July's Lilies, Roses, Clematis and More

Morden Ruby Rose bush

July 24th Flowers
July is always the most beautiful time in my flower garden. I always hate to be away then, and this year is no exception. With so many family things going on, I have missed 2 weeks of the best of the blooming time and enjoyment of the fruits of my spring labours.  Most of the roses have finished blooming now except for my Morden Ruby which continues to out do any of the others. Admittedly, it was the last rose bush to start blooming.
My Morden Sunrise has opened more blossoms now, too, its second batch but it has only a few compared to the first round of blossoms in late June.

Morden Ruby rose

The first Clematis flowers opened the first week of July, a bit later than most years, but it seems as the trees are growing in the yard, the sunlight is diminishing to the side of the house where the Clematises are growing; Plus we have had an inordinate amount of rain this summer and nowhere near as much sunshine as a result.

July 14th Clematis blossoms:

July 14 General Sikorska Clematis on left, Jackimanii Clematis on right

July 24 Hollyhocks on left, Clematises in centre, yellow false sunflowers on right

My first dahlia of the season bloomed on about July 14th as well, the Firebird dahlia located in my stack stone bed near the house. As of July 24th, it is looking even more spectacular. My other Firebird dahlia which is planted in the big tub planter in the yard, is much taller than usual and has started blooming as well. (photos soon)

First Firebird Dahlia blossom of 2013

My yellow day lilies are looking so huge and gorgeous. The 2 clumps at the foot of my rock garden are covered in numerous beautiful blossoms. I wish they would last longer. They were at their most beautiful on the 24th. The day lilies near the pond are opening up now, as well as the 2 smaller clusters in my triangle bed.

Yellow day lilies

View from the deck July 24/13

Red pot lilies-July 14, 2013

The red pot lilies in my stack stone bed popped open almost all at once on July 14 and they looked spectacular, but they were all finished by the 24th when I returned home. I'm sad that I missed seeing their spectacular show for the most part during my absence. 

Red Maltese crosses and purple monkshood in bloom. 

The Monkshood is tall and steely and the red/ orange Maltese Cross is at its best. The butterflies and hummingbirds are enjoying them. Next week I will have to start cutting the maltese crosses down though since they like to spread their seeds all over the flower bed given half a chance. 

The white daises are all but finished now and I ruthlessly cut most of them off to try and prevent a massive seeding. I know I have missed cutting some of them though, and I always get far more tiny re-seeded daisies than I want. The pretty columbines are finished blooming now as well. much of the maltese cross has fallen over on top of it and will need to be cut off.

I am also still putting mulch on the flower beds. Yes, it's rather later than it should be, but it seems the summer is speeding by faster than usual, especially when a person is away for part of it.

Hardy hollyhocks

Last but not least I want to mention my gigantic gorgeous hollyhocks. They started to bloom just before we left on vacation( again about the 14th or 15th of July) and now they are massive and stunningly beautiful, covered in numerous healthy huge flowers. I have never seen my hollyhocks look this thick and this fabulous! :)

Looking forward to the rest of the summer!

Non-stop pink tuberous begonia

July Beauties

 The sunshine we have been finally getting in the last week has really helped things to burst open in a beautiful way!

The campanula cluster bell flower is looking really beautiful.  It is rather invasive and does try and take over your garden via its root system so as long as you are aware of that and you ruthlessly remove it where you don't want it to grow, it is nice to have in the garden.

Campanula cluster bell flower

Tiger lilies are one of my favourite in the garden. I had numerous clumps of them in our previous home in northern Manitoba, and I often gave bulbs away in the spring or fall  to whomever wanted them. I did try to bring some and grow them here when we first arrived. Unfortunately the little black moles under the garden liked them, too! :(
Only one bulb survived after the first summer, but I managed to get 3 more bulbs from the kind owner of the Lily farm out on Hwy 11 west, out towards Rocky Mt House.  She got them from her own mother's garden and gave them to me free. (I did buy some beautiful oriental lily bulbs from there as well which are a bit more temperamental and difficult to grow. More about lilies later.

Tiger Lilies

Pinks ( dianthus)

The clematises are growing well so far, but no blossoms yet.

The Jackmanii clematis and General Sikorska are growing well but not blooming yet. My tiny white Alba is growing and hopefully will set a few buds for the first time....  The Jackmanii on the right is taller, but the General has more branches and usually more flowers as well.

