abloom with lovelies

the previous owners of our house, true masterminds, decided that they didn't want to worry about upkeep of landscaping, or perhaps they just got a hold of a chainsaw and could find nothing better to lay waste to.... whatever the reasoning (i'm assuming actually that reasoning had little to do with it), they completely mowed down every growing thing besides grass on the property. (they then decided to park their cars on the front lawn to save them those five extra feet to the street- but that's another story)- the before and after shots of the interior of our house are one thing, but our landscaping has finally matured enough that come spring/summer we're abloom with lovelies. you've missed the daffodils, camellias, bluebells, hyacinth, lilacs, flowering cherry and plum trees, and possibly the peony (they may have come and gone while i was in arkansas.... i'm no gardening expert, i just like looking at and painting flowers)- but right now there are some real beauties...

the clematis over the door smells amazing, and i love the tumble of flowers.
we keep trying to prop it up... right now it looks great, but come fall it's a spider haven- yikes!

the irises have made a good showing this year... i think their tubers really need separating, but i'm scared to do it on my own... anyone want to help?

i'm not really sure what this one is, could be a weed, but it's really pretty.

mexican orange, can't remember it's official name, we planted this one.
the whole yard is a mix of things we've planted and the random branches and clumps that survived the hacking. probably actually did some of them good.

the snowball tree! my favorite- i especially love flowers that manifest themselves in giant balls for some reason... and this one goes from a fantastic lime green to these beautiful stark white masses.

rhodies are incredible out here. there's a rhododendron garden in federal way which i visit a couple times a year (at weyerhauser for the locals) which is truly beautiful. we have three thriving rhodies in our yard, i love the color of this one.

i'm pretty sure this one is a weed... but again lovely.
at least there are some flowers around that are ok for lucy to pick!

part of the reason we painted our house gray was because i love the contrast of green plants to this shade. these red barked flowering dogwood look particularly nice against it i think.

i'm sure eddie agrees. meow!

and last, and probably least, we have dandelions in full force. i actually still think they're amazing looking, the whole flower ball thing.
lucy can pick these to her hearts content... and she does.