Beautiful blooms Sue! I may just have to get Rooguchi, it is such an enchanting bloom.

Arlene, you are so right, thanks to you, Omoshiro is one of my favorites as well.




Here is Daniel Deronda



Miguel Viso is also starting to bloom


Love Jewelry, my little sneaky surprise, blooming low in the ground, and I couldn't see it until I walked over to my back garden bed.



I call this the taming of Duchess of Albany, she had a ridiculous number of stems, and left alone for a few days, she started wondering wildly and recklessly into the plants around her. She's very happy where she's planted.

The Duchess of Albany is one VERY happy plant. I love mine as well. It is almost too easy to layer, not that you need more, Annette!

Just the name of Love Jewelry makes me smile!

Sue's Rooguchi is lovely and I hope to add photos of my own but blooming feels so far away after seeing your beauties!

Arlene, before you know it, your plants will be blooming. Love Jewelry came from Brushwood, it's a lovely plant. I need to put it in a trellis so that I can see the blooms when the plant gets taller.

Here's Otto Froebel

Otto is a stunning clematis.

Thanks Arlene, it's even better than I expected, I love the colorful stamens, and the contrasting stripe down the center of the petals.

Yes, it's the colorful stamens that attracts me to it. I can envision it with the iris, Rip City.

Rip City is lovely. Otto is planted behind peony Cora Louise, I hope to see them bloom at the same time, Cora has some colors that should go well with the the stamen of Otto F.

I'll try and be patient waiting for photos but you don't make it easy, Annette!

We'll see if I get lucky enough to get them blooming together this year

Otto is really beautiful!!

Zuzu and I hit the nurseries today, here are some blooms. I decided I really need Will Goodwin, I love it's wavy edges! We only found it in a huge pricey container so I will continue to check other nurseries.



Asao


Rebecca, a true red!


Pink Champagne


Carnaby


Souvenir de Capitaine Thuilleaux~Zuzu got this one


John Warren~she got this one too


Royalty, we are both on the lookout for this one locally


Lincoln Star


The President


Daniel Deronda

Sue, your bloom pictures are AMAZING! Oh, how I wish we had nurseries here that carried plants that size, so that I could see them in bloom. 'Rebecca' is just divine, such a vibrant red. I'll have check to see if Brushwood carries it.

I also have Pink Champagne, and John Warren, and now I can't wait to see them bloom, thanks to your enticing pictures.

Annette, I like Otto too! My duchess is looking similar to yours. But it has taken quite a few years.
Thanks for the reminder about layering Pirl.
Sue, I can't believe you have so many variates in nurseries. I was recently in San Fransisco and had a bad case of zonal envy...now there are more reasons. Just curious about the average $. Are they sold in gallon pots?

Will Goodwin was in a 5 gal. pot, about 5 ft. tall and I think $30, the others 1 gal. wholesale, $8-10.
From Royalty on down, these were huge displays at a nursery a couple of miles from my house that specializes in rhododendrons and azaleas, a beautiful wooded seven and a half acres of gardens and nursery.

That's like a mini vacation! We have a nursery on the river that's so enchanting and they provide picnic tables so people can bring lunch with them. So nice for a quiet visit and with so many wonderful plants.

That's nice Arlene! The nursery above also has a picnic table by a large pond surrounded by huge Rhodies, azaleas and trees. A nice touch that these nurseries provide, makes for a wonderful experience.

Oh my!
...that would entice me to go "shopping" entirely too much

I am forever grateful that it's 40 minutes away!

Lovely nurseries Sue and Arlene. We have nothing like that here.

Here is Liberation's 1st bloom for the season.


Mrs. Cholmondeley with more blooms.

You really have a gorgeous collection, Annette! Love your Liberation and Mrs. C.

pirl said:iris, Rip City.

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Rip City')
• Uploaded by pirl

Pirl, I remember typing a post about your Rip City iris late last night but I had multiple windows open, doing rose and clematis database uploads and checking rhododendron names, so it looks like I accidentally closed the post before submitting it!
I too have Rip City, my first red iris, really liked it a lot and have added a few new reds last fall. Your combo with the white clem is stunning, really sets it off nicely!