Appreciating the Beauty

There's just so much beauty to appreciate with spring bringing color back to the landscape, flowers to the gardens, leaves to the trees, birds, bees and other critters, large and small to keep us entertained....
My camera has had quite a workout these past couple of months, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to squeeze in much time to post or read blogs. However, I want to share some of the beauty with you, so here is a look back at May.....

Just after Bloom Day these gorgeous pink tulips opened fully,

along with the creeping phlox,

and the combination delighted us from early morning until late evening for the rest of the month.

The last petals are falling now, and sadly, the show is over until next year, although the phlox are still blooming,

And so it the dainty Aubrietta.

I love this pretty pastel mix of colors.

The Dynasty tulips looked more orange in some lights, and in others, more pink. They have both colors in the large blooms.

Angelique gets the prize for the longest blooming tulips. She's still going, but is beginning to fade now.

Such sweet double blooms.

Down in the Rock Garden they paired nicely with the Basket of Gold perennial allysum.

Hannah was enjoying the morning tour of the gardens with me, along with Jasmine, who was just out of the picture.

These frilly blooms beg for close-ups!

I like the Basket of Gold against the rocks.

These dark Johnny Jump-ups popped up next to another rock.

It was hard to resist taking lots of shots of the pink and purple mix. Isn't that a beautiful blue sky?

May certainly was a month of purple! Alium is still blooming in several gardens, but the biggest clump is in the Driveway Garden.

It's a relative of the onion, but much prettier....clusters of purple stars!

I've seen it in a gorgeous deep purple, paired with this lighter shade, in a garden I pass on the way to work. It's someone I know.....I wonder if they'd be willing to share....maybe I have something they'd like.

Johnny Jump-ups (viola cornuta, aka Heartease) are just the right color to tuck in next to them.

Chives, a smaller look-alike, and another onion relative, are beginning to bloom now, as well.

Centaurea (perennial Bachelor's Button or Cornflower) is still going strong.

The white tulips bloomed with the lilacs.....

...up in the Top Driveway Garden.....

...along with a clump of the purple iris.

Isn't this the most delectable color?

You may have noticed that I find myself taking lots of photos of those peacefully grazing cows :)

We are so enjoying seeing them in the pasture! (click to enlarge any photo)

The Rose/Clematis Garden gets plenty of morning sun....

...and in this garden the iris are almost finished, but the peach colored Beverly Sills began blooming today. She'll have to wait for another post because I haven't tranferred her photos from the camera yet, and this post is already too long.

The lilacs really deserve a post of their own because they were so glorious this year, but they'll have to squeeze into this one.

My dear husband has planted a row of several different colored lilacs over the past several years, but they're still small. The larger ones are 3 varieties of the common color.

They're finished now after what seemed a very short period of time, but it was actually about 3 weeks.

This old lilac has been here for a very long time. My husband thinks it was here when they moved into this house when he was a little boy.

It was prettier this year than I can ever remember noticing before.

I'll have to save pictures of the bleeding hearts, and more, for next time.

I really am hoping to find time for blog reading soon, and hopefully then I'll catch up with you and see what you've all been up to. Meanwhile, I'll just wave at you from here, and assure you that I haven't forgotten you. In fact, I think of you often!

I hope you're enjoying your gardens as much as I am.