Peonies and Sage

Just a few days ago I was thinking about my garden's awkward "in between" stage.  Today I was amazed to see how rapidly things changed.....

from this.....

to this!  

The ruffly white peonies and purple sage flowered overnight and this bed looks lush indeed.  I love evening here; the sun is setting behind the pin leaf oak and the garden is aglow.  Words cannot express my delight over coral bells.  Their elegant flowers, their perfect foliage....

In the meantime, my mother's antique rosebush started blooming as well.  That pink peony is almost about to bloom...but not quite yet.

Today we bought some plants.  I rarely buy plants; nearly everything in my garden is a cast-off from someone else or a division of one my plants.  But I'm bulking things up a bit, and I made a list recently of plants I need to acquire.  Today I crossed the Japanese painted fern off this list, as well as the false indigo and two more bleeding hearts (I have one, but she is hiding behind the lavender right now).  Annie chose seeds--columbine and echinacea.  Finn chose an English ivy plant (!).  We decided to make it a houseplant because we don't have many places for ivy to safely grow.

And finally, sunflower seeds.....because I hatched a sweet plan for them.  Stay tuned!