Greetings friends!

June is nearly done and dusted, and I won’t be too sorry about heading into July. As can happen here in Finland, the month of June was more dreary, cool, and wet, than warm and sunny. Now that we’re well and truly soaked through and through, I’m looking forward to some warm days and hopefully some sunshine! All the rain was welcome, but enough already! I think there’s more in store later today and tomorrow. News of that had me running the lawn mower just to stay on top of the lawn, which can bound out of control with all the rainfall.

Plants are looking extremely lush and bountiful – and due to the coolish weather, most everything is somewhat delayed in blooming cycle. Believe it or not, the peonies are only just starting to pop open. The species varieties are always the first to get going, and then the succession continues as early, mid and late blooming varieties join the show. And too, thanks to the cool temps, the azaleas and some of the rhododendrons still have flowers! It’s just batty, but that’s the state of things. There are some strong wind warnings in place for Sunday and Monday – I just hope those winds don’t destroy too much as they pass through. It doesn’t take too awful much to wreak havoc on tall plants such as delphiniums and of course all those peonies.

Speaking of which, let’s take a bit of a stroll through some of my favorite snaps of views through the June garden.

Azaleas!

Irises!

Peonies!

Quite a lot of beautiful sights to behold in the late June garden. Pekka has been making a lot of progress on dismantling all the remaining downed limbs and has the shed neatly stacked with all the new firewood, which will keep us plenty warm for winters, at least in the near term. The gem garden is fit to burst, and it’s just a waiting game at this point for the full show to come into effect. There are already hints and teases, with some of the early flowering items now stealing the show. Just need some sunny days, which should send everything into full swing. Here’s hoping those powerful winds leave us unscathed.

What does the month of July have in store? Just going to have to wait and see and hope for the best!

Thanks for stopping by to see what we’re up to. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Until next time ❤