The roses bloom here in early June for that big spring flush. But I like them this time of year as everything looks so green and wonderful.

Azaleas are blooming!

Wow....

Sue, some I upload, some I don't. But I did go ahead and submit one of the Easy Does It photos.

Honey bees are out but there's nothing really blooming for them!! I'd never seen them on the grape hyacinths before...

Yea!

Brothers Grimm, the bright rose in the foreground, is now in bloom.


William Shakespeare 2000 is such a vibrant fuchsia, I am trying to match it with an iris or something else that compliments it, not easy.


I got Jacob's Robe last spring, it seems happy!


Autumn Sunset is looking good.


And my Sambucus 'Black Lace' just started blooming.

They are all so pretty but that first picture is just stunning.

Too hot and dry for it to be practical here, even if I did have room in the yard, but sure like that Black Lace.

One day perhaps I'll work hard enough to have a garden that looks like that - I hope, maybe.

My bees are super busy! I only have 2 roses blooming, and the grape hyacinths are finished, but the apple tree is LOADED with blossoms and bees! The tree hums as you walk under it! The dandelion blooms are especially plentiful this year, and the bees love them too.
My beekeeper is giving a talk here at the end of May. The Organic Gardening Club is having their monthly meeting here that night. I'm trying to make a list of all the plants I have that are particularly desirable for bees or butterflies, and it is a long long list. I am very fortunate in that nobody in my area sprays, and we really don't have many problems (other than RRD) because we have so many beneficial insects. The bats do a nightly search for insects, too.
We've had 4" of rain in the last week, filing the ponds, running over the dam. I can't mow close to the edge of the stream because it's too muddy, so the grasses there are pretty tall. It will be a trick to finally mow without hitting the small shrubs and trees I have planted. We don't have a mosquito problem (yet?) because the fish eat the larvae, and the birds eat the adults. The main reason probably is that it's too windy for mosquitoes to fly!
In June, the Rose Society is bringing a busload of people out here for dinner and tour. I hope to have some roses blooming by then! Everything is so behind this year. We have our main Iris show every year on Mother's Day, and this year, all i have blooming is miniature iris. LAst year, we were so far ahead, that all the iris had finished by then.
Tomorrow I'll post some pictures. The ones I took tonight are not showing the true colors.
My first fernleaf peonies are open, so i may have peonies for Memorial Day, and that's pretty traditional for us.

I didn't see Sue's post before I posted...wow. What beautiful roses. My autumn Sunset has never looked like that. Sue you really grow them well.

That one is planted in my raised vegetable bed, so 2 years ago we filled it with a real nice compost planting mix. I found this photo from mid-June 2011 with the potted rose sitting on the right ledge just before planting.



and I took this shot July 2011 just as I was starting to plant, the soil is good here!

I would definitely get own root David Austin roses. I'm in zone 6a in PA. Own root roses do so much better for me than grafted ones - especially ones grafted on Dr. Huey.

I recommend Wildeve. I may have given up on roses had I not gotten lucky and bought Wildeve aka AUSbonney at Walmart. I had never heard of David Austin roses and didn't know about own root roses. I just loved the soft apricot pink color and thought that the plant looked healthy. She is the first rose to survive the winter in my garden. To be fair, the early casualties were grafted roses from big box stores. I prefer Wildeve to Abraham Darby which I also grow.

Golden Celebration gets terrible blackspot as does Princess Margaretha (which I am too lazy to check the spelling of). Molineux didn't survive the winter, but Charlotte is a good replacement.

Rita, what type of tulips do you grow? I haven't had much luck with tulips returning.

I agree with you about the rose foliage. I tried growing my roses naturally for a couple of years, but couldn't stand the blackspot. Now I use systemic and spray fungicide/insecticide on the susceptible roses, but continue to grow the disease resistant varieties naturally. I say naturally instead of organically because I use a combination of organic, natural and non-toxic chemical products (like miracle grow). When choosing between an "organic" product and the same product for a third the price such as neems oil, I go for the cheaper one.

I garden in long sleeves all year round. I follow the shade around when gardening. Even with sunblock, I burn too easily. Besides, who needs skin cancer or premature aging. I try to prune roses in cooler weather so that I can wear my rose proof windbreaker.

Many different types of tulips and many that don't return. I do love tulips blooms though so I keep planting them.

Red Riding Hood has returned this year. It has cute speckled leaves. I dug some bulbs up for the summer and left some in. The ones that I left in fared better than the ones I dug up. All my remaining tulips are in pots ready to move. I hope to have a garden spot with better drainage for bulbs and irises.

I haven't found a place, yet, so I am crossing my fingers, packing my things and scouring the papers and craigslist. I have a few places to see next week, most are happy to have a gardening tenant.

I was tempted to place a listing SWF with spoiled lap dog iso 2 bdr house/apt with yard. Hobbies include growing antique roses and heirloom vegetables and picking up after the neighbors dogs. I would probably get the wrong kind of offers.

Red Riding Hood is a Greigii Class Tulip and would return year after year. No need to dig, actually not a good idea for that class. Leave in ground.

You probably would, Andi.