Inspiration for Art in the Garden

With beautiful spring weather finally here and plenty of April showers continuing in May, I can find inspiration for art right outside my back door!

This clematis vine is in full bloom. At last count, there were 22 flowers

and they're HUGE! This might be a painting to try soon.

On my patio, there's another variety. Clematis is showy but easy to grow. The plants need a trellis or something to climb. They are best planted near a foundation since they like their roots cool. This one is next to my patio so the roots hide there.

Coreopsis has a profusion of bright golden blooms that nod gently in the breeze.

Several years ago, my watercolor instructor gave me this ruffled peach iris.

Cheri gave me this deep dark purple iris too. 

Her watercolor paintings of iris are gorgeous, just like the flowers she shared.

I love columbine! It reseeds itself and surprises me all over the garden. I once had several varieties but the bees have cross-pollenated them so they all look alike now. 

My favorite flower in the garden is this red peony. It's always the first peony to bloom and looks wonderful in an arrangement. I see another painting here!

The herbs in my porch box are doing well too. They might even inspire me to cook! This year I planted parsley, thyme, and dill to use in this herbed chicken salad recipe from the Stone Gable blog. We tried it for my granddaughter's christening party and it is so good! The puff pastry cups are cute too.

Speaking of my new little granddaughter, she's coming to visit this week. I decided that was a good-enough reason to spruce up the patio a bit so I sprayed all the wrought iron with black Rustoleum paint and ordered some new Sunbrella cushions from Home Depot.

Do you think she'll notice?