Hot July Beauties

Peony and siberian iris blossoms

July has been very hot and dry which entails a great deal of watering. But in spite of all the work that requires, the blossoms busting out all over my garden make it all worthwhile. :)

Morden Centennial Rose and white daisies

My roses are looking gorgeous although they do have a touch of rose rust and need to be sprayed. They all had to start new branches from the roots as the winter cruelly killed off all their branches, except for the Ruby rose bush which somehow managed to fare better.

The John Davis climbing rose in my angel bed, which I though was dead in the spring has made a nice comeback. No flowers yet, but it does have buds.

New rosebush- Morden Belle 

My new Morden Belle rose is blooming a pretty medium pink, quite similar to the colour of my Morden Centennial rose (my personal favourite) which is looking fabulous right now!

Morden Blush Rose

I love this Morden Blush rose. It is so dependable and usually blooms twice a summer.  The blossoms start out as baby pink but soon bleach to white in the hot summer sun. Still very pretty, though.

Morden Ruby has numerous buds, more than ever before and they are just starting to open. The little Winnipeg Parks rose that I moved to the end of my long bed (to make room for Belle with the other Morden roses) is growing and has a few buds, but it is quite small.

Very hardy Hansa rose

I chopped back my hardy Hansa rose quite a lot about 10 days ago (rather late in the season) due to so much dead growth and leggy, droopy branches, but I'm pleased to see that it still has a lot of buds opening up on it.


 The smallest rose bush though is my pretty Morden Sunrise which has only 1 stem but it bravely produced a tiny flower earlier. I wonder if somehow I forgot to put the blood and bone meal around its soil in May. I think I will go out and apply some there today, just to give it a big boost.

It is also time to chop off my white daisies. I always enjoy when they first bloom but the hot weather makes them go to seed so fast, then the seedling try and take over the flower beds the following spring.

daisies, delphiniums and self-seeded pansies

My day lilies are just beginning to bloom and the plants themselves are gigantic!  The yellow blossoms are very beautiful and, although they only last 1 day (hence their name), the buds are so numerous that they will be displaying their beauty continuously for the next 2 weeks or so. :)

Day lilies and Maltese Cross

 {Note to Self: divide daylily plants next spring in time for Stettler Plant Swap. }

Stone crop sedum 

Clematis:  My new Nellie Moser has 2 flowers open this morning. It doesn't have much growth yet since I only just planted it a few weeks ago to replace the General Sikorska clematis that sadly didn't make it this year.  (Old Man Winter has very harsh in 2013/24, plus I forgot to mulch them :(  )
There's a bare space where my Jackmanii usually grows. It fooled me into thinking it was sprouting this spring as something was trying to grow there….  Next year I think I will move "jack's" trellis next to the Hansa rose (more sun) and plant a new clematis there.

{Note to self: in early October, water the clematis deeply so the roots freeze in and mulch well! )

Red Dahlias are still blooming profusely

My red dahlia is outdoing itself this summer and still blooming profusely. The firebird orange and yellow dahlias are just starting to open now.  That may be because this red dahlia has such a sunny location, but also because I cut back the leggy stems on the Firebird dahlia.

I love pansies! Unassuming loyal bloomers :) 

My columbines are big and healthy this year.

My columbines are still blooming and have been for quite some time already. So far the caterpillars have left them alone instead of stripping them of leaves which usually happens.  I probably have the little wrens to thank for that! :)

Newest garden addition:

Love My Beautiful Garden! June 2014

June 8 -26, 2014

Wow! Am I far behind in my garden blog! I guess I have been doing so much gardening and no time for blogging! :)
 Everything is growing gangbusters now and looking quite fabulous, if I do say so myself…


June 8 -white anenomies blooming  in angel bed

angel bed perennials all growing well

 Bleeding heart- blooming quietly in triangle bed June 8.

June 9  Bearded irises blooming at side of house. Ones in the bottom of the Rock garden started blooming not long after, as well.

June 11  Peony in triangle bed- Lots of healthy looking buds!  White peony at the end of  my Long Perennial Bed has some rotted stems… must be too wet there. Must remember not to water as often in late spring next year. Only 1 bud still growing...

June 26 irises and peony showing off buds  Pict 17


June 22   Petunias in deck pots are blooming profusely

New Dahlia  in deck pot  Pict 10  2

Bought this cute little dahlia at Canadian Tire garden centre in Red Deer

Blue sage perennial "May Knight" The bees love this plant!

Pict 6  and 13    Daisies Blooming   June 24

The white daisies started popping open all over my stackstone bed and also a number of them in the long perennial bed and rock garden. The daises are quite tall and tend to fall over, so they need to be cut off regularly so that they don't shade the rose bushes and the tiny Lavatara that I had planted there.
(Lavatara was started from seed in our greenhouse in mid April.)

Stacksone bed and pond

June 24 - My tiger lilies started opening and are still looking fabulous now in early July.  So pleased to have these 'ordinary' lilies in my garden again!

 Red "Thompson" dahlia, first bud opened on June 24.  They are so huge and lovely! I have had these tubers for over 12 years and keep digging them up and re-starting them the following spring.

June 26  This year I planted a new clematis called  Nellie Moser.  It has pink and white blossoms and doesn't mind shade. That's a good thing as the trees nearby have grown so tall that this area doesn't get as much sun as it used to. My 6 year old clematis, General Sikorska secumbed to the battle with Old Man Winter, sadly.  My 4 year old Jackmani didn't grow this spring either.  Both clematises had been quite dependable, but we had had a really brutal winter.

Must remember to water the clematis well in late Oct./ early Nov. before the first snowfall and maybe add some mulch on top as well for added protection.


 Pink and yellow columbine starting to bloom, and looking great!

 Snow in Summer - This short perennial is growing well and blooming nicely. Had to dig some up and plant it at the shady end of the stack stone bed to keep it from taking over! Also gave a chunk away.

My creeping phlox in that same flower bed died except for the pink clump which, strangely enough, had never really grown well since I had planted it 5 or 6 years ago. Go figure!

Giant rhubarb plants June 8
Still hoping to get time to make some rhubarb jam. :)

The Dangerous life of Robins and Deer

Adolescent robin at the edge of the pond

A mother robin had built a mud nest in the lower branches of one spruce tree at the end of our driveway. There were 4 beautiful eggs in it and she successfully raised all 4 robins there without alerting any of our cats to their presence. Those were the stillest, quietest birds I have ever seen! They knew when 'danger' was nearby and did not move or make a peep anytime I was watering my tubs of flowers nearby. 

I like to think that some of the robins that we see in the yard now were those four.  :)

Mama deer and Fawn

One morning last week I was looking out the kitchen window when I spotted a brown movement.  There was a female deer and also a tiny fawn in the shrubs behind our property. The deer often give birth to their young here in this quiet, safe area. 

It was so thrilling to be a part of this!

Mama deer and newborn fawn

The coyotes are quite active right now, brazenly coming into our yard, close to the house in the early mornings. One of our neighbours said that when she was out walking her dog a few days ago, she saw some coyotes approaching a fawn who had become separated a little distance from its mother.  Our neighbour yelled and waved her arms and the coyotes backed off. The mother deer was able to get to her baby.