BloomDay Post...Better Late Than Never

As I am still getting my garden established after the move, most of the things blooming in my yard are annuals.  This time next year, it will be a different story, but that is what annuals are for, to add color when you need it.  I love pansies, definitely top 3 of my favorite spring flowers.

Which is why I have TONS of them.  I have another big planter full of them that haven't bloomed yet.  I started those from seed, and I am waiting for them to come along.  I used some different seed starting mix this year, and I don't really care for it.  It is too dense, and I think some of my seedlings aren't growing as fast as they should have.  Hopefully they will be ready to go before it gets too hot in the summertime.

I have forgotten the name for this plant.  Whatever it is, it is gorgeous.  It makes this dense mound, with these beautiful purple flowers all over.  It is in a shaded area, and it came with the yard.  I would love to know what it is, if anyone can tell me the name.

I have a thing for geraniums lately.  Dh got me this one for mother's day.  It is a stunning hot pink... I love geraniums because they can take a lot of abuse, and they flower dependably all summer long. The only thing I don't like about them is that they STINK.  I hate geranium smell on my hands.

Iris are in my top 3 flowers period.  Especially bearded iris.  I was delighted to see many peach iris blooming even though I had to transplant them this spring.  Except for the fact that I didn't realize I had any peach iris.  I thought all mine were purple except for one black one I bought last year that never bloomed.  My friend Jeri informed me that she gave me some peach iris two years ago.  Oops...I forgot.  Since none of my bearded iris bloomed last year at all, I forgot about the peach ones.  This shows me how much nicer the soil is in this yard, I moved the iris and they bloomed right away.  The heavy clay soil in the last yard prevented my iris from doing much at all, I learned the hard way.  I also have siberian iris, which are purple.

I'm not sure if coleus foliage counts as a 'bloom', but I put it in anyways.  I got several cool coleus this year.  I have never done much with them, so I am excited to see how they do.  The variety of color and pattern you can get is amazing! 

I have been so busy working in the yard that I haven't got to do a post on how my garden is doing as a whole.  I have an upcoming post about things I am doing with rhubarb, and soon after that will be another 'Starting Over in a New Garden' post.  I hope you'll come back and read those as well!