Roses and lilies

Winnipeg Parks Rose

Roses and lilies, two of my very favourite flowers are blooming now! And of course we can't forget the peonies! My beautiful pink and white peony continues to bloom although it looks very heavy and droopy in the rain. Their smell is so heavenly, I wish I could catch it and bottle it to smell when the dreary days of winter are here! :)

The first rose bush to bloom was the Morden Sunrise but that's because the greenhouse gave it its perfect conditions to develop blossoms.  My first over-wintering rose to bloom was actually my little Winnipeg Parks rose bush which I had dug up and moved about 2 feet forward in the bed this spring! It got more sun and seemed to appreciate that in spite of the stress of the move.

Morden Sunrise Rose bush

The next was my Morden Centennial rose, but my Morden Blush had a number of pale pink rosebuds on it at about the same time. My Morden ruby is ready to pop any time now. I can see the red petals peeping through the green buds! I must remember to trim back my white potentilla shrub. It is crowding my Blush rose bush.

Morden Centennial rose, shasta daisies, pink gauras/ butterfly flowers

My little tiger lily 'freeby' was the first lily to bloom although it only developed 2 flowers and a few more stems that were duds... The perennials close by it got so huge and lush this year because of all our rain , it shaded the tiger lilies too much. Next spring I will have to dig some of them back.

Red lilies, the first to bloom along with 2 tiger lilies

I missed my first 2 Morning Glory blossoms what with all the weekend company and weekend rain... The 2 flowers were pink but the next 2 are dark purple and quite beautiful. I had bought a 6 pack of morning glory annuals but their vines were so tangled together, I just planted them all in one spot. I had no idea that they are different colors, so it will be interesting to what it bloom up the trellis. I also bought a ruby Loftus this year. It is a climber and gets red trumpet flowers. It was blooming when I first planted it, but then it stopped after a white... I saw today, during my wet garden tour, that it has more red blossoms ready to open. :)

The "Bobbex" seems to be doing the trick to keep the deer from lunching on my flowers. It works better that the bars of "Irsh Spring" soap I used to hang by nylon on the delphinium and lily hoops.

I also checked my tall clematises in the bed on the east side of the house, which are full of fat buds now, too.  I look forward to seeing them bloom as they add so much deep blue/ purple color !

The Hollyhocks are getting very tall and look like they will have a lot of flowers this year as well. Most of my hollyhocks are 4 years old now and that's usually the life span of a hollyhock plant. Then it dies and you need to plant a new one the following year and start over. The new ones usually don't bloom the first year, but I started 2 'spares' in a pot on the deck.  Not sure where I will put them to over winter, though.  I wonder if I could just sink the pot into the ground and then transplant them next spring....

Purple delphiniums

My purple delphiniums are popping open by the minute! The flowers are a dark purple with white centres. The ones in my round 'angel' bed are over 6 feet tall and still growing! (One good thing to be said about all this rain we have been getting again in July...  2 inches this past few days alone...)

Delphinium flowers

The first 2 day lilies have opened their spectacular yellow blooms at the bottom of my rock garden bed.
I LOVE this time of the year! Always some new beauty to admire in the garden. :D

Pink and yellow columbines, shasta daisies, purple delphinium spikes

Pyjama gardening

You know you are passionate about gardening if you have ever done it in your pyjamas! LOL!

This morning I went outside to check my garden with my first cup of coffee in hand, still wearing my PJs.  We have had a fair amount of rain/ rain showers, whatever you want to call them- copious amounts of precipitation from the skies!

The flowers only appreciate so much, then they really need some sunshine to balance out the wetness. Except the dandelions. They thrive no matter what! A sea of bright yellow faces greeted me this morning! Mocking, is more like it! We have been digging them out by the dozens, even (don't tell anyone) zapping some with Killex. We seem to have more and more each day no matter what we do. 

Even the 'zapped' plants were having their last hurrah!  I read on a web site that Killex speeds up the dandelion weeds growth process to the point that it kills the plant, but it also causes the plant to quickly send out long flower shoots that go to seed right away, so in essence, you are killing one plant but in the process, causing it to drop hundreds of seeds of itself in the same location. End result: you will create 10 times more dandelion plants or more!  Except if you pick up all the little puffy white seed clouds nodding their heads all over the yard. And their little yellow brothers are not very far behind in the reseeding department! 

So, with my pyjama legs soaking up the moisture off the lawn, I scooped up dozens of little yellow heads and little white puffs of seeds.  What a way to start your day! Am I getting obsessed, I asked myself. Self didn't want to answer that... 

Hyer Apple tree in blossom in spite of the porcupines' valiant attempt to kill it...

We may get some apples on our Hyer apple tree this fall after all, at least we might if the cute little cedar waxwings would stop picking off the blossoms! I have no idea why they would do that... Are they after insects sitting in the blossoms, or what?  No photo of the cedar waxwings just yet. They always seem to know exactly when I'm going back into the house for my camera. :o

But I did manage to capture the elusive Baltimore Oriole at our feeder the other day.  He has the most beautiful cheery song!

Baltimore Oriole at the feeder by the kitchen window

Another fabulous songster is the bird in the above photo. We think he's a gray catbird. Doesn't look like much, I know, but he has a long cheerful, complicated song. Apparently cat birds (who also give a 'meow' type call) will mimic other birds' songs and incorporate them into their own long eloquent songs. Talk about 'piracy", LOL!

Ornamental cherry tree

Close up of the cherry blossoms