WOW!I just fell in love with the Siberian Iris this year. Of course the rest are just as pretty. My peonies finally bloomed this year after about 3 years of just single blooms I got a nice clump. Thanks for sharing yours, Mona

I am glad you enjoyed them Mona. Most of my Siberians are seedlings. They are sooo easy and you really can get some fantastics colors for when the daylilies aren't blooming. They usually bloom about the same time as the tall bearded. My peonys probably need to be divided. Sara Bernhart hasn't started yet and Heart Of Gold is slow to start. None of the white are blooming either...Ellie

Just beautiful Ellie. I love that light blue Siberian Iris, and your peonies are gorgeous. I can't grow them here, it just doesn't get cold enough for them in the winter. Wish I could. :) Keep posting your photos, I'm enjoying my tour of your garden.
Jan

I'm glad Ellie's daylilies aren't blooming yet. If they were, we'd miss all these great pics. Beautiful!
Kathy

Thanks Ellie!

Brooke

Beautiful, Ellie -- you have lots going on!

Chris

I see nothing in your gardens to laugh at Ellie! I can hardly wait for the tour of your place next week! Simply GORGEOUS!
Nancy

Thanks Tweety, I will mark that sib to send to you but it's orchid.

Very funny Kathy. But you are right. This all takes a backseat to the dls. I am so busy dabbing, watching. digging and whatever that when they bloom ( dls) I don't have time for anything else. I do enjoy these before the dl season though..

You are welcome brooke.

Chris, I do right now with the other flowers. I bought a weird daisy yesterday. She didn't know what it's name was though. The foliage almost looks like ragweed. It's not our natives which have similar foliage but I think she said it has a double bloom. Not a crazy Daisy either. I can't wait for the blooms there.

Nancy, you should see the weeds. Notice I angle my camera away from the weeds... Wild violets everywhere...Ellie

Ellie,
just wanted to know if you order your iris online, and where? Never ordered them and don't know which places have the best deals for the best rhizomes. Ive thought about ordering from Schreiner's but they are a bit expensive, although I just found out that if you spend $80 on their iris's that you get a 50% discount, so its not that bad of a deal, I guess. Im just used to buying from good ol' walmart.

jkunkel, I don't buy them anymore but I have ordered from Cooley's and didn't have much luck with theirs. I ordered from two gardens. one of them is no longer in the iris business, that's Bill Maryott and the other was Shreiners. They have terrific Irises. Good healthy fans and their bonuses are always nice. The half price is a bonus because for $80.00 you can find some beautiful irises and to only pay $40.00 for them is a bargain. I do recommend Shrieners. I think there is a Pacific Coast garden too that has nice ones but Shrieners ( for my money ) is the way to go. Maryott was just as nice and generous an iris grower as he is a daylily grower. Have fun looking...

This picture is a DOUBLE Siberian Iris. Reg. but I don't know her name..

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This is meadow Sweet. Smells wonderful and looks great in a bouquet. The foliage looks like a dainty fern except it really thick AND grows in the sun. I trim the stalks after bloom and it look as though I have a clump of fern in the sun part of the bed...Hope you enjoy...Ellie

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Thanks Ellie, Ive been thinking about planting some of the shorter iris in the naked spots between all my new daylilies in my greatly expanded flower bed. I went out and got some dianthus, salvia, coreopsis, and mini roses yesterday. Now Ill have some color in there untill my DL's bloom. Plus I tried to pick things that should bloom all summer so I can see them blooming with the daylilies. Looking at the pictures on Charlotte's daylily diary has given me some inspiration. I really need to get that cord thingy to hook my camera up to my computer. Id love to share pic's of my flowers. My husband worked for 3 weekends streight trying to get the brick border finished for me before all my plants arrived. He's great!! Sure do enjoy looking at your pics though they are beautiful. The only problem is that I keep getting more ideas, and can't stop spending my poor husband's money!! Shame on me!!

What lovely irises, Ellie! I really like 'Desert Echo.' I have one that reminds me of that one ('Owyhee Desert').

I have the 'Mischief' peony - at our next property I'd like to create a garden for each of my kids, and 'Mischief' would DEFINITELY be in my daughter's garden, LOL.

jkunkel, I've had good luck ordering irises from Argyle Acres and from Iris City Gardens. AA has a large selection and good prices (and don't miss their "Limited List" of irises - oldies/rarities). I can hardly wait for my irises and peonies to bloom this year.

Laurel

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Argyle Acres

Well ive got some blooms that I can share now. (maryland's a little behind all of you southerners!)
Iris (unknown)
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crested iris, cutest tiny little things that spread like crazy!
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Niobe, and Nelly moser clematis
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blueberry sundae spiderwort with tiny rubies dianthus
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Raspberry surprise dianthus
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Madame butterfly scotch broom/golden creeping jenny/1pink sundrop in that pic
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My first red hot poker bloom just starting to come up
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Grace ward Lithodora
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There is more but thats enough for now. Things are coming along up here in the north, see! Sorry haven't figured out how to make the pics smaller yet, and I tried to rotate them a zillion times, but it didn't work. But you get the idea.

Enjoyed your garden photos Jessica. About down sizing them...if you have any kind of photo program on your pc you can open your pics to it then downsize there. I have PSP on mine, it's a graphic program, and I use it to edit my photos with. Your large photos aren't a problem for those of us with highspeed connections but for dialup users, it can take forever to view them. I know, cause I had dialup in the past. :) Most pc's come with some sort of photo editing software on them already. Also, I think Photobucket allows you to resize your pics, if you use it as a host. Hope this helps you figure out how to edit them. :)
Jan

Thanks Jan, I do use photobucket, so ill have to try resizing them next time! Sorry, this was the first day using pictures from my camera on the website. All the other photos collected from the web weren't that big. Oh my they are big huh! I also tried to rotate them but they wouldn't stay that way. Ill have to fiddle with it some more, ill get the hang of it

Yes, Jessica, you will....no problem for me...but some folks can't receive big photos...it's easy to resize in Photobucket. :) Keep posting those pics...I love seeing whats blooming in other people yards.
Jan

jkunkel, I really enjoyed your pics. You have an advantage since your Iris didn't start up until after the freezing weather. Mine were ( most ) frozen in the bud.

If I were you, I would not put irises in a bed with daylilies. Daylilies like the moisture ( watered ) but Iris do NOT like the ground damp. they like their feet to stay dry. I never water iris' except when I first set them in the ground.. This of course is just my opinion and someone may know better than I.

I have tried for years to grow the little sundrops. They are everywhere but my yard. I do have some Missouri primrose though. Finally got some started after bringing a ton back from Texas. I had to get some from Mo. in order for them to live....Ellie