My orange Cone Flowers just started opening this week and they look so pretty. I found this variety in a local nursery last year and snatched them right up.
My Lamb's Ear is now in full blooom as well and is always full of bees these days.
The Coreopsis went from thinking about blooming to bursting into full color.
The Lamb's Ear nestled right next to some Hydrangeas that just started blooming as well.
The Lilies are still in full swing and some new colors opened up recently. Some lovely pink and yellow blooms have been emerging.
A very striking bright orange Lily.
Some red/orange blooms.
I had some visitors the other day, this little bird couple decided to sit and rest in my Geranium and Vinca Vine hanging pots. Maybe they wanted to look out over the garden for a while.
My back perennial garden is really starting to burst into bloom now. The Lilies are springing to life and the Carpet Roses have gotten big and beautiful with lots of cascading blooms.
Hanging baskets on my back porch filled with Cascade Geraniums and Vinca Vines. The butterfly ornament was purchased at a crafts fair last year.
Some Coreopsis that have just opened up. I love this flower, it is an easy grower, needs little water to look good and keeps the bright blooms coming all through the summer.
Up close and personal with some Lilies.
Some new yellow beauties that have just popped open.
View from my back porch of some of the Lilies.
The deep purple Clematis are still in bloom.
Some Purple Cone Flowers just starting to bloom.
My Lamb's Ear that just came into bloom last week.
The Hydrangeas have just opened and are still a very pale blue, green and white. It is always a pleasure to watch them change colors.
A fellow blogging friend, Catherine Holman (a wonderful folk artist ) over at http://www.catherineholmanfolkart.blogspot.com/ , asked to see my Flower Carpet Roses because she was thinking of getting some. This morning I ran out before it was too hot and miserable to snap some photos of the roses as well as a couple lily pictures and overall shots.
A shot of some of my Pink Flower Carpet Roses after getting refreshed by the sprinkler this morning.
This is a view of the whole bush.
This particular rose is more of a hot pink. I also just purchased some yellow ones (for the front yard ) and they are very fragrant. The ones I just planted out front are small as they are not established yet and they are in my May 30th post. 
A perennial overview of my back yard. From front to back - Flower carpet Roses, Coreopsis, Yarrow, Hydrangeas, Coneflowers (white, purple & orange), Black Eyed Susans, Bearded Iris, Clematis (purple, lavender & white), lilies (asiatic & oriental) and in the very back, starting to grow quite tall, my perennial Hibiscus (a favorite of mine).
One last Flower Carpet bloom.
The first of the Lilies opening up.
Many more just waiting to burst open.
I've just shipped out a special custom order, bangle tiger mailbox this week. I was contacted by this customer a few months ago as she wanted to discusss a special design that would coordinate with the inside of her house.
She forwarded samples of her wallpaper with the lily and butterfly design that you see in the top photo. The wallpaper has a very contemporary look and so to keep that theme, I matched the flowers and butterfly to the wallpaper. I kept the color palette simple on this one, gray, silver, black and white were the main colors that the customer wanted in order to echo the design of the wallpaper.
She also sent me a photo of a special piece in her home, a stuffed animal, bangle tiger that she had on display. Her one request for the painted tiger was that he retain the piercing blue eyes that the stuffed animal version had. The tiger was painted on the box and then I incorporated the contemporary floral design around him. I think the two go very well together. Fun but also very challenging at times to create this one.
I'm now able to be part of the blogging world again, we've got a new computer and lots of places to store photos so I'm in business. I've really missed blogging!!! Ok photos of my new garden that I took last week. They Hydrangeas are blooming now and my Lilies just started to open as well. Behind the Lilies, you can just start to see my favorite flower peeking through. My Hibiscus are growing very tall and soon, will be as tall as the floor of my back porch. They break dormancy each year very late, in May actually. So while they will be the tallest flower in the bed, it takes them awhile to get there. By the end of July, they will be huge and filled with dinner plate sized flowers.
I've lined the walkway to the back door with Hydrangeas and on the other side of the stairs, I have pots filled with Geraniums and Dahlias. Also, I've got plans for the area under the porch floor, I'm having my husband build a frame for some lattice work back there. That will actually come in handy when the Hibiscus start to bloom, I'll have something readily available to tie them too. I keep telling him to get it done before they grow too much taller or else it will be difficult. I have a feeling it will just have to be a little more difficult because I don't see it getting done so.......that is the way it goes. We still feel like we're running a little ragged around here. Now that the move is over it should be easy but honestly, there are still so many little , annoying things to do that it just never seems to end.
A close up of some of my white Lilies.
Ow, my deep purple Clematis is becoming a real favorite. I love this plant!! I think I bought this one a couple of years ago and it is getting so large and healthy now. I bought a trellis for it to climb on just recently. 
I've also run quite a Clematis muke so to speak. I'm so in love with this one that I ran out a couple of weeks ago and bought another one......pale lavendar. Then just last week, I ran out again and bought a white one. Can you see a pattern here??
One of my Flower Carpet Roses. I've got 3 in this back bed, 2 are doing beautifully and the 3rd is still a bit ticked off at me that I dug it up and moved it. However, the 3rd one is shaping up quite nicely and I think, getting over the shock of being moved.
I still have some spaces to fill in back here and one of the things I bought to fill it in are more Coneflowers. These are actually an orange color, although you cannot really see that too well here but they are very pretty. I'll try to get some more photos of some fresh blooms when they appear and you can see the orange color a bit better.
A coneflower that is getting ready to bloom soon.
My very pretty and reliable burgandy Yarrow that will bloom any day now. It's a very prolific and hearty summer bloomer for me.
I already started thinking, while I was working on Peony Bouquet (see artwork below), about what my next painting would be. This for me is one of the hardest parts of a painting, deciding what to paint! I know other artists have this same problem as well, I have so many ideas and not enough time to paint them all. Then the issue of how you want your ideas to be painted comes up. Do I want to paint something on canvas, large or small?? What about on paper, I have several different sized watercolor blocks, maybe paper would be the surface of choice.
Sometimes I'm sure of what I want to do next or atleast I think I am, then the next day, I've changed my mind again. I feel I'll really never know what I"m starting next, until I sketch it out on my surface of choice. Once I get that far, I know I'm committed.
The above photos are ideas for my next painting. I got some really wonderful butterfly photos this summer, that I'm using for my inspiration. I take pictures constantly, in my own garden as well as out and about. The photos that I take and save, really help fuel my creativity all year long. I'm thinking my next painting has to be from one of the above photos but will it be on canvas or paper, how large or small will it be??? Those are the things I have to decide next.
