There's a first time for everything.

We've had our peony Paula Fay for two years, and today it bloomed for the first time since we planted it.

I love peonies, even though their pollen gives me funky allergies. They're among the few garden plants we grow that the groundhogs won't munch.

And here's one of our four clematis vines. Haku Ookan, the dark purple monster in our front yard, hasn't bloomed yet. I don't remember what this one is called. I think it's pretty, but I wish it we had more non-purple varieties...