A sunny start to the day.

After several days of downpours and cooler weather we woke up to actual sun today!  It was amazing how fast we were all able to get up this morning when the brightness of the sun lit up the rooms.  The forecast is for temperatures in the upper 70's and sun all weekend.  The garden seemed greener and happier than it has in a long time.  I have a feeling by the time the weekend is over there will be lots more new blooms too.  I'm also hoping the seeds we sowed last week will begin to sprout as well.
Today I cleaned up the raised beds where the blueberries are in the side yard, planted Sunflowers and Cosmos and Nasturtiums and did a little work on the pond.  I took a visit to Russell Watergardens earlier in the week and got some great planting ideas from the owner.  If you live nearby it is so worth going for a visit.  I'm hoping that we will visit again this weekend so my husband and older daughter can see it again.  I did a post on it last year, you can read it here.

The lighting was pretty this morning when I went to take some pictures of the newest flowers.

Clematis 'Nelly Moser' has quite a few blooms open now.

She's growing up the arbor that leads down the pond.  Right below it are Linaria that are very close to blooming.  The plants along the deck are all self seeded Geraniums 'Wargrave Pink'.  On the left Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts still bloom and self seeded Foxgloves are growing taller everyday.  You can also see the big red Rhododendron blooming down the path, it's way behind schedule.

Clematis 'The President' is starting to bloom on the trellis I spray painted awhile ago.  I love how the purple looks against the turquoise.

Dutch Iris blooming by the pond.

Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' is covered in bees all day.  In fact today there were more bees around than I've seen in forever.  Also spotted were damsleflies, Cabbage White butterflies and lots more bees.

Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'

An iris my sister gave me a couple of years ago.  She was going to throw them away!!  I was happy to take them.

Lupine that I started from seed last year.  I've started lots more again this year since they are fairly short lived.

The shed garden is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the garden.  I still can't believe this was all new early last spring.  I also can't believe how well everything is growing when many large cedars are right on the other side of the fence.

I hope you are enjoying the sun and your garden, although I know there are some gardeners in the south that are having a little too much sun.  Hope some rain makes it's way down there soon. 

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.