I came home at lunch almost every day these were blooming because they were so cheerful. How can you not be glad to see these gladiolas?!?

I'm not a big pink person, but who can argue with these...

This is a bird's-eye view of some of the gorgeous glads in the garden plot in front of the door.

It was so exciting to see these open since I'd forgotten which colors were planted where.

Glads, glads, glads. I love the deep burgundy and purple with white centers.

This is how it looked walking up toward the front door about 1.5 weeks ago. The gladiolas were so tall that I needed very long stakes to keep them from toppling over. During the heavy rains and high heat, some did not survive or bloom.

I don't have the scientific name for these lillies, but when they finish blooming, there are large pods which eventually open and big, black seeds--almost like currants--remain on the stems. Mom likes them because they stay on through the cold season for the birds. Typically, I cut them off.

The daylillies just keep pumping out blooms. There's another few left in them. Unfortunately the beetles have gotten to the primulae in front of them. In back, though, the dahlias just keep going.

This is a photo from June, but the dianthus are starting to come back again. I had cut them all down after this bloom you see here died. The pincushions haven't rebloomed, and I don't expect them to again since it's been so deadly hot.

Remember the rose bushes that Chuck planted for me? Well, they've been blooming. Kind of a peachy color, and that's quite different from the purples and pinks, but a dash of different is always nice. By the way, this photo was taken a few weeks ago before the Japanese beetles demolished the plants. I'll take some new photos soon to show you the damage. Ugh. This also was before the winter hardy pansies called it a day and died from the heat.

Bright yellow flowering ground cover at the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. On Father's Day. Perfect weather, too.

Mom's favorite--the rock garden.

Sparkly blue ground cover which I bought later at the botanical garden store.

Check out the wacky Jade vine from the Philippines.

The magic passionflower. Ooooh, ahhhhh.

Goldfish in the conservatory ponds.

The gorgeous water lilies in the ponds outside the conservatories at the gardens.

Dark burgundy Cosmos.

The first stop on our trip.

This is the wide view.

Buggy, but beautiful roses.

On Father's Day, Mom, Dave and I drove to the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Here are the photos I took during our visit. This first image is of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.