WHAT'S COMING UP THIS WEEK - ROSES, ROSES, ROSES, FOXGLOVES AND PEONIES

The roses burst into bloom, starting about a week ago, like the world's slowest fireworks. One day, there was one tiny rose, and then the next day, the front garden was full. This is what it looks like now:



And under the window:



I'm wishing more and more that I was a decent photographer, because these photos don't do even the slightest bit of justice to the colors. At any rate, the largest display is coming from these white-and-magenta ones:



That are much more contrasting than the photo seems. Next to those, is a bush of roses that start out tea-shaped and orange (I'll try to get a photo when one is in that stage) and then go to this interesting two-toned yellowy pinky thing:



Next up is the bright sunshine yellow:



And then this amazingly dark burgundy--these are like a much fuller, meatier version of the longstemmed red ones you buy from florists:



They start out with the classic tea rose shape, but when they open, they have two whorly bits, and are just gorgeous.

The smell is amazing. When you open the front door, or step out of the car, you are just hit with this wonderful scent of roses.

You know, I'm aware that things like roses, peonies, etc., are probably considered out of fashion for gardens, but I just love them.

Speaking of peonies, there are some great peonies in the front garden:



The funny thing is that before they opened, I saw some just like that at a garden centre and almost bought them. But then I figured I should wait until I saw what I had, which is lucky.

There are more roses blooming in the back. There are two more yellow rosebushes, but these are more of a lemon custard color:



There are some purple roses in bloom, but they're looking kind of sad, and I'm going to wait until they open a bit more to photograph them. There's also another red rose blooming, which is more of a true red and not quite so dark as the other:



The foxgloves in front and in back are also coming up:



I love foxgloves. I love the way bees love foxgloves. They climb all the way up inside each of the flowers like little bee sleeping bags. It's really cute.

These particular foxgloves are in front of the neighbor's late-blooming lilac in the back side border:



Which looks nice, and is kind of like stealing all of his hard gardening work.

There are foxgloves which have self-seeded here and there all over, which is nice. Most of the existing ones are shades of pink, and then I've planted some white ones.

The delphiniums are also just starting to bloom:





I sort of placed them at random, and haven't decided whether or not I eventually want to actually place them where they might offset other colors. I'm still not sure.

The osteospermums have been blooming all along, but I've never taken a photo of any, so here's one for your flowery enjoyment:



Other than that, there is some salvia that will be nice in a few days. The evening primroses have started blooming, but it's about a million degrees outside and they're looking all wilty. Also, the pink jasmine is just starting to put out little flowers, as is the honeysuckle and some kind of purply vine that I should know the name of b ut don't. Oh, and there are a couple of fuschias. One of these is about four feet tall, and was hidden under the rogue clematis until I chopped it back.

Now I will leave you with a photo of the frogs. Not because they're plants or new, but because they're frogs, and they make me happy:



See the one peeking out from under the ramp? You can't not love that.

Lurk, lurk.