Memorial Day

Memorial Day is not only a day to fly our flag proudly around here at Blooming Hill, it is also a great day to flaunt the colors of our gardens...


Red, white and blue are certainly seen in all of their glory, but so are purple, green, yellow, pink and cream as well as all of the hues in-between.

Everything is beginning to bloom at a furious pace and it's hard to know where to point my camera next to snap a photo. The place is a "blooming hill" of color from primrose to peonies to baptisia, poppies and lovely iris still rise above the boxwood. Roses are opening and even some lavender is beginning to show flushes of pale pinks and blues. Memorial Day weekend was awash in color! What a way to usher in summer.

Iris in Bloom

The past few days have brought on an explosion of iris blooms throughout the property. I thought I'd show you some...


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this about the iris..."Thou art the iris, fair among the fairest. Who armed with golden rod and winged with celestial azure, bearest the message of some God..."





They certainly are beautiful and celestial. All of these bulbs have multiplied from just a few that have been given to me by friends through the years and they obligingly come back every May. The iris is one of my favorite flowers with their lovely, floaty petals and long stiff, reed-like stems. Even their sharp leaves add greenery and texture to the garden long after the flowers have faded...which I hope isn't too soon.

The good news is that there are still many iris in our garden that haven't bloomed yet so we will be enjoying them for a few more weeks.

PHilomont garden PHair

In spite of the the constant rain, the PHilomont garden PHair went on because we all know that a little rain never scares a true gardener away--it only encourages them! A little rain in the hair and mud on the feet nourishes the soul. Wet clothes--no problem! Good times--yes!

My booth is the second picture at the top--the one where no one is manning it because, of course, I am taking the pictures here at the beginning of Sunday morning just as the the PHair started it's second day. Over 15 hardy and smiling local exhibitors were on hand even as the rain poured down upon their tents (thank goodness for tents.) They offerred garden related items from all natural doggie cookies, picnic tables, lavender and any herb, annual, vegetable and/or perrennial you may be needing. A certified arborist set up a booth and answered many questions, for free, concerning the health and condition of homeowners trees and plants. Even pottery, wooden bowls and jewelry for Mother's Day gifts and finds from the garden were available to buy. It really was a wonderful event and all said they would do it again. That's good because May Day will come again next year and even when it rains, the sun always shines in Philomont.

May Day Baskets

That old gardening proverb, "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers," held true to form in my country village of Philomont, Virginia this past weekend. The first Annual "PHilomont garden PHair," a combination of May Day baskets, a craft fair and home garden tours, took place here on May 2 and 3. The entire event, sponsored by the PHilomont General Store, started with a May Day Basket Display on Friday, May 1, by some of the homeowners who live nearby the store. May Day was a bleak and rainy day but it did not deter these flower loving citizens from displaying their floral favorites. Even the Volunteer Fire Department and Philomont Community Center Pre-school joined in to welcome spring. Some baskets were simple while others could compete with the arrangements of Martha Stewart yet, all were made in the spirit of sharing their regard for the beauty of nature, and specifically flowers. Clergyman, writer and gardener during the 1800's and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher once wrote, "Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into." I think he was on to something there. These pictures are some of the baskets I saw around town...