Oh . . . Oh . . . Oh . . .

La Reine Victoria finally bloomed. I've never seen a rose like this outside of a Victorian painting. I didn't know that they actually existed. I had always thought they were a product of artistic license.

I keep running outside to look at it. And take pictures.

Yes, I know it needs weeding. I should, perhaps, weed THEN take pictures. But I've been too excited. The miniature green rose, although not very green, is also looking pretty.

As are the "mystery purple aster-like things that bloom in the spring and therefore can't be asters but look remarkably like them" (it's a good think no one has ever put me in charge of naming plants, isn't it?):

My poppy patch is looking great. Judging from the number of buds, it will be spectacular. I grew these from seed that I saved from last year from plants that germinated from free seed packets.

I noticed some interesting colors and petal forms:

I had what I thought was a great idea of growing hollyhocks along the side of the shed. They are tall enough and colorful enough to break up the large white expanse. Unfortunately, it looks like I will lose them all to rust:

My Nikko Blue hydrangeas have begun to bloom:

No, that is not a candidate for the Weirdness Chronicles. In January of 2002, I had my sewer line replaced which involved digging an enormous trench from the foundation of my house to the curb. The hydrangea on the left was uncermonious yanked from the ground and left with its roots exposed for almost a month in the middle of winter. I was sure that it had died but, having nothing to lose, replanted it when the trench was filled in. Amazingly, it was still alive. Barely. It was severely stunted. It has taken a few years for it to get settled back in and start to grow again. The soil it is growing in is from a different strata and must be a different pH creating the pink color. I'm just glad that it's still alive.