Jewels of July 2019

July 3/19 new Morden Belle rose

What a rainy July we had! In the 13 years that we have lived here, we have never had this much rain. It is usually a very dry month.

Two of the lavatara that I started from seed are blooming the rest all died after I planted them out.
(1 in Stackstone bed is huge and the Round Bed lavatara is also looking great.

Dahlias are one of my favourite flowers.
The 2 small dahlias that I got as bedding plants and planted in deck pots are full of blossoms now, looking gorgeous,  and have a lot of new buds (one on the balcony and one on the main deck.)

My new Thomas Edison Dahlia has been living in the greenhouse and then outside the greenhouse next to the tomatoes for many weeks. It has thrived and is gigantic and full of buds now.
The 2 Firebird dahlia that I over wintered and started from tubers in February are doing well, but slow to bloom because of our lack of sunshine this summer. One Firebird is in the Stackstone bed by the lavatara and one in the big yard tub by the telephone pole (surrounded by yellow bidens and one yellow Osteo daisy.)

The Tahitain sunrise tuber that I saved from last year is doing really poorly and I will be composting the whole pot soon. It had some bugs in the soil a few weeks ago and I treated it with Neem oil. it started to come back then took a turn for the worse again. I'm pretty much giving up on it.  :(

Top of rock garden
At the end of July the Morning glory had been blooming for about a week. The 3 sweet peas that I started from seed are all growing and blooming. They took a while to get going this year. Most are white. I was hoping for more of a variety. But, hey, Im happy they survived.  I guess they are not fond of too much rain either.

Cosmos, where are you!??  I threw a bunch of cosmos seeds on the soil in my rock garden and long bed, but nothing germinated at all. I thought I had 2 or 3, but turns out they are dill! :D
Did I mix up my seeds?   The 3 or 4 seedlings that I had started in the pot in the greenhouse dried out sadly when we were away for a few days.

Note to self:  Buy new Cosmos seeds next year.

I love this Julia Rose peony! July 14/19

July 30
Peonies are almost done blooming now. (triangle bed) There is one flower on the peony in the wild bed (left side).

Side of house peony- no flowers again this year. Im done with it! Im going to dig it up in a couple of weeks and replace it with my Morden Belle rose which looks spectacular in its pot and it getting another round of beds. Maybe Ill give the peony away to my daughter R who is starting a new flower bed at her place along with some other perennials.

The poppies continue to do well in my Stackstone bed.

Poppies

The blue campanula was 2 weeks late, didn't really start blooming till mid July but they were very pretty.

Blue cluster flower campanula

Maltese cross were very attractive and the beeds and hummingbird love them.

Maltese cross in rock garden July 20

Maltese cross in long perennial bed, July 20

My lilies are looking quite beautiful but they also are lacking the sunshine.

Tiger lilies July 14 

 Orange Double lilies  July 20 rock garden

Roses
July 28
Centennial and John Davis roses are full of flowers now and looking gorgeous. Considering the hard winter they suffered through, I am really impressed!

July 28 Morden Centennial

Once this morden Centennial starts growing and blooming it just goes like gangbusters. I would highly recommend this rose bush.

John Davis climbing rose

This is another really strong rose bush. It is often the first to bloom even though the snow melts off this bed pretty slowly in the spring. It is very hardy and even if the top branches are dead, it regrows a huge amount of stems and foliage and it blooms continually all summer long. I love this bush!

Morden Ruby rose

Morden Ruby Rose has lots of buds now, but the tall daisies and other annuals around it were causing shade and needed to be culled. It is looking pretty but the flowers seem to be smaller than usual.

John Davis again 

Never Alone Rose
I bought this rose last year and overwintered it by sinking the pot into the earth in the vegetable garden. I forgot to cover or mulch it and it survived a really nasty winter. I am so impressed!
I planted Never Alone in the Stackstone bed to replace my Morden Blush.
*( It started to bloom in early August).

Centennial 

Winnipeg Parks rose
This tiny rose bush has a few flowers now which is amazing considering that the poppy seeds I put in that bed tried to take over, grew huge and leggy and then the rain pushed it all over on top of the rose bushes.

White daisies. They photo bombed also all my flower photos, there are so many of them in all my beds. Time to do a major culling. I cut down most of the flowers as they started to go to seed, but it will need more than that to control them.

My friend B gave me some pale green nicotianas that I put at the side of the house, but, man, are they every tall! The flowers are small and white, but not the prettiest things though.

Last year I had Gladiolas galore but this year only 3 of the bulbs grew worth a darn. I guess its best to get new bulbs every year.

My garden flowers are looking so beautiful! :D

Delphinium

Columbine

 Petunias and pansies