It's June? Seriously?

I looked at the calendar and May had thirty-one days this year just like always.  How did it go by so darn fast?  We have not had Lemon Lily flowers for several years.  They  have usually been frosted in May but not this year!  Early this morning I saw the cheery yellow flowers from the house.  I wanted to get out there while it was still cool.  Since there are weeds popping up everywhere,  I chose to work right next to these lovely flowers.  The first thing I did was stick my nose into this flower coming face to face with a Flower spider.  I backed off and so did she but she only went to the other side of the flower where I could no longer see her.  The whole area around the lilies was filled with fragrance.  It was a pleasure to remove unwanted plants and give these beauties their place in the sun.  While I was out there, two  blue Indigo Buntings stopped by close enough for me to enjoy their iridescent color and twittering.  I stopped to watch them and  the  House Wrens that seem to have babies  to feed in the pink birdhouse.  

The Robin's Plantain, also known as Blue Spring Daisy, is blooming now too.  It is a native from a patch that  used to grow in the back meadow.   It is a plant I have rarely seen elsewhere.  It could use some help holding its spot.  Perhaps it will get moved to the top of the list for my next time spent in the garden.

Gorgeous flowers are blooming everywhere.  This is the Blue Flag that grows in front of the house..

All of the Iris are opening now.  This family heirloom goes back to my Mom and my Grandmother.  The fragrance of this flower is a memory from my childhood.  Not big and showy, but hardy, fragrant and lovely, this is one of the plants that garden visitors ask me to share.  I do that often and gladly!  It is cooling off now.  Perhaps I can do a little more before it rains!

These Will Be Together

Our style of gardening includes little planning.  The urgency to get the new plants into the ground has us searching for an open spot rather than reading a carefully drawn site map.  On rare occasions inspiration strikes and a carefully planned grouping comes into sharp focus.  These lemon lilies will be part of an organized planting.  They are the earliest daylily to flower and many years sees them taken by frost.  The west facing stone wall must have stored considerable heat in advance of the recent freeze because these buds remained undamaged.  Our new planting will be near the south facing basement wall.  Warmed by house heat and reflected sunlight, these beautiful flowers may bloom more frequently.

Oriental lilies are reported to benefit from companions plants that shade their base.  Groups of lemon lilies keep their leaves for the entire summer and will shade a central cluster of oriental lilies.  Early yellow flowers will be replaced by tall oriental lily flowers.

Gaps in the lemon lilies could provide excellent spots for Cardinal flower.  They too appreciate some shade from the high sun.  Clusters of brilliant red flowers swaying above lemon lily foliage will be a traffic stopper.

Meadow sage bursts into deep purple flower at the same time that the clear yellow of the lemon lilies peak. This photo is back lit by the setting sun and it does not do the clear purple color justice.  We really need a better picture.

We are working to tame the sloped ground directly in front of our house.  Rows of sizable rocks are being placed to create nearly level planting areas.  One such spot is ready for plants now.  When the time is right to move our plants, they will be placed in this new ground in a carefully planned arrangement.  This will be a first for us.