For Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I would like to introduce you to my rosey friends from across the pond. Not Jane Austen, the writer, and her family members, although I'm a big fan. No, I'm speaking of the David Austin roses I've accumulated over the years. This is the beautiful soft, petal pink, 'Heritage.' I think she looks like cotton candy, but I guess the name isn't as romantic. Seventeen years ago, the first three David Austin roses came to my garden. When I opened the Jackson & Perkins catalog and saw photos of 'Heritage,' 'Gertrude Jekyll' and 'Graham Thomas,' I knew I had to have them. Not knowledgeable about antique roses, I had never seen anything like those blooms. That spring, after paying $24.95 per rose, I received a large box filled with three bare-root twigs. I planted them exactly as directed, and they thrived. The following spring I...

I planted Missouri Primrose, Oenothera missouriensis (Onagraceae,) last spring. The three plants grew all summer, and this is my first bloom. Because of its short stature, I put the three at the front of the border next to the stairs. Descending the stairs, I can see them blooming on my left. Another yellow favorite in the same bed is the rose 'Carefree Sunshine.' This prolific bloomer and grower never fails to perform. The common yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is just starting to open. I love the yellow against the gray foliage. I bought this variegated lantana at Bustani. I've never seen any like it before. Love how the flowers bring out the yellow in the leaves. Iris 'Moon Journey' at my friend, Bonnie's, house. She has an iris farm in Carney, Oklahoma. This is another beautiful, yellow iris, but I couldn't find the name. Angela @ Cottage Magpie created this challenge....

Apricot Mystery Rose UPDATE: I no longer use Bayer products or any other type of herbicide or pesticide. I haven't since 2008. As Maya Angelou says, "When we learn better, we do better." My friend, Dollybelle, sent me an email the other day, and I've thought about it ever since. Back and forth, we discussed our gardens and what was going on in our garden club. We're both officers in the Central Oklahoma Hemerocallis Society (i.e., long name for daylily club.) Her garden is a lovely one located in a town near here, and mine is rural. Yet, we grow similar things. We both like the English cottage style, and we both grow lots of roses, perennials and daylilies. She might not realize it, but over the last three years, she taught me many things, including to use Milorganite on my daylilies. I was reluctant at first. Milorganite was expensive,...