Blue Sage

The bees love my blue sage  perennials, May Night. Personally I think they have an unpleasant smell but I love how they look. Remember to cut them back right away after they bloom so they don't seed themselves too much. They like to try and take over if you let them. I have given the youngsters away to a number of people (aquaintances, friends and my daughter) and sometimes to the Plant Swap held in May in town.

American Gold Finch

The gold finches are nesting nearby and they enjoy the nyger seeds in the feeder.

Stone crop starting to bloom

Poppies and daisies

A sea of white

The white daisies are in full bloom along with the white potentilla.  I have been cutting a lot of the daisies away from my rose bushes to make sure the roses get enough sun and air movement around the.

Almost time to chop the daisies right down, though. They are shading the Lavatara and the 4 O'Clocks that I started in the greenhouse and planted in that bed.

Lychnis Splendins

I moved the Splendins over a few feet to amore central spot and it didn't seem to mind as it has bloomed its little heart out regardless. It was kept well-watered by Mother Nature, though (and I think that's the secret to a successful move.)  We had rain almost every day for 5 weeks in a row!

Goldfish pond

Lupines

The lupines suddenly opened their buds and started blooming all at once. I think they were held back by the lack of sunshine in June and now were making up for lost time. :)

Time to cut the purple ones back as they are setting seeds and I already have half a dozen young ones to move or give away.

Swallowtail enjoying the end of the lilacs

Wild roses in bloom everywhere here at the Lake

I LOVE my roses and they have thrived this summer.

Roses and Roses!

My roses are loving the hot sunny weather after having wet feet for 4 weeks!

The first to bloom was the youngest, my newest addition to my rose garden, the gorgeous Morden Sunrise rose.

It was followed closely by the oldest rose bush, the very hardy hanse rose that grow as wild as a weed and needs no fussing whatsoever.

Close up of the Hansa rose

A rose between two thorns... I mean daisies. :)

Morden Sunrise rose flanked by daisies.

Morden Blush is the first rose bush that I planted 6 years ago after I arrived here at our new home at Buffalo Lake in central AB.  It usually had the first buds and the first blossoms, but was 3rd this year. It have a prolific amount of buds, though and will bloom a second time if I deadhead it.

Morden centennial

The Centennial rose bush was my second addition planted about 5 years ago. I love the colour of the blossoms! It has an abundance of buds this year too. It also will bloom a second time if the conditions are right.

Last summer I bought a second Morden Centennial rose bush at the end of the season. It was hot and dry in its little root bound pot and was calling to me to take it home... So I did! :)

It has a good number of buds on it for being so new to my garden and getting crowded out by the false Spiria shrub next to it. Won't be long before they open, though...

My Morden Ruby rose just opened the first bud late yesterday! It is a stunning deep red and I will add a photo soon.

Winnipeg Parks rose

This Winnipeg Parks is a small rose bush, but the flowers are so beautiful. It has the least number of buds,of any of my bushes, though. It is hardy however, and can survive Alberta winters.

Last garden season I had rose rust on all the wild roses on our property and my garden roses were no exception. I had to trim them all quite severely but they have all recovered this year, quite nicely. Because of all the rain we have in June, the rust came back but again, I cut quite a lot out. I also spray with Neem Oil which seems to keep it from spreading.  It also seems to look after the aphids that weak havoc on my red current shrub as well.

I love the Morden roses as they are hardy to the cold prairie winters and they can survive -40C!  I do mulch them in the fall, though, right after the first bad frost, usually in early October. I pile peat moss around them and add some plant cuttings on top to hold the peat. Then I wrap them with burlap and string. It's a bit of work, yes, but they repay me all summer long with their beauty.

I added an Explorer rose bush to my collection this year. It is a beautiful soft pink climbing rose called John Davis. It's my first climbing rose. Not sure if I have to cut it back in the fall or not, but I will give it a whirl! Right now it is parked on the deck still in its pot, entertaining me with it's beautiful blossoms...

 All the Explorer roses are all very winter hardy as well.

Still debating where its permanent home will be. I think I will dig up the perennial geranium in my Angel bed, once its done blooming and plant John Davis there,  near my favourite Tiger Lilies; my first rose bush in that bed.   :)