Rose Report from Robin

Since we had such a mild winter, I really expected my roses to be in peak form this year. I was wrong. They are very spindly, and covered with blackspot. But only those of us up close to them can tell. The blooms are still lovely. Of course, the Rosa Sunny Knockout is just as lush as ever, and covered in beautiful, fragrant roses. I have been calling this one Radsunny for awhile, and finally got a good look at the tag for the correct name. Consider this one a must-have in your rose garden, or any kind of garden, for that matters. Always perfect and beautiful.

I've had the first blooms on my Zepherine Drouhin rose climbing up the arbor. Some day I hope these flowers cover the arbor.

 On the other side of the arbor, I planted Golden Showers. It has remained quite small, but did manage to put out a beautiful bloom. I hope it has a growth spurt! In the meantime, I planted Grandpa Ott's morning glories on that side to compensate. 

My little Knockout tree rose is blooming, but it never has caught up to the blooms it had when I bought it. More fertilizer maybe?

 Here's another exception to the weak year my roses are having. Tahitian Sunset is a top performer in my garden. It's tall, very full, has no problems with disease and has perfect, fragrant roses. You must get this one!  Here's a before and after shot of one of it's beautiful flowers.

Funny Face is another dependable shrub rose, but it is trying to take over the rose garden. Always the first and last to bloom and never stops all summer long. However, it's not fragrant and is slightly bothered by blackspot.

Poor little Michelangelo is looking quite pitiful. Lost most of the canes that were sky high last year and covered in blooms. It's still putting out blossoms here and there, even this strange, flat flower that is not at all like it usually looks. This one has been a real favorite of mine, since it is deliciously fragrant and so very yellow!

The Fourth of July climber looks pretty good at a distance, but it is also being bothered my blackspot. I love the tie dyed look. I wish it was fragrant.

 My Don Juan climber is fragrant, and a pretty, traditional rose red. The petals often brown at the edges, but I'm the only one who can see it. 

Hot Cocoa is not a favorite. I thought I'd like the interesting orangy brown coloring of the flowers but they don't thrill me much in person. Not to mention that it has no fragrance. Any replacement roses in the future will be fragrant, because otherwise, why have them?

This little cutie is called Cecile Parade. It was actually a grocery store potted rose sold as a florist item. Once I planted it in the ground, it took off. It is now a fairly normal size rose and has these beautiful blossoms. All the other really tiny miniature roses I planted last year died off over the winter. Guess they were hothouse beauties not meant for the real garden.

I'm still waiting on blooms from Garden Party, Angel Face and Oranges and Lemons. They are all struggling mightily. My greatest fear is that my rose garden is falling victim to rose rosette disease. I've already removed one rose with it, and perhaps that's why so many of the others are struggling. Before I knew what the problem was, I ordered a beautiful David Austin rose to take it's place. Now I don't dare plant the David Austin in that tainted ground, so it has been planted in an urn for safe keeping. I fear for all of my roses at this point! I have to admit that none of them appear to have rose rosette, but I'll be on guard. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the blossoms I'm getting, like this Happy Chappy groundcover rose.

I definitely need more of these happy little blooms!

May Marvels

I'm not sure there is a lovelier month in the garden than May. And since I was born in May, this beautiful month is definitely a favorite of mine. Now I must admit I have not caught up on weeding, planting, mulching, trimming, and all those other spring chores that need to be done. But you know what? The garden just goes on without me.

 Last week, I injured my knee, right in the heart of the prime gardening season here in Ohio. Torture! There was a beautiful, warm, sunny Saturday, and I was not out in it. Appalling. Let's just say, there was pouting going on.

 But as you can see, the garden didn't care a bit. It just went right on blooming, and without my help. The nerve!

 After being confined to the house for a few days, I just had to get out there and see what was going on. I made it out the back steps, and it was so beautiful that I just had to see more.

 I took my crutches gingerly down the steps, and slowly made my way around the yard.

Oh was it worth it! My spirits were lifted, and my recovery began.

 Now that my knee is feeling a bit better, I fully intend to enjoy every last moment in the garden that I can.

 It only comes once a year, but it's worth the wait. I love you May!

