Happy National Rose Month

June is National Rose Month.

This is a photo that I took a few mornings ago of a Royal Amethyst bloom. In hotter weather than we have been having, the flowers on Royal Amethyst can be a bit lighter-colored. This one, though, is a rich pinkish purple, literally dripping with color – probably due to a rain the day before. Oh, and it is so fragrant!

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Wishing you a rose-filled month! Of course, I’ll be sharing more photos of roses from our front garden. I hope that you enjoy them.

Cinco de Mayo Roses

Of all of my roses, Cinco de Mayo seems to be the most variable, ranging in color from deep maroon to coral to hot pink. (I read one catalogue’s description of the flowers as being anywhere from smokey lavender to rusty red.) While a gardener working with a strict color scheme might find that frustrating, I find it fascinating. From one day to the next, this floribunda can be almost unrecognizable except for the ruffled form of its flowers. Aren’t those ruffles wonderful? These are pictures that I took early this morning. Just a few days ago, the roses appeared to be a deep red-orange. The bush is a pretty consistent bloomer – apart from color – producing lightly scented flowers all summer. My rose bushes had more than normal die-back this winter, so they are all a little small right now. This bush should get to be about three times the size that it is now in the bottom picture below.

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Have a lovely day!

Irises & Roses

Just in the past few days, my roses have started to bloom. They are about a month late this year. Fortunately, they still overlapped with the irises a bit. I just love the combination of irises and roses – really what’s not to love there? Over the next week or so, the irises will finish off for the season, but the roses will keep blooming into next autumn. The sky has been overcast this afternoon, which always makes the colors in the garden seem all the more vibrant.  So I stole a few minutes during check-in time to catch some quick photos.

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Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Mid-Season Irises

My mid-season irises are in full bloom. With yesterday’s rain and this morning’s heavy fog, I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get any photos today; but the flowers put on quite a show! I had a difficult time deciding which shots to share.

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(FYI, the iris in front in the photo above really is that dark, making it a challenge to photograph.)

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Have a wonderful weekend!

Here in Manhattan, it is graduation weekend at KSU and at the local high school, so spirits are pretty high. Once again, congratulations to the new graduates. May your futures hold wonder!

Decisions

This is a photo of our Brown-Eyed Susans that I took last summer. Unfortunately – and to my great surprise – none of them came back this year. That’s the first time in fourteen years that I’ve lost our rudbeckia trilobas. Now, it is decision time. They were in a stretch of garden that is difficult to maintain because it is hard to reach with the hose and also difficult to weed. Do I replant or try to find some other way to landscape that area? There are still irises, yarrow, purple coneflowers and lambs ears in that bed. So that area still requires maintenance, but do I take the opportunity to start down-sizing that strip? Hmmm …

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Have a wonderful day!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring

Photos of new growth in the gardens …

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Have a gorgeous day!

For more on the photo challenge …

First Iris

Our irises just started blooming, which is really a wonderful thing. There are only a few open just now, but over the next month we should have hundreds and hundreds of iris blooms. So exciting!

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We’re Gettin’ There …

Maria, Anne and I spent hours working on the yard today. We’re gettin’ there!

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Have a lovely weekend!