May Showers and Spring Flowers

We had a nice little rain storm this afternoon, but once the rain stopped and sun started to peep through the clouds, I made a mad dash for the backyard to photograph some of my pretty spring flowers that are soon to bloom.

Here we have some peonies that have sprouted out of an unruly patch of ivy. Behind the peony, it looks as though a lily of some sort might be coming up, too.

I think I am going to have to send my camera out for repair because it is totally focusing on the wrong thing. Boo. :(

I also have some type of rose growing out of another ivy patch. I'd love to know what type of roses these are. I've not always been an avid gardener (although I love doing it), so I have a lot to learn in the way of plant species and their care. Looks like these beauties are going to be a lovely red or deep pink shade.

I managed to rescue the poor rose bush below from the grips of ivy. It is currently planted by our walkway to the front porch, however I am thinking it may do well to transplant it to another area. It's rather tall, and it might have better support up against the garage. I can't wait to see what lovely color these blooms will be. I am so happy to see that there are plentiful buds on it. These popped up just in the last couple of weeks since I removed the ivy!

In the background, you can see the gorgeous azaleas and their luscious hot pink blossoms. I won't share a pic of those, though, since they look the same as they did in the post I did about removing the ivy here. I did, however take a picture of the many buds that are currently popping up on our rhododendron. These should be lovely, and hopefully the bush will thrive better now that it isn't tangled in ivy.

So that is a small taste of spring around here. Everything else is pretty much covered in ivy. I hope to remedy that, but it's a long and arduous process. I'm looking into possibly propagating some of the ivy so I can transplant it onto the embankment alongside the side of the road. That area has been a pain to mow, so perhaps the ivy will gladly fill that spot in for me. Right now I am researching propagation, and what's needed, so if you have any advice, please share!

Do you love to garden or have some lovely spring flowers sprouting in your garden? What's some of your favorite flowers to plant this time of year? I happen to LOVE the Iris!