Spring Bloomers in the Garden

 We have lived in our home for 2 years now so our plants in our front yard are in their 3rd year of growth since we've planted.  They are beginning to take off and fill in which has been so beautiful to watch!  My all time favorite late spring bloomers are peonies!  This particular one is called M. Jules Elie.  It is a double peony as it refers to its many petals.  And the fragrance is wonderful!

 This peach Iris is lovely in it's appearance and fragrance.  You can see ground cover thyme blooming it's pink blossoms down below!

 Coral Bells are wonderful plants that shoot long stems with dainty flowers on the ends.  Perfect for part sun to shady areas!  Perfect for cut flower arrangements!

 Bleeding Hearts are certainly lovely!  If you plant them in a more shady area the foliage will stay green longer throughout the growing season.

 This is perennial Salvia.  A long time bloomer that adds a beautiful purple to the garden.  In my opinion, you can never have too much purples and blues to contrast other colors!

 This dianthus is a nice low growing perennial with bright pink blossoms!

 This is my one and only rose shrub.  My husband doesn't care for roses, however I did manage to sneak this one in just because it is low growing and less thorny.  It is a 'florabunda' rose and produces many blossoms!

 Now here is something I recently learned.  Aphids love Columbine!  You can see I also have a lady beetle feasting on the aphids.  I have 2 choices, I can spray to kill off the aphids or just let nature takes it's course and allow the lady beetles take care of the problem.  If the lady beetles don't seem to have a handle on it within a few days I may choose to spray.  Here is a safe and effective home remedy to kill of soft bodied insects and keep lady beetles or other hard bodied/beneficial insects from getting hurt. 

Soapy Garlic Spray

Place 6-8 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and a squirt of a plant based liquid dish soap (Costco) into a blender or food processor.  Puree and let steep in 1 gallon of water 4-24 hours.  Strain through a sieve and spray onto infested area.  

 This is Weigela.  It's leaves are variegated with light and dark green.  Just before I took this picture I saw a hummingbird feeding from the blossoms!  A very prolific bloomer!       

 Another of my favorites is Clematis!  It grows well here in Utah and needs full sun.  I love the deep purple blossoms growing up the side of my house on it's trellis! 

This is a shrub called Spirea.  There are many different varieties and colors.  I love the small pink blossoms on this one!

This beautiful shrub is Mock Orange!  Once full grown it should get to about 4-5 ft in height and width.  It's blossoms resemble the beautiful fragrance of citrus orange trees grown in California.  I highly recommend growing this variety in Utah as it does well here as opposed to other citrus plants.