The garden is bursting with growth and new blooms are opening daily. It is keeping me pretty busy to say the least. Here are some of the highlights of what’s in bloom this week:
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’
Clematis recta
Weigela florida
Kalmia latifolia ‘Carousel’
Veronica ‘Crater Lake Blue’
Geranium cantabrigiense
Iris germanica
Here are the garden views of a just a few of my beds:
Front Walk Beds
Back Deck Bed
Aquilegia ‘Nora Barlow,’ Alchemilla & Hosta from deck
Another deck view
Lower Garden Perennials
I’m linking to the following weekly garden showcase memes: Cathy at Words and Herbs and Gillian at Country Garden UK.
My peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) have come out in full force this past week and I have been enjoying them inside and out. Every time I walk by, I bury my nose in their soft petals and inhale deeply. Pure heaven!
To keep these lovelies company in this week’s vase, I’ve added racemes of silver speedwell (Veronica spicata var. incana) and common sage (Salvia officinalis).
Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) has also begun to bloom. I love that it has such a long season and I use it a lot as a filler flower. Its chartreuse blossoms go well with just about any flower combination.
The vase is a frosted pink glass one that I use quite a bit and has become a favorite of mine to use with pink and white arrangements.
Heavy rain today, pushing down the lupines (Lupinus polyphyllus), made them the obvious choice for this week’s vase. 
The purple Siberian iris (I. siberica), with its deep veining on its falls, and golden heirloom bearded iris (I. germanica, unknown cultivar) are peaking this week, offering a nice match and contrast.
The wild anemones (A. canadensis) that have colonized half the field offer pure white blossoms and attractive star-shaped foliage. Japanese variegated willow (Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’) makes a nice filler.
When violets 
It started six years ago in the spring after the three girls moved in, and while the oldest girls have moved on to more ‘mature’ pursuits, my ‘flower buddy’ and I still enjoy this special occasion. (I felt deprived of this somewhat feminine pursuit while raising two boys who were not the least bit interested in sitting down for violet tea with their mother.)
After the first year, I decided we needed a proper tea set and by luck, came across a wicker chest containing a child’s china tea set, complete with cloth napkins and little utensils, which we have used every year since.
This year, there was a bumper crop of violets and one day after school, we had our tea party.
Eliza Waters 