I took a paint brush out to the orchard bed and driveway bed today to try to pollinate the fruit trees.  I only saw one bee all weekend!  It is extremely worrisome.

Below are some garden and greenhouse highlights.

Clematis alpina “Willy” blooming on the fence behind the house.  There aren’t as many blooms this year.  I plan to cut this vine way back after blooming, as it has gotten too big for its own good.

Another close-up of these delicate, graceful blooms.

Here is the potted daphne from sister Cate blooming on the patio.  The fragrance is fantastic!

A few species tulips persist in the woodland garden.  I believe these are Tulipa batalinii–such a vivid red.

Choisya ternata blooming along the fence in the woodland garden.

I just read that Choisya is in the rue family, and that makes sense–I’ve never liked the smell of the plants themselves, but the flowers are wonderfully sweet.

Gorgeous rhody blooming in the woodland garden.

The path in the woodland garden is surrounded by blooms–Dicentra, Muscari, Hyacinthoides, and Choisya.

 

Cymbalaria muralis (Kenilworth Ivy) blooming in a pot on the back patio.  I started a bunch of these from seed last year and now they are in many of the seedling pots on the shelves near the greenhouse.  

Interestingly, the “Red Deer Tongue” lettuce that I transplanted last week are now of two distinct colors.  The ones I left outside are now deep red, while the ones in the greenhouse are still green with just a hint of red.  I’m not sure if this is a temperature issue or a sun issue.

Masdevallias are going NUTS in the greenhouse–there must be more than twenty flowers open at once!  Quite a show!

These wispy flowers are from a scented pelargonium.  It sulked for a year, but now it is spreading its cute flowers far and wide on the top shelf.

The mystery irid opened a few flowers today.  I think it might be Sisyrinchium striatum, and it may well be hardy–so out it goes into the garden when the weather warms!

Close-up of flower.

Another photo showing interest way the flowers appear on the stalk.  Online photos show that this plant can be very showy when it is well-grown.  The leaves make a stunning fan, as well.

Pelargonium blooming in the greenhouse.

Rhodohypoxis baurii putting on a wonderful show in the greenhouse.

Clivia clone blooming in the greenhouse.  This reddish shade is a nice contrast to the usual orange/yellow.

Pelargonium papilloniaceum really going crazy in the greenhouse.

Beautiful tillandsia blooming in the greenhouse…

Abutilon hybrid blooming in the greenhouse.  I plan to pull everything out of there next weekend if the weather cooperates, and the flowering maples will go into the ground.  They are not hardy, but I can get cuttings in the fall to keep them going.

Some cutting-grown Abutilon megapotmicum in the greenhouse.  I expect these will be hardy, so they are getting planted outside next weekend.

Another seedling Clivia clone–this one with large flowers with interesting white markings in the throat.

The plants I purchased for brother Tim’s p-patch plant sale are starting to grow.  They are slow due to the cool weather, but I think they’ll be just right when the sale comes around.

 

Polygonatum multiflorum popping up in the Doug fir bed.

Cherry “Morello” in full bloom.  The one bee that I saw was on this productive little tree.

Cherry “Vandalay” blooming  nicely for a small tree.  I tried to pollinate this one with the Morello, but I have no idea if it worked or even was the right thing to try!

There aren’t many tulips left in the garden, but these three are sturdy and stunning.  These might be Arabian Mystery.

Lamium blooming near the Jeff Tangen arbor–very pretty ground cover.

More Lamium maculatum near the arbor.

Lovely violet blooming in the driveway bed.

The scorpion senna is about to be in full bloom.  It is a mess, I admit, but I still love it!

My gardening hasn’t advanced to a point where I feel like there are a lot of beautiful vignettes to be happy about.  However, near the fence of the orchard bed, this welcoming sight makes my heart sing.  These are wallflowers and bleeding hearts, with a nice mix of foliage types in and around them.

The columnar apple trees blooming nicely in the orchard bed.  I worked the flowers over with a paint brush today and will again in another day or two–hoping to fill in for the missing bees!

Goumi berry shrub starting to bloom in the orchard bed.

 

Another part of the visually appealing fence-bed in the orchard garden.  This golden bleeding heart is from sister Cate.

Another view–you can see just a bit of yellow in the richly colored wall flowers that pick up the golden color of the Dicentra.