The tiger lilies are blooming away right now

and sharing the space is a beautiful coral rose.

Blueberries still have a long way to go.

It is another day of cool temps - the furnace is still coming on and it is almost July!  The raspberries continue to ripen - picked 5.5 baskets yesterday for a total of 10 now. I made the first double batch of freezer jam.There is a promise of temps in the 70s soon - the garden needs it!

The raspberry season has begun - picked 2 baskets yesterday - so the season is starting about 10 days earlier than last year.  There are lots of berries on the vines so hopefully it will be another bumper crop.
It is raining today following two summery days in the high 70s to about 80 degrees.  It seems we can't get more than one or two days of nice weather before it is cool and damp again.
The birds are going through suet at about a cake a day.  The Flickers must have babies since Mom and Dad show up quite often during the day. The Downy Woodpecker is a regular too and this year there is a Nuthatch which I have only seen in the winters here before. The Black Capped Chickadees nested in one of the birdhouses and are busy feeding babies too. But the poor birds are all wet and drippy today. The Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds have lots to feast on besides the feeders with the cape fuschia and hot lips salvia plus honeysuckle blooming. The bright yelllow male American Goldfinches are stunning on the finch feeder right now.
The rain can stop anytime now...

Kniphofia aka "Red Hot Poker" - a wonderful late spring bloomer in my garden. I think there were at least three dozen bloom stalks this year.  It is planted in my "orange and purple" bed and begins a progression of wonderful color for the summer. It is a magnet for hummingbirds - I see rufous and Anna's, house finches and black capped chickadees.  The other plants in this bed include orange tiger lilies which are just starting to bloom, a coral rose which is still in bud, and a few different varieties of lavender almost in bloom. In addition there are copper colored bearded iris.  This bed includes a bird feeder, two bird baths and one of my first yard art purchases from many years ago - a copper heart the birds like and a bowling ball which Erik made as a satirical comment on the copper heart! New this year is china pitcher, saucer and spoon which I received as a birthday gift.
The weather today is very unusual - in the low 70s and now raining. Reminds me of Wisconsin.

My beautiful yellow rose - a most prolific bloomer all summer long! It started blooming with about two dozen blossoms - and it will keep it up often until November. It was purchased on sale several years ago at McLendons along with a coral rose which blooms much less vigorously. It is a nice bright addition to the front porch area of our house.
The weather continues to be cool - so the raspberries are not ripening very quickly. The prunes are getting bigger on the tree and there are tomatoes set on many plants. Our rhubarb crop was very good this year - much better than the past several years.
The yard is filled with daisies, poppies and purple bells and white bells. The orange tiger lilies are soon to come.

Lovely daisies - they fill in a long flower bed beautifully each spring. They intermix with golden poppies, campanula bells, roses and other plants.  They are a perennial that comes back each year - if they spread too much I just pull them out.  They sway gently in the breeze and add a fresh white color to the green of spring. Their only downside is they don't smell very good! I am never tempted to cut them for a bouquet. In another month or so they will be gone - replaced by crocosmia, lilies and baby's breath.
It was about 42 degrees this morning - very cold for this time of year.  The poor basil plants were shivering - hope they make it!
A great benefit of the vegetable garden - running out to pick some fresh lettuce to put on sandwiches!

Dogwood is my favorite tree flower.  We had to cut  down a pink dogwood some years ago when we remodeled. A few years ago I added this one and this is the best year of blooms it has had!

Wow - is it June or January??  Rain and mid 50s - the basil will be dying soon!  The tree limbs are hanging lower with all the rain on their leaves, the tall flowers are bending way over from the water.  Rain rain go away, come again another day!