Inspiration Through Denial

Here is the mindset for today:

• I am sick of hearing myself complain about all of the deer damage out in the garden so I can only imagine how y'all feel.
• It couldn't be uglier outdoors of late. Nothing but fog and drenched soil. "Soupy" is the perfect description. I'd kill for snow cover to hide it all.
• It is the 15th of the month, AKA "Garden Bloggers Bloom Day" and I ain't got squat going on right now. Of course I wouldn't expect to have anything this time of year, but you get the point.
• The flu and other ailments are all around us as it is a cacophony of moans and coughs and sneezes. Pretend the prior sentence isn't there as my family has been relatively healthy to date and I don't want to jinx that.

So in the spirit of ... raising spirits ... here is a ... spirited series of bloom pics from the past year that will hopefully serve as inspiration as we churn through the heart of the winter.
Let's pretend for a day that we are in the middle of May or June or even July.
The daydreaming has commenced:     

Joe Pye Weed

  

Catmint

Geranium 'Brookside'

Catmint

Geranium 'Karmina'

Bugleweed 'Chocolate Chip'

Viburnum 'Aurora'

Candytuft 'Snowflake'

Viburnum 'Shoshoni'

Bellflower 'Joan Elliot'

Eastern Bluestar 

Iris sibirica 'Snow Queen'

Iris versicolor

Iris sibirica 'Ruffled Velvet'

Penstemon 'Husker's Red'

Viburnum 'Emerald Lustre'

Catmint and Astilbe 'Amethyst'

Astilbe 'Deutschland' and Catmint

Yarrow 'Moonwalker'

Coneflower 'Fragrant Angel' 

Rose of Sharon 'Lavender Chiffon' 

Summersweet 'Ruby Spice'