Sunny Siesta Key

We've recently returned from yet another vacation in Florida, and on this visit, we stopped in to see my dad and stepmother on Siesta Key. What a beautiful spot this is! From the car, I saw so many beautiful flowers, but I didn't get much chance to photograph them. But I did manage to snap these bougainvillea. They provided a WOW factor everywhere I looked.

Now if you live on Siesta Key, tradition says to take your exercise along the beach in the morning. So we did participate by taking our morning power walk there. I think I would be even more motivated to exercise if I had this option every morning.

There is another lovely tradition at the condo association where my father lives. Every night, they meet at their little cove at the beach to toast the sunset. Isn't that the perfect ending to the day?

 A few feathered friends joined us at the beach that night.

And with a glass of wine in hand, we said goodnight to the day.

Cheers, to life at the beach!

Got To Get Back To The Garden

We often vacation in early May, which is a bit of a dangerous proposition for a gardener. There is so much to see and do at that point, and I hate to miss it. You would think that being on vacation in Florida would distract me from thinking about my garden back home. But it sure doesn't! I keep wondering what I'm missing. This year, for instance, I knew that there were buds on my peonies. Since I've never even seen them in bloom I didn't even know what color they are, and I was afraid to miss them. I didn't! Turns out my peonies are white. It was a little dark when I got home, so bear with me on the photos being a little fuzzy.

I kept wondering about my roses too, and yes, some of them did bloom for me while I was away. Funny Face is always the first and most prolific of my roses.

Second most floriferous would be the Knockout Rosa Sunny. Gorgeous, blooms non-stop and very, very fragrant. What's not to love!

My Fourth of July climber isn't fragrant, but it's just plain pretty.

The May Knight salvia had started to bloom before I left, so I knew they'd be in their glory. That's them, hiding behind the columbine and the last allium. I had no idea the columbines would get that tall. 

 Moonshine yarrow had buds when I left, so I knew I'd find blooms. This was one of those 75 cent bargains at the end of the summer last year. 

Last year's tall snapdragons were expected to be blooming and they didn't let me down. I love the color mix.

I knew the clematis by the lamp post would have lots of flowers in bloom, and it did.
And yes, it was about to storm.

But there were a lot of flowers that I had forgotten all about, like Evening primrose,

perennial geraniums,

the rhododendron Catawbiense red,

 and Brilliant Star dianthus. 

 I had one little surprise bloom out front, when one of my white Siberian iris returned. I dug them all out last year because I didn't like where they were, but the bulbs have languished in the garage. So it was nice to see one of them that escaped. 

But the biggest surprise was a few more of my iris in bloom. I know I'm not the only gardener who forgets what they planted. I think this one is Rock Star,

 and I know this one is Batik. I had one of these back in Michigan, and I forgot all about planting it here. It really tickled me to see it in bloom for the first time.

Sure feels good to get back to the garden, even if it isn't Woodstock!

Quick Peek

It's been a busy time of year for me lately, and that means I haven't had time to devote to my garden. So instead of working in the garden, I went out to take a quick peek before heading off in another direction. I found the first rose bloomed! It was a bit beat up, but it does bode well for the upcoming rose season.

My beautifully fragrant iris continues to pump out the blooms. I can't love this one enough!

The alliums have peeked, and every year when they bloom I try to figure out why I don't have more of these.

We're being over run by lamium out front, but you have to admit it blooms beautifully. And it definitely does the job of covering the ground while still looking good.

I'm watching for my ninebark Diablo to bloom. What a lovely shrub this is.

By my front lamp post, I have two clematis intertwined, so I'm not sure which flower is which here. Polish Spirit and Jackmanni Superba are both possibilities.

Last year's snapdragons survived our mild winter, and are ready to bloom again. I had never grown the tall snaps before, and was pleased to no end to find out how well they bloomed all season long. So I am very happy to find that they survived and are ready to bloom once more.

I found one last peek out in the garden after dinner. The coral bells are blooming out front, so I hope to see the hummingbirds returning soon to enjoy them.

Okay, that's all the peeking I can do today. Off I go once more. Someday soon, I'll be able to get out and really enjoy the garden. Bye!