June flowers

This June has been more flaming than it probably ought to have been: but luckily last weekend's big downpours have doused some of the worst and brought things back to balmy perfection.

I do love this time of year. The question is not whether you can find enough flowers in the garden to take pictures of; but which are the best of the dozens and dozens scattered in such generosity you hardly know where to look first.

It's the season of luxury flowers: lilies - can there ever be a more glamorous flower than a lily? - dinnerplate oriental poppies and large-flowered clematis unfurling their open faces to the sky.

And roses; my once sickly-looking rose bushes have responded to my winter pruning - much needed, as they were hopelessly neglected like everything else in this garden - by throwing out lusty new stems and big fat blooms. Unfortunately they're mostly rather grandmotherly, but we'll forgive them that for their sheer abundance.

Even the veggies are flowering: vegetables are so pretty if you look at them properly. And the annuals I sowed so carefully earlier in the year. It really is a time when all is good in the garden: a time to step back, take pleasure in what you have and smile.

Thanks go as always to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!