peony garden planted last year with a dozen peonies

garden update of the season. dahlias are in, all 235 of them across 60 or so varieties. the bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley came and went in a short-lived but glorious burst. the poppies are reaching peak. zinnias and cosmos are coming up. peonies are about to open. clematis are climbing and blooming.

'bourbon' clematis

the clematis are having a great time, with bourbon being the most vigorous out of my 6 varieties. but a few others are really trying to put on a good show. i've been drenching them with an aerated tea of compost, kelp and fish. my fingers smell like fish for days afterwards, but worth it. the plants seem to love it.

my strawberries that i planted yesterday are definitely bearing the fruits of my labor (quite literally). they were pitiful little things but look at them now! i think i messed up with planting them last year; buried the crowns too deeply. perhaps that delayed fruiting last year; no matter, this year's crop seems to be making up for it.

yeah, it's a constant struggle with sweet peas. really i need a cold frame to properly raise the seedlings. these don't look bad but it's a gamble as to whether they'll bloom before it gets too hot.

i have poppies on the left and cosmos on the right. well, next year i've decided to do an entire bed of poppies. i bought pint size 'champagne bubble' poppy plants from a wholesale grower in town. plan to do the same thing next year, but this time i hope to snag a pink one. this year, i seem to have only white, yellow and orange, which are great and all but a little more color variety would be nice. the cosmos are doing well. not much to say other than they're fairly easy to germinate.

close up of the peony garden. they're about to blow!!!

dahlia beds 1 and 2, same ones as last year. the weeding shouldn't be so bad this time around.

dahlia beds 3 and 4, new ones. our plan is to wait until the weeds get a little taller and then start yanking them out and cover with mulch.