I had visitors in my garden yesterday from Montana and Indiana and I thought I was at Siberian peak bloom but not quite.
Some of my favorites are still in colored bud. I was going to take a few stalks in the house and use my hair dryer on them to open them up so they could see them on Wednesday night I decided that was silly but it didn't seem that silly when they said they would have liked to see them.
Some of the late bloomer in tons of colored bud that were in various beds in the garden:
Dear Currier, Joyce Cole, Strawberry Fair, Gulls Wing, Mesa Pearl, Temper Tantrum (which I had silently), Dirigo Ruffled Feathers, Elisabeth McEwen, Liberty Hills,Harpswell Happiness and many more. :-(
Anna Mae, your 'Frosted Cranberry' was one of their favorites along with Marty and Jan's 'White Amber' and John White's 'Neat Trick' and Bob Hollingworth's 'Bright and Beautiful' , 'Emily Anne' and 'Blueberry Fair'and John Coble and Bob Bauer's 'Lee's Blue' that is in three places in my garden and is a blooming fool. :-) My garden is heavy on tetraploids which which seem to do better in my cold climate. When they get around to blooming that is.
These visitors are on their way to Maine today and will visit Jeff Dunlop and Dean Cole's gardens. Dean has some irises in bloom so they will see a hybridizer's garden and not have to look at a rain-soaked garden like mine yesterday and a lot of colored buds.
Ellen Gallagher
Berlin, NH
