Pretty

I've been watching the poppies I sowed at the end of February.

The several varieties have germinated at different intervals.

I love how the buds are tucked down at first. They remind me of geese or swans with their beaky heads curled onto their fronts.

The first to open, yesterday.

I think this is one called "Lauren's Grape."

Poppies are so ephemeral--perhaps that is why their loveliness is so cherished.

The second poppy, a different variety, must have opened early this morning and had suffered from the intense heat of the day before I discovered it. Shabby and fragile.

The pink peony poppy blossoms in both double and finely petaled forms.

Delicate petals of the pink poppy.

This one should be in bloom tomorrow.

My poppy seeds were ordered from the catalog of Select Seeds.

Their offerings are a gardener's delight.

http://www.selectseeds.com/

The orange Oriental lilies in full bloom.

A pale pink hollyhock.

Some of my pinks grown from seed last spring.

Pinks [dianthus] have always charmed me.

The spicey scent pervades the whole garden.

The petals are like silk velvet.

Monarda ready to bloom.

Nigella

Seed pods of nigella are as delicately pretty as the blossoms.

Another pastel hollyhock.

Sadly the leaves are riddled with a rusty blight that has reduced some of them to mere ribs.