The garden explodes into bloom so quickly, from a few species flowering to dozens seemingly overnight. This has been an excellent year for flowers, with just enough rain to keep all the plants happy.

The peonies were especially brilliant this year. They have taken a long time to really fill out, but it was worth the wait!

The poppies (Papaver orientalis) are still blooming, although the rain today might be challenging their delicate beauty.

I am a huge fan of Lychnis coronaria, but not the straight species with the almost impossibly magenta flowers. I like the muted white or soft pink cultivars. They just fit into the landscape better.

Linaria is a weedy perennial, but the purple is so pure (or maybe just to my color-challenged eyes), and “weedy” just means generous in my memory garden, where it can be tough for plants to take hold. The hummers like it, too!

One garden surprise is this hybrid tea rose that Leon brought home from his Mom’s home after she passed away many years ago. This rose has always struggled. This is the very first year it looks healthy, strong, and full of flowers.

And the orange rose in the memory garden is about to explode after a really hard pruning in late winter.

I have a weakness for the simplest roses, both in form and scent. This is the weedy arboretum rose that has seeded around our yard. I let it bloom, then cut it back to the ground to try to contain it.

Speaking of scent, one of the best fragrances I’ve come across in flowers comes from valerian. I have only ever smelled it in my garden, from the one seedling that survived the packet planted three years ago. The fragrance is subtle, with hints of vanilla, but very distinct.

Last but not least, the Verbena bonariensis plants sprinkled in the memory garden are blooming. Aside from native plants, these are the pollinators’ favorites.