Two beauties

A quick look at two of springtime's beauties in my garden, one just peaking, the other slightly past its prime.

The honeysuckle vine, permanently entwined with the basketball hoop pole is about as dramatic as anything else I grow when in bloom. The ninebark with its dark foliage I think of as more subdued, but maybe that's not the case. It's certainly making an impact right now!

***

Too bad this variety ('Mandarin' I believe) has very little (none) fragrance, and does not rebloom much for me. Still, I can't argue with its contribution to the garden every spring, right around Mothers Day.

A drooping bamboo culm adds some nice color contrast...

...and the disused bird feeder adds some charm to the scene. I have no idea how that half-rotten backboard has stayed up there for so long but it's contributing too.

I'm so glad that I planted the Clematis rooguchi here a few years back:

I'm surprised that it's started to bloom so early but the purple accents work well with the orange, and those little bells will continue to appear all summer, long after the honeysuckle blooms have dropped.

Moving from what's in the foreground...

...to what's behind. The 'Summer Wine' ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) just gets bigger every year. Is it just me, or do those bloom-filled branches look like octopus tentacles?

The form of the ninebark mimics that of the Fargesia 'Rufa' bamboo:

This was purely by chance, as neither plant had this form when they were chosen and planted.

Such beautiful things in this part of the garden right now!

If I could only get the rest of it into shape...

.