Storms and Clean up

Delphiniums and maltese cross are blooming profusely

We had a fierce rain storm a few days ago which left many of my perennials lying flat on the ground, the daisies especially. Two of my rose bushes were covered by fallen daisies as were many of my annuals.  The daisies are starting to go to seed now anyway, so I decided to cut most of them off. I had piles and piles of daisies and long grass (that still manages to grow in the middle of some of my larger perennials) to haul to the compost piles. I managed to clean up 2 of my big flower beds, but still have 3 big ones left to tackle.  At least I don't have to do any watering!

Many of my purple cluster flower campions are lying on the ground as well. I cut some of them off to add to a vase with some daisies, a few stems of purple delphiniums and a couple stems of perennial geraniums. They look quite beautiful on our table!

All of my Morden roses are blooming (the Morden Blush, the Centennial and the 2 Morden Ruby roses), but my little Winnipeg Parks rose doesn't even seem to have any buds. Maybe it's because the Baby's Breath has grown so big and is shading it too much.  (Lying on top of it, is more like it!)  Will have to go out and stake it up today. 

My huge helianthus, (perennial sunflower) which is growing abundantly tall in the centre of my round 'Angel bed', needs to be staked as well.  It usually doesn't bloom till August, but then it continues with a beautiful display of sunny yellow blossoms until the frost.

I had to spray Neem Oil on my current bushes on Wed. night after I arrived home. They were infested with aphids!  It is best to use the spray in the shade if possible and also needs to be reapplied after a heavy rain (which we got again last night!) We had 4 more inches of rain in the 7 days I was away! Haven't checked the rain gauge yet to see what last night's deluge brought.  It's sunny and relatively nice this morning, but more rain/ thunder storms are in the forecast for the next 8 days as well. 

Pink peony

My peonies started blooming a few days ago. This is really exciting because I don't have a good history with peonies. The rain has been really cruel to the beautiful blossoms, though.  I did cut one beauty off to bring in the house to enjoy!

I do have 4 other peony bushes besides this one, but I moved 3 smaller ones to sunnier locations (two last fall and one this spring,) so they most likely won't bloom for 2 or 3 years now. ( Like I have said before, gardening requires a great deal of patience!)  My other peony is big and growing well, but it only has one tiny little bud and I doubt it will even grow into a flower. Its location is now so shaded by trees it gets very little direct sunlight. Peonies need at least 6 hours of sunlight per day to bloom well.

red maltese cross, purple delphiniums and the endless shasta daisies

My delphiniums have all started to bloom this past week and the Maltese cross is looking fabulous! The little hummingbirds are enjoying them. We saw a tiny male ruby breasted hummingbird there yesterday. 

The gazanias and lavatara has grown quite a lot and are blooming well. Can thank all the rain Mother Nature has been providing for that!

Globe Flower blooming in my wild bed (along with the daisies of course!)