Walk in the Garden

It hasn't rained here since Tuesday or Wednesday of last week, and no rain is in the extended forecast. I'm sure that I'll be wishing for rain before long, but right now after a looooong wet spring that seemed to never end, the warm sunshine is a refreshing change for people and gardens alike. So, I took the opportunity to snap some photos yesterday of some of our happy flowers....
Starting in the backyard along the back garden wall, we have a rose bush of an unusual lavender color. Don't remember the name and right now I'm too tired (from my extended morning walk and the heat) to go out an check the tag... My daughter loves this color and I promised I'd give her this bush next year for their new home. It's very lovely and fragrant........

Below is a scrub jay who's been hanging around lately. The scrub jay is native to this area and is related to the blue jay. The males always have a blue chest, but their heads are more brown. As they age, their heads get more blue, so you can see this is a more mature bird. And let me tell you, he is defintely the alpha male jay around here - he even squawks at my cats when they're IN the house looking out the window at him (watching "cat TV", LOL)

Here are some of my irises along the garden wall bed:
We bought the rhizomes about 3-4 years ago at the Iris Society's annual sale (can't wait to get more in August!). We got a lot of unusual hybrids and they seem to bloom at different times (which is partly due to their location in the garden). At any rate, several are already done blooming, some are blooming now, and a couple more are almost ready. Still more won't bloom this year because I divided them last year and passed them out to my neighbors.

This rose loves the south-facing perennial bed anchored by the apricot tree in our backyard. The buds are actually BLACK, and then they open to this deep crimson, velvety rose. I've never seen a rose as thick and plush as this tea rose. They dry black, too. Naturally, the picture does not do it justice.

Finally, we have another rose - a grandiflora, called Melody Parfume on the sideyard (not the only one there, but the only one I photographed this time around). Again, it's an unusual purple-pink (lacking more technical terms) and fragrant.
The old saying for perennials (and, I believe it holds for roses, too) is that the first year they Sleep, the second year they Creep, and the third year they Leap. This rose is 3 years old!