Hello again, my friends! Can you believe how fast May is flying by? Even though the days have been running together since the worldwide shelter in place began back in March, nature hasn’t seemed to notice. I have found a constant sense of joy, peace and solitude this spring by watching nature wake up and grace us with it’s beauty, despite whatever else may be happening in the world. This past week was absolutely gorgeous, so I took a couple of walks around our neighborhood to enjoy late spring in bloom. Today I am sharing some of my favorite spots along our road that I hope you will also enjoy.

Just a block down from my house there is a little three way stop with a grass island that is voluntarily landscaped by a neighbor who owns a local landscape company. Each season she seems to surprise us with new designs among some standard perennials that return year after year. For example, last spring the island was filled with 100’s of stunning tulips, but this spring we have been delighted by a fabulous display of irises and alliums. 

I love stopping by the island on my walks from summer through fall to get a closer look at the butterflies and bees that are constantly flitting about. The purple salvia seems to be one of their favorite plants. After noticing how much the pollinators loved this plant, I was inspired to plant salvias in my garden.

This honeybee was so busy gathering tasty pollen that I couldn’t really get a clear picture of it as it buzzed to and fro.

This year there are several different colors of irises blooming profusely on the island. I honestly can’t really decide on a favorite color, they are all so gorgeous.

I am smitten by this peach one. I believe it may be called Rhapsody in Peach or Peach Flounce. It is so delicate!

The soft peach looks so pretty mixed among the purple salvia and alliums.

There is also a soft blue iris behind the alliums that I am loving. True blue flowers seem to be more rare in a perennial garden, so I always take notice of them.

Here alongside the purple salvia is another blue plant that I am not familiar with, but I love its texture. If you know the species, please do share in the comments.

Again, a beautiful contrast of texture and color with the dark purple alliums and the white iris.

I love the unexpected moody dark purple-almost black velvet irises among the softer colors.

Just across the island is one of my favorite little historic storybook cottages in our neighborhood. There are several magnolia trees on the property that are full of profuse blooms in the summer. This spot smells heavenly during my early morning or summer evening walks.

Most of our neighbors’ yards are landscaped beautifully and I enjoy gaining inspiration from them. This charming cottage has the prettiest hostas that grow huge by mid-summer!  I just missed getting pictures of the azaleas in bloom, but soon some beautiful blue hydranges will steal the show in this landscape. 

When my son was little, he and all the neighborhood children enjoyed playing under this magical weeping willow tree. It has just started blooming out over the past two weeks.

Others homes in our neighborhood are simply enhanced by the natural forest setting that surrounds us.

As you can see, almost everything is fully bloomed out by now, signaling that summer will soon arrive!

This is one of the beautiful views across our street. The historic white home is a stunner! In the foreground is the century old rock wall covered in ivy and lined with boxwood that runs down our street. It is one of the features that always made this neighborhood a favorite of mine, even before we moved here. This area is more shaded, so the irises here are just now starting to bloom.

In June there will be hundreds of day lilies in blooming in this spot. It becomes such a postcard- perfect scene with the little white chapel on the hill. It is hard to see in this picture, but the shed in front of the chapel is actually a “display garage” for an antique horse drawn buggy carriage.

When I started off on my walk to take some pictures, I didn’t really think about getting pictures of the flowers around our home until after it was already getting dark (it has rained every day since then). I did snap this photo of the flower bed off the right side of our porch with my phone last week. We just started reworking this area last summer so there is more to do, but everything we added or transplanted last year is doing well.

Oh, look who is new to our neighborhood! This little frog just turned up in my flower bed this week. I spotted him just chillin’ on my old copper watering can. Frogs are beneficial in the garden and some species are on the decline, so I certainly welcome this little friend!

I hope you have enjoyed a late spring walk with me in my neighborhood! I will be sure to share another post later in the summer with more beautiful historic homes and gardens in full summer glory. Just working on this post and seeing all of these flower photos makes me want to get out and do some work in my garden and landscape, but I will have to wait until next week since rain is in the forecast for the next several days. 

How is your garden growing so far? Is it late spring in your gardening zone, or are you just now getting consistent spring temperatures? I love hearing from you, dear readers! Thanks for visiting today!

Amber

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