The Peony Moment It finally stopped raining earlier this week and we're having "second spring" as my friend Amir used to call it (as opposed to the "first spring" of daffodils, cherries, tulips, etc.). My wife's beloved peonies are having their moment, justifying their prominent placement by the garden gate, with the gorgeous diablo ninebark blooming behind them. When we were laying out the garden, I thought we had room for two or three peonies, but we now have six. You know how it goes... paeonia x 'Madame Emile Debatene' paeonia lactiflora 'Sorbet' The purple crush in the frontyard Our front flower bed is very small and fills the space between the house and the sidewalk. I try to have something blooming, or at least visually interesting, going on all the time. I tend toward blues and purples and pinks since we have a light blue house. Right now the front is billowing mass of blue and purple bearded irises, flax, columbines, alliums, lupines, lavenders and a small baptisia. The red geum "Mrs. Bradshaw" will show up to ruin the party in a few days. As summer comes on, the coneflowers, rudbeckia, eryngiums, and grasses will take over, along with zinnias sown into any blank spots. It beats mowing the front yard. (That's the neighbor's trash can catching some sun. Lovely, no?). saponaria 'Bressingham' quietly doing its thing in a trough with alliums and a gentian