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: