The North Country In Flower

Our north country winters are long and difficult, so the extravagance of spring and summer are especially impressive when they arrive. This patch of Peonies is doing so well that I think maybe I planted them too closely together. On the plus side, they are crowding out the weeds:

All the old Peonies are white, but I have a few single petaled red plants which I just added:

I rescued an old-fashioned rose in the side yard and then rooted a shoot from it alongside the road. It's been living and growing for at least four years now, and this year it's really doing well:

The wild Cow Vetch is beautiful when it's in bloom, though I have to pull a lot of it out from around the flowers I've planted:

This pair of fantail pigeons hatched two eggs in a nest on the floor:

On the second day, I got to see the tiny babies. Sadly, they both died after a few days. This often happens, and it's always sad:

This is the view on the north side of the house, with the Mock Orange bush just beginning to bloom, the old-fashioned rose and a clump of white Peonies. There also were yellow Day Lilies mixed in with the white Peonies until the day I snapped this photo:

I have said that my Mock Orange doesn't have the aroma that many varieties are famous for, but this year I could smell at least a faint aroma. But the main attraction is its flowering ability:

And another of the new Iris plants put out a giant flower, so big that its stem fell over to the ground. I propped it up and hoped for the best:

I'd hoped the Ninebark would have colored flowers but they are white:


On the plus side, the red buds look peppermint striped when the white petals begin swelling inside them:

The new, baby Morden Sunrise rose put out a full sized flower so vibrantly colored that I spotted it from the road and came over to investigate. A big rose bush, covered with these flowers is an appealing prospect for the future. These are Canadian roses and Zone 3 hardy, so I am hopeful: