You can't really see it, but my copper beech didn't leaf out fully. Some smaller, pinker leaves showed up more recently. But in the right light, which I haven't managed to photograph, the new leaves glow fuschia against the purpley adult leaves.

I hope that the leaf buds that died over the winter and were replaced with the tiny pinker new leaves died of the cold, not some disease that will kill my beloved copper beech.

Sigrid, I hope it survived, too. My Japanese Maple is likely in its last year. It had a dead limb last year, but this year has almost no leaves. If it’s damage from winter or our crazy spring, I’m not sure it has enough leaves to photosynthesize and stay healthy.

More poppies. I just love them. They are so fun to grow from seed and plop around the garden! These are probably Lauren’s Grape and Jimi’s Flag.

My Japanese Maple did the same thing this year. Lots of small dead branches all over the canopy. Thankfully equally distributed and no large limbs looking dead. I've had it for at least 25 years and never had this problem before. Luckily we are getting a lot more rain than usual this year and that has to help. Just so long as we don't have a repeat next winter I hope.

Sigrid, I love beech trees and I hope yours recovers fully. It looks like a mature tree.

I love your poppies, Deanna. I used to have one called 'Lauren's Grape' that reminds me of your purple. I had one of those doubles too. I got them from seed swaps on Gardenweb years ago when I was trading seeds. They've petered out long ago. Poppy heads are so pretty before and after bloom and the colors are nice pops in a bed.

PM, you are right about the poppy. It probably is Lauren’s Grape. I just edited my post. Thank you!

One thing about Lauren’s Grape, her seeds germinate well and survive better than any other variety. She’s a tough one! There are so many LG poppies scattered throughout the garden now.

I have a white one beside Jimi’s Flag or Drama Queen (they look almost exactly alike), and I don’t remember sowing white seeds. A lovely garden surprise!

We had a misty morning. I got out there a bit late, but the white/green area looks better in the mist! Astilbe Bridal Veil or Deutschland in front, goatsbeard in back. i can’t wait for the goatsbeard to really take off!

Deanna, what do you plant with the poppies?

I love a little fog and mist, it softens the edges. Nice.

PM, I just scatter the poppy seeds and/or plants. When they are WS seedlings they germinate so much earlier and grow quicker than other plants, so I literally walk around the garden looking for open spots in sun. This one area with abudant poppies is where I can’t keep my mums alive, so I end up with lots of spots for poppies, unfortunately! This year some of these poppies are shading perennials coreopsis seedlings, so for the first time I’m cutting the poppy stalks right to the ground after the flower wilts to make room for sunshine. I’ve got plenty of other poppies for seeds to save!

I think this poppy is Hens n Chicks. Never grown this one, but the seedpods are supposed to be the highlight.

Deanna, I've been cutting down Pestemon stalks that I usually leave up for the pretty seedheads, but they are falling all over everything around them and shading them out. Glad you are enjoying your poppies!

We've had too little sun. I was comparing photos from last year to this year and everything is half the size. I have mushy roses from all the rain and I haven't gotten to deadhead them yet. The rabbits ate my roses for the first time. Really just about stripped the foliage off my Savannah and the lower leaves off a number of other roses. And I decided to focus on sun lovers that would tolerate hot dry weather - looks like I zigged when I should have zagged. Not the best growing season this year, so far. The lawn looks pretty good, though.

PM, you remind me that I forgot to take pictures of Penstamon digitalis ‘Mystica ’. I grew it from seed two years ago and it has been so much more hardy and beautiful than I had thought it would. Here it is at the end of its bloom. It certainly survived last year with flying colors. We’ll see how it does if this year continues to be soggy. Right now this spot is a ”where am I going to put this” spot. I need to figure out a place to put that will really highlight how nice it is.

PM, two shots of Lauren’s Grape, mostly self-sown. She’s dependable, I’d say!

Silene armeria, Sweet William Catchfly, is a favorite reseeder. The flowers are beautiful, but the best thing is how it cooperates with neighbors. You can see from the second picture that at its base it has almost no clump at all, meaning it can happily sprout up amongst established plants, grow and bloom, and set seed, all while never really bothering or crowding anybody. It is a prolific reseeder, and always very welcome each year. It is a short-lived biennial, so it does not get out of control and reseeding is welcome.

Had to go to Bristol, RI, this weekend for a kid’s regatta, and saw these hydrangeas beautifully performing in a decrepit historical building that seems to be about to undergo a historical renovation/rejuvenation. I love how their beauty stands out amongst the decay. Kind of like a picture of how life can be.

Also, saw this deliberate planting of Gooseneck loosestrife, laughed, and had to take a picture of how it is now invading the plants next to it and branching out. It’s so deceptively sweet, until it’s not. Again, kind of like a picture of how life can be!

Lastly, posted this grouping on Maria’s ”tea” post, but adding it here with the Ladies Mantle addition. Most of these plants are in pots waiting to be put out. Finally decided to use the golden ferns in a summer arrangement with a potting annual that was left over. Then I realized the potting annual was a perfect match for the astile, and the golden fern was a perfect match for the hostas, LM, and Dicentra ’Gold Heart’ foliage. I got a porch arrangement on the cheap for as long as the astilbe blooms, at least!

Deanna, Your Penstemon looks a lot like mine. I started out with Pestemon 'Dark Towers'. The foliage is a nice dark color and the flowers are a pale pink similar to yours. They reseed very well if I leave the seed heads up. I have them all over my front bed now. The seedlings are mostly green foliage and sometimes almost while blooms. Some dark foliage seedlings too. I've seen a hummingbird visiting the Penstemon a few times so far. I find it a very easy plant to use.

That second photo of your Laren's Grape...that has to be my favorite color. It's a violet more or less. My DR wallpaper is a similar shade. I would love a rose that color! lol They are really a pop of color in your garden. Also that Astilbe is such a saturated red and looks great with the golden foliage you've paired it with. I can't grow Astilbe at all so I enjoy yours. That Hydrangea is just covered with blooms! lol

I haven't tried Sweet William. It sounds like a very useful filler that plays well with others. [g]

PM, it would be interesting to learn the difference between Mystica and Dark Spires. I do like them so much more than I thought I would!

We have had a little sun , which means seedlings are jumping up finally. I’m hoping they put down excellent roots in the cool and wet days earlier because they sure weren’t growing above ground!

I was very very late to the Astilbe club. In fact, I did not like them at all until I saw the astilbes that drape like this. Are they ostrich astilbes? They are still my favorites. All of my non-white astilbes were inherited. This area was planted when not in bloom, and I really need to move the ostrich ones to the back and the light pink straight ones to the front.

Daylilies are arriving, but they are sort of mushy in the weather from the get go. This area is nice early on, then goes through an empty phase, and now is coming into its yellow phase, but isn’t quite fully there yet. There are yellow trumpet daylilies waiting to bloom that signal its high season.

Flame Coral phlox is starting to bloom, but Glamour Girl (not pictures) is still behind. I can’t remember if Flame Coral always bloomed first or not.

Updated the ”yellows” photo this morning. That’s a big difference in two days! And, tons of Lauren’s Grape poppies continue to bloom!

Daylilies in this photo are Chorus Line, Bama Music, Wahpeton Wish, and Siloam Little Girl. I am late to the daylily club and still find their foliage to be boring as everything, even thought it looks just like many flowing grasses which are popular so i SHOULD like it, but I do love this profusion of blooms and they are the most dependable thing in the garden.

Every year I cut these far later than I should for them to look their best because the bees just love them