Janet How pretty! I love lilacs and that has such a nice color.
Happy Days!

Karyn

'Sensation' Lilac

'Snowball' Viburnum

'Bridal Wreath' Spirea

Aricula Primrose

Catmint

Red Peony - unknown

'Bowl of Beauty' Peony

Cranesbill

Another Cranesbill

Hansa - first rose out of the gate this year!

Variegated Periwinkle - Vinca Minor

Moss Phlox

Bleeding Heart - Dicentra

Ajuga - unknown

I'm jealous- all of my lilacs and most in town froze!
However, I do have a few things in bloom, and rather than put them in their specific categories, I'll put them here!

My beloved purple iris- the south bed is done and the random ones in other beds bloom, well, randomly.

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almost all of the irises (particularly the hundred on the south side of the house) are the dark purple, but a few show randomly each year in a far north bed- last year a yellow showed, this year I got this strongly grape scented beauty- I want MANY of this one to go in the south bed I plan to renovate.

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My first roses always appear on this hardy bush, and they are popular with the bees.
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And my peony, first year i got a bloom - here from previous owner. The flower's resident was unnoticed when i was HOLDING the flower still but showed in ALL the pics. Well, except the ones I took from the other side. Including closeups. Ugh

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Vrie, I'm fairly certain that's a Hansa rose you have - same as the one in my picture.

I know what you mean about the lilacs. This is the first year they've bloomed for me. Also, my Hansa came out extremely early, and as a result much of the early growth got hit by frost hard.

shazam I was thinking the same thing- also if I look really close I think you even get some of the same weeds LOL!
Those bushes are impossible to kill however, and it just keeps blooming pretty prolifically- although the roses are FAST to drop and no good for cutting- since it's a serious THORN bush anyway, it doesn't matter. At least it blooms nicely near the house, which mostly hides the leaves that get spotted and yellowy. As you can tell, it's not my favorite, but at least it's RELIABLE!

Every day now, I can feel the other buds getting ready to burst- I took these pics Sunday, and I have delph starting, a lonely misplaced chamomile, a couple cranesbill, california poppies, bachelor buttons, dianthus, etc blooming as well! Ah I love summer- now if those darn weeds . . . .

Shazam, I am so envious of how much further ahead your plants are compared to mine! I think I saw from past postings that you are in the Calgary area as well, but my peonies are not open yet, and my snowball viburnum looks terribly sad! Is your viburnum in full sun? I am thinking that mine maybe doesn't get enough sun, it's only sun until around noonish. In fact my snowball viburnum has just finished leafing out - and it has more dieback than I would like to see on it. Any advice you have would be appreciated!

I like to see what is blooming in other people's yards, although it makes me anxious for my stuff to get on with the blooming as well!!

Janet

I finally have some pics to share besides irises...

redpeony,

Yup, I'm in Calgary, NW Royal Oak.

That red peony I have is amazing. I can't believe how early it bloomed. You can get them at Sunnyside; sadly, they're labeled (ahem) "Red Double Peony". They also finally have 'Red Charm', which is also a very early bloomer. The 'Bowl of Beauty' I just planted this week, and it had a bud on it when I purchased it - I prefer to purchase peonies with buds, if only so that I know that they are at the proper depth.

As for the snowball viburnum, when did you plant yours? I had serious dieback on it last year (its third year), and this is the first year it's ever bloomed. I find that they are very thirsty for water and need to be mulched heavily - I have four inches of bark mulch on the ground protecting it. I wouldn't worry about how much sun they get - although mine gets tons of afternoon sun, they are supposed to be fine in the shade.

I attribute the early growth this year to a few things: I put down compost really early in the season (early April), and last year I fertilized with Wurzel Dip, which the plants really seemed to appreciate - although I will warn you, roses HATE, HATE, HATE it, no matter what Donna Balzer says. And finally, I fertilized at the start of the season with 24-8-16 (yes, Miracle-Gro). It's quite acidic, and that really helps with our too alkaline soil.

I love seeing everyone's pictures, as they are all so lovely! I'm busy trying to get a new bed set up, as well as dividing perennials for the farmer's market, so I haven't had a lot of time to post pictures lately, but here's a couple I took yesterday.

The creeping thyme is slowly choking out the arenaria.:(

This spirea has finally gotten big enough to put on an awesome show this year.

Yesterday, I couldn't resist picking up a pot of this campanula 'Pink Octopus', as it looks just like campanula 'Elizabeth' that someone has taken scissors to.

Laurie

Oooh that spirea is so beautiful. Too bad mine just dies back to the ground :(

Mine was eaten by rabbits to the snowline which was only at a foot this past winter. I now have a very low flowering spirea.

Mine used to look like Laurie's (which is gorgeous). Oh well....

Brenda

That spirea even had my DH interested enough to ask "what that cauliflower thing was?"LOL This spirea has a good spot where all the snow gets blown on to it come winter. That way no passing bunnies can find it and neither can the winter winds.;0)

Thanks for replying Shazam. I am in Panorama Hills, so climate wise very similar to you. The Snowball Viburnum was just planted last year, so this was the first winter that it went through with me. I think water wise it is good, I put down lots of bark mulch last year - and we have had such a wet spring. I must say that I only fertlized for the first time this year last week. I actually only turned on our underground sprinklers a couple of days ago, since it has been so wet here! Last year I did sprinkle some slower release granular ferlizer in April to try to give the roots a head start, but this year I didn't get around to it. This fall I will try to peel back some bark mulch and add more compost, although I amended a lot when we first made the beds over the past 2 years. I figure I should keep up with it since we have so much clay.

Last year I planted Red Charm, Bowl of Beauty, Mother's Choice, Sword Dance, Buckeye Belle and the fernleaf peony. Since the fern leaf didn't end up blooming this year, Buckeye Belle won the race for the rest of them. I expect that Red Charm will open within the next couple days - and I am anxious to see what color red it will actually be!

Janet

Cauliflower - LOL sounds like something my DH would say too. My spireas at work bloomed really dense like that this year too, not sure why. I like the pink octopus Laurie!

Good gardening everybody!

Laurie your Spirea is soooo gorgeous!

Sharon

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden photos for this week

redpeony,

I'm not sure how old your garden is, but the worms in mine devour the compost within weeks now. You can never add enough compost in Calgary's soil.

Be patient with the snowball, they seem to take a while to get established.

That's a fantastic selection of peonies you have - I hope that the Buckeye Belle is doing good for you this year, because that is one amazing peony.

I've completely run out of space in the backyard, and have two moon of nippons, two sword dances, that red double, and a pink peony that I can't remember what it's called.

I'm ripping up the front yard next year and putting in yet more plants. Hello, buckeye belle :)

Your Spirea is stunning Laurie! too funny about the cauliflower comment:)
Everyone has such lovely plants blooming right now...really like your clematis seedling northspruce! I planted pink flamingo, lagoon and bluebird.
Pink Flamingo is giving me a few repeat blooms and I quite like it.
Deb