A Delicious June Morning

This morning the air was mild and sweet, and the raking light glowed warmly. It felt like the beginning of a perfect spring day, and it would have been heavenly to walk around the garden photographing the abundant flowers of June if it wasn't for the swarms of voracious black flies. I tried to ignore them as I watched the light illuminate flower and leaf. The heads of the snowball flowers hung down on their delicate stems.

Brilliant yellow flag iris glowed against the shadowed pond.

It is the season for irises, including these delicate flowers aptly named Summer Skies.

An old fashioned pale yellow bearded iris is one of the few flowers that were growing at my house when I moved here. It is illuminated by a ray of sun while the stone wall behind it remains deep in shadow.

Another flower I inherited is this pink single rose, growing tall on arching canes between the rocks of the stone wall. It is just beginning to flower.

More pink shows amid the abundant foliage of Bleeding Heart.

Although June is their blooming month, the herbaceous peonies have not yet opened. Ants are busy on the buds, gathering the nectar on their surface.

Some plants naturalize well in the landscape, such as this Dictamnus with its elegant spires of pink flowers. They have a delightful sweet lemony scent.

The morning light touches the complex hooded petals of the wild columbine. It grows here and there in the backyard, adding a startling color to the greens around it. There's something about a strong blue in the landscape that makes me catch my breath, like seeing the flitting intense blue of a bluebird.

Another shrub with white flowers blooms appropriately in June: Bridal Wreath spirea. I love the month of June: its warmth before the heat of summer, the clarity of the air, the fresh greens of grass and leaf, and the glory of the June flowers.