The dahlias love the full sun spot they have in the front. Whenever I clip off the old blooms, they just flower like crazy. It's nice because they get the attention until the new rose bushes bloom. There are buds on the bush on the left already.

Just waiting for those gladiolas and the pink carnations in the back to bloom. I've also got to dig up some of that ground cover (the minty things by the tree) and move them to the plot around the big tree.

These are the last of the columbines for the season. The forget-me-nots are doing well after all the rain, too.

Ah, the lovely pink dianthus. They are in the same family as carnations, and you can tell by the frosty green stems and leaves. They also make fantastic cutting flowers that stay quite a few days, even without changing the fresh water. I have some in the kitchen. They just brighten the place up.

This is the curret state of the garden by the garage, although today there are quite a few more of the pink dianthus (by the clematis). I'm still waiting for the tulip leaves to go yellow so I can give the next round of plants some room to pop up. The red dianthus are just going wild.

These volunteer violas have found a nice home among the dusty miller I planted around the garden under the big window. It's a nice border, and they seem to be growing rather quickly.

My Christmas Cactus is finally in bloom. It's hanging over what has become a nearly totally pink and red garden near the garage. It faces the south, so it sees the afternoon sun. Evidently, it likes this view much better than the east, where it had been without a bloom for two years.

It's about time! Two years after it was first planted in the front, and one year after I moved it to the back of the plot by the door, the classic blue clematis finally bloomed. A handful of blossoms by the bottom of the climbing wires appeared this week.

These just speak for themselves. :)

The columbines just keep popping out blooms. The reds, pinks and blues are fantastic. As you can see, the golden coreopsis has started with a spray (look to the middle, right).

The pink and red fringed dianthus is about a foot taller than last year and extremely happy at the moment. It makes a great contrast against the lilac creeping phlox.

Just two days, both my clematis plants bloomed. It's been warms and sunny, so I've been watering lightly every other day. Today it's rainy, so I'll bet more new plants will be popping out blooms in the next few days. This gorgeous specimen has about three lovely blooms at the moment. It's been moved twice, and this is the first time in two years it's bloomed.

New blooms! Near the front of the creeping phlox, are some bright pink Scabiosa ochroleuca (pincushion flowers).

Update on the windows

We're still waiting for a quote from the association's contractors regarding the siding (see below), but last night the window guys came by to fix the caulking, put in the replacement window for the cracked one, and replace the chipped up door handle. We said everything was fine and they left with a check for half of the remaining fee. P.S., the guy who was very jovial and genial during the installation wouldn't even shake my hand last night. Well, what goes around comes around. Will keep the blog posted.

I'm just goofy for my creeping phlox. It's fabulous!

Now you see 'em...

Now you don't. Here's one of the holes. There's one just like it on the other side.

Freshly planted orange rose bushes are sitting in a combination of high-quality potting mix and topsoil. Later, as you'll see below, after I planted more flowering perennials, I also added new cedar mulch.

My pal with one of his beautiful dogs, Chuck the Tree Guy. What a trooper. He even planted the rose bushes for me after extracting the offending junipers.

When I gave Chuck the junipers, I was left with big gaping areas of acidic soil. I replaced some of the soil with a mixture of good potting soil and top soil. Then I picked a number of low-growing plants, some ground cover, that would compliment the new rose bushes. What I planted this past weekend are stonecrop (sedum floriferum in gold)(tough to see since on this side, it's right in back of the rose bush--dead center), creeping speedwell in white (veronica repens), white alpine aster (aster alpinus albus), saxifraga in white, and alyssum x compacta in gold. The creeping speedwell actually buds in light purple, then opens to white.

Just to show you how happy they are after a nice watering, here's a pink primula for your pleasure.

Check out the glads! They're popping up all over already. Good thing, too since I forgot where I'd planted them. As you can see, all the primulas are very happy as are the columbines and the rest of the plants in this bed. The tulips have been finished here for a while.

The lovely last tulips. Pink matching perfectly with more creeping phlox in light purple and bright pink.

I am absolutely enamored with my creeping phlox. Here, in the plot by the garage, are the pink and lavender creeping phlox with other pink ground cover and the forget-me-nots at the top of the photo. Right in front here (actually the back of the plot) is a gladiola popping up.