Spring rushes on

'Crimson King' first bloomed in the big perennial bed and is now blooming next to the sidewalk in front of the house. There is no jewel that has a color that can match this iris, and the fragrance is very good too.

The Piedmont Azaleas are finishing up -- I think even in this phase they are beautiful, as though shedding teardrops -- and others are in their prime. This is an azalea we rescued from DH's grandparents' farm before the place was bulldozed for development. The azalea was in pretty bad shape and I wasn't sure it would survive, but we've had it 4 or 5 years now and it's doing well. I love the double shell pink flowers.

Coast azalea has lovely glaucous foliage and sticky flower buds. The fragrance of the flowers is of cloves and cotton candy. This is an especially fragrant selection from Sunlight Gardens in Tennessee. The flowers are larger than that of my other coast azaleas too.

This is the only Florida azalea to bloom this year. The other 3 that used to be in front of the house when it was in its original location are still alive, but I had to move them next to the house this year; they were too close to pine trees that were sucking the life out of them. Sometimes 15 feet is too close. You can catch the sweet fragrance of the flowers just by walking past them.

These daffodils, be they 'Trevithian' or not, are super. After almost 4 weeks some are still blooming.

'Homestead' Verbena

Columbine seedlings

Clematis 'HF Young'

Noid lavender pink spiderwort

Iris cristata with Running Green and Gold. These plants are at the foot of
Loblolly Pines, and experience both flood and Sahara-type dryness, and they thrive.

Ozark Phlox

Wild Geranium

Baptisia (alba/australis seedling)

'Jesse's Song' with a yellow noid from Gene's grandmother.

I am so excited that 'Crepuscule' has all of these buds. I have heard this rose praised as one of the most perfect for the south, and I love the peach color of the blooms. Whether I have the tame or monster version remains to be seen. Since 'Cl. Devoniensis' died perhaps the trellis stands a chance.

I have rugosa seedlings all over the garden. If it weren't for the Japanese beetles they would bloom from now until hard freezes. I hope the neighbor's wandering guineas live up to the hype and really do ingest JBs and fire ants. Rugosas may not be the fanciest or have the most luscious flowers, but they do live and thrive. All of these are fragrant too. Anything with rubra smells like damask and cloves; the alba just smell like cloves.

Rugosa rubra

What is this? I thought it was a sucker from Basye's Purple or the supposed Purple Pavement, but it looks perhaps like a rugosa/ R. carolina hybrid. The fragrance is rose/cloves, not rose/lemon like a Carolina rose. The flower reminds me of R. carolina, but I wonder where those fringed petals came from.

'Foxi Pavement' seedling

probable 'Hansa'/ 'Foxi Pavement' seedling

'Foxi Pavement', which looks lilac-pink in the afternoon shade

'Cl. Devoniensis' died, but I still have the shrub form of 'Devoniensis'.

Exquisite, isn't it? The fragrance is fruity, much like strawberries in the sun.

Rosa x cantabrigiensis is a very graceful rose, with the flowers clothing the
arching branches all the way to the tips. They open butter yellow and fade to cream.

'Climbing Old Blush' with 'Hansa' in the background

Wildflowers and Iris

The Hawthorns that get sun have just finished. They put on a good show
this year. These are near the end of the paddock with the big horse shelter.

Usually I don't try to get pictures of the deer, as they are most evident at dusk when it's
too dark to take pictures, but on this day they appeared while there was still adequate light.

They don't bother to jump the post-and-rail fences; it's easier to go through them instead.

Atamasco lilies are blooming in the adjacent paddock.

There are bouquets of Atamasco lilies in the floodway fields too.

Back in the garden: I really need more SDBs; Pippi Longstocking has a longer bloom time than any of my other bearded iris and she's adorable.

There's going to be a lot of Jesse's Song blooming in the bed next to the neighbor's pasture this year.

With 'Rainbow Knockout'

and 'Foxi Pavement' in the far distance.

I know this is a lot of pictures of one border, but I really need to revel in these; I'm not sure how much my other iris are going to bloom, and I wait all year for these irises.

Some of the white iris from Gene's grandmother's garden (nicknamed Eva's White) are have started to open up too. I definitely detect vanilla.