The surprise for this month’ Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day (in a month that has been full of flowers) is this striking Aquilegia that is almost 4 feet tall.  It is also volunteering in places where I didn’t plant it, but that’s all right for now.

I grew this several years ago from seed obtained from Growild in Scotland and I was immediately captured by the color combo.  Nearby is a related plant grown from the same source.

Of course we also have the old reliables.  

A striking addition to the front bed is this dark purple salvia from Plant Delights

Recently I’ve been noticing that the extravagant foliage of the podyphyllums hides some lovely flowers.  The p. delavayi has dark red flowers.

But even prettier flowers are on the podophyllum pleianthum

Back at the alpine bed the various dianthus are putting up a spectacular show right now.

And the saxifraga’s are illustrating their value in troughs.

In one of the more recent troughs i’ve now added a little horned rampion that came from one of last year’s seed exchanges.

Let me close by noting that son Josh has planted many allium in the orchard as potential deer deterrent and wonderful eye candy.

They are wonderful mixed in with all the meadow flowers we have growing right now.

Besides the buttercups and daisies that we get naturally Josh has added crimson clover to the mix.

We are continuing to run a couple of weeks ahead of last year, with again a powerful amount of rain in the mix.  Currently our rainfall is 60 % above normal and it has left the ground wet and fields green and lush.