Surprise Lilies

The Naked Ladies are back in our yard (snicker, snicker). I just can't resist saying that. This year I have surprise lilies in two places and they have more blooms than before. It's amazing how fast they shoot up - it really only takes a couple days from nothing to blooming. Beautiful.

Pygmy Hydrangea Tree

I found this tree on clearance last year for $25. It has done beautifully on the side of the house and is in bloom now. Each branch from last year shot out three new branches this year. The blooms are actually made up of a few large white flowers and tons of tiny flowers. The bees love them and so do I.

Purple Aster

This plant comes on very slowly in the spring and early summer and then explodes into bloom and doesn't stop until autumn. I loved it last year and am considering adding more to brighten up late summer in the backyard.

Hostas

These Purple Hosta are just beautiful.

The Daisy

My neighbor's mom sent me some daisy starts in the mail (Thanks GiGi). Some survived and much to my surprise, I had ONE bloom when I returned from vacation. It was actually really cute to look over and see only one daisy on a plant. Next year it will be covered.

Blue Mist Spirea

I planted this last spring. It was about 2 feet tall. You can almost watch it grow in the spring. It has tiny, purple flowers all over. It didn't show up on the big picture, but gives a nice, soft effect in person. This is the hottest, driest, place in our yard and it has thrived.

Rose of Sharon

This tree blooms in July. It doesn't have the traditional style flowers, but has white flowers kind of like carnations. It is more common to see this as a bush, not a tree. It's pretty, but I have my eye on a start from my grandma's bush (pink and white flowers) which was transplanted to my parents' yard.

For some reason, the lighting made it difficult to really see the blooms on the branches. The close-up shows it better.