Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Jack moved into our house last July (and I moved in after our wedding in December), so this is the first time we've experienced our place in June. It had some surprises for us!

The other day, I looked out the bedroom window into the backyard-- which is mostly taken up by the driveway and garage, with just a tiny fenced-in strip of grass-- and what did I see?


Roses! We have a rosebush in our yard! This thrills me to an unreasonable extent, because my mom always refused to even attempt roses in our yard when I was growing up. Too finicky and hard to care for, she said. I feel as though this neglected-but-still-beautifully-thriving rosebush proves her wrong once and for all, and makes me determined to grow roses (if and when I ever have a house of my own for any extended period of time).

But that's not all!
Honeysuckle, if I'm not mistaken! And...



I'm not sure what these purple flowers are, but they've got tall slender stems, they close up at night, and a passing bumblebee seemed to be getting positively drunk on their nectar. Also...

These aren't in bloom currently, but I recognize them as lilies-of-the-valley-- pretty little white bell-like flowers.

I immediately felt the need to bring some summer into the house:

(Don't you love Mason jars? They're so homey and comfortable, somehow.)

Anyway, I'm kind of absurdly excited. I feel like Mary Lennox or something, finding a garden all coming to life even without anyone to tend it.

(Please excuse the poor-quality cell-phone pictures. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.)