beautify your neighbors’ yard.

I don’t even like pink that much but this year’s peonies made me smile. They’re all gone now. The petals all beaten down and washed away. At least I still have the pictures.

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I planted the alliums in the fall of 2011. Last spring there was one blossom. In a freak accident (otherwise known as a rambunctious little boy), the stem was broken before it reached its full height. This year we have two blooms and we still have a little boy.

My husband thought this was something I planted. No dear, just something that indicates how long ago the lawn was mowed. I love this man.