I didn’t make it out to the garden this weekend, except to look around.  This afternoon it rained like mad, which was fine with me.  I took the opportunity to dip a lot of water out of the rain barrel and thoroughly water the greenhouse plants.  I haven’t had to use the hose yet for any watering…which is great for the plants and the water bill, but tells you how wet the weather has been, as well.  It takes 6 or 7 watering cans full of water to hit all the greenhouse plants and that takes the barrel down pretty low for the three goldfish that live in there.  Today, though, it was raining so hard that the water was filling in as I pulled it out.

On the fence behind the house, this Clematis montana variety rubens blooming smartly.  The flowers smell of vanilla and perfume.

Lit from the front and photographed from behind–these flowers are short-lived, but really welcomed on these wet, gray days.

The display area of the greenhouse showing the two Hippeastrums in bloom.  A third bulb is spiking on the shelves there but it is far from opening.  I suspect it is the white-starred red one that I’ve had for many years.  This little red one is gorgeous!

One of my original Abutilon “Bella Select Mix” seedlings.  This one is probably close to ten years old.  The plant is a bit of a mess, but the flowers are big and showy.

I was happy to see some of the perennial seedlings up in the trays I planted last weekend.  These are yarrow seedlings.  There are three types of yarrow in the tray and all of them are showing growth.

This nasturtium is becoming a monster.  But I can’t get mad at it–it is blooming so brightly already!

If there was a “weed of the year” contest, Freesia laxa might win.  These are flowers on my original pot of them from Edelweiss Perennials maybe five years ago.  Each flower forms a pod filled with gorgeous red-brown shiny seeds that pop out into all the surrounding pots.  I tried moving some of the offspring into the garden, as they are said to be hardy, but I haven’t seen any of them come back up.  Luckily, there are dozens more popping up every minute!  The color here is a bit brash.  The other types I’ve started from seed are either bluer or whiter and would be easier to mix into displays.

This is one of the pitcher plant flowers (there are two this year for the first time).  Very odd and interesting flower structure.

Photo of the Masdevallias still in full flight.  The bonsai wisteria from brother Tim about 25 years ago is twining up the orchids.

Another photo of the air plant blossoms.  The coloring and design are irresistible to me!

This is one of the Pelargonium (geranium) seedlings started indoors earlier this year.  It has a tiny flower spike, despite being only 2″ tall!