Just some pretty flowers

Mom used to say there is too much beauty in Vancouver, a surfeit of beauty, too much for anyone to absorb. When you come from the prairies, where it is often a struggle to get things to stay alive, let alone thrive and bloom, Vancouver's sheer luxuriance can seem excessive sometimes. But this is the best season of all in the city, when the rhododendrons and azaleas are putting forth their last efforts, and the roses, clematis, irises and peonies are overlapping with the beginning of the summer flowers. Here are some of the blossoms that have caught my eye as I've walked around Vancouver the last few days:

This little house always sports an amazing array of flowers, whatever the season.

Somebody chose clematis and roses to beautify their boulevard.

This well-designed, well-tended cottage garden is always full of blooms.

Styrax and oriental poppies make a stunning combination.

Quiet birch and campanula scene in a  side garden.

Somebody turned their garden into a wildflower meadow.