Sunday Sparkle

After a night of thunderstorms and tornado warnings,
all is well. This morning natures beauty came alive with
the sun catching the raindrops in the garden.



Stella de Oro Lily is dress in raindrops.



The Tobacco flowers are soggy.

The Wild Phlox looks lovely.



White Campanula is sparkling.



Clematis Crimson Star is enduring.



Crimson Bouquet Rose is perfect.

Blue Bird Delphinium is beautiful.



Burgundy Gaillardia Blanket Flower takes it all in stride.



Pink Knockout Rose is looking like it's named though.

This Lolypop lily does not melt when wet.

New Dawn's buds can take the rain but in full bloom
she hates water.



Pansies royally shimmer.



Petunia's do not wave when wet.



Polka Dot Phlox is dressed in gems.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Friday Blooms

So many plants are starting to bloom now and the
fragrance blowing across the yard is almost heady at times.



Peony Pink Sorbet is so beautiful now with her pink
and cream, large blooms.







And this white Dianthus smells so sweet with its
fluffy blooms.

The wild Phlox is still loaded with blue-purple blooms.



Too soon the Rhododendrons are now losing their beautiful
blooms and the red and lavender blooms are covering the
ground like fallen colored snow below the bushes. I for one
wish their blooms could last all growing season.

The Pansies in the window boxes are still hanging in there
and now other flowers have been planted around them to
take over for them after they have spent their blooms from
the heat this summer.




Thanks to everyone who answered my concerns over the
once yellow now turned red roses. The answer must deal
with the graft on the rose. So I have all these beautiful red
roses now along and upon the side of the garage and it does
make a beautiful red display anyway. There are even more
of the red blooms now and they do smell wonderful.

What Happened To My Roses????

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe extended weekend.

As I hinted to in a previous posting I have a real mystery
going on with my roses this year.




This is my Irish Gold Rose bushes from last summer.
A beautiful yellow rose that I just adored. I have it beside
my garage on a long bed along with other rose bushes.
Because I loved it so well I have a second one just like
it on the other side of the garage in another long bed.



I leave the tagging slips on the rose bushes just in case
someone forgets the names of them (not me, ahem).

Now look at my beautiful Irish Gold Rose bush this year!

Notice anything different???

I do not know what happened to the beautiful yellow rose
that was here. The tag is still there that says Irish Gold but
she looks an awful lot like the Ebb Tide roses that are planted
beside her. I check the other beautiful yellow roses on the
other side of the garage and---- yes, they look an awful lot like
the red Ebb Tide rose also.

I am flabbergasted as to what happened.
It did not effect the other roses that are planted there just
the Irish Gold bushes.




As you may be able to see from the picture the Ebb Tide rose
runs across the side of the garage on top of the once yellow
rose bush that is suppose to be on the trellis.
Could pollination have changed the yellow rose bush to red?
Then what explains the one clear on the other side of the garage
and why did it not affect my other roses?
I am not a rose expert so I am stumped.



Now I have this great array of red roses along beside and on the
garage, which is alright but I would still rather have the yellow
roses with it.



I am training the Ebb Tide rose bush on the left to climb
all along the side of the garage but it looks like now it will
get some help from the mysterious yellow turned cloned
look alike on the trellis at the right.
I have two bushes on either side of the Ebb Tide that
have not bloomed as yet and now I am wondering if
the Lasting Love and Lavender Simplicity will look
a lot like the Ebb Tide also. I hope not!!
Strange story but true.

In Remembrance

Everyone Have A Safe Memorial Weekend!





Take A Moment To Reflect.

Freedom Is Not Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud,

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,

When everything was still

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That TAPS had meant "Amen,"

When a flag had draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

No, freedom isn't free.

By Kelly Strong

More Rhododendron Pictures

The weather has been beautiful here this week and
I have been outdoors everyday trying to catch up on the
new plantings and filling containers and pots.
Got the tomatoes finally planted which is another tale
to come.
Have painted, scrubbed and spruced up around on odds
and ends, besides getting the pump fountain redone.
My back side has been dragging and I have been worn
out every evening but it feels so good to be out in the sun
shine and warm weather. All but the touch of sunburn I
manage to get while working every Spring :-)

My Rhododendron's are in their full blooming glory
now and I managed to take a few more shots before
they start shedding their blooms.
Besides folks I am too tired to take many pictures right
now. There is so much starting to bloom now and I have to
get some more pictures. I also have a mystery to share with
everyone later on. I know someone will tell me what happened.

This Rhodie is an old one and the name of it has gotten
lost somewhere along the line.



Can you see the smaller dying Rhodie in front of the red one?
It is my yellow Capistrano. I do not know what is ailing it.
Maybe it is getting too much sun or is diseased.
It and the red one are more in the open, where the
lavender one is sheltered beside the house. The red one
has fewer leaves too so maybe they are reacting to the
wind and weather.
Anyone got any remedies or ideas?



Happy Gardening Everyone!

Clematis " Silver Moon"

One of my clematis vines is in full bloom now.
It is called 'Silver Moon'.



The colors are more of a soft shade of lavender which
looks almost gray in the sunlight. So I guess that is
where the silver reference comes from.
I like it because it does very well in shady areas of
which I have a lot of around here.

The iris are still blooming wonderfully and these look
like little soldiers all lined up.



Foam Flower 'Spring Symphony' tiarella is also still
blooming with its feathery blooms.



Since the weather has decided to warm up again the
morning was spent cleaning and revamping my small
pump pond. I wanted warmer weather before I started
playing in the water especially since I am now trying to
get over a sinus infection. I hate getting old! Seems I am
slowly falling apart these days :-)



The heavy pump just about wore me out moving it and
painting it. I have to admit I rolled it around more than
lifting the thing.Got a new liner put in and a new light for it
and got the rocks around it rearranged again. It looks so
much better (cleaner) after all of the gunk I took from it.



As you can see my Rhododendron's are now in full
bloom. They have grown so large over the years that I
am going to have to trim them this fall.The lavender
one is against the house and is now rubbing the siding
on the house.

Plans for tomorrow since the frost is gone is to get the
my tomatoes and some containers filled.
The geraniums that were over wintered are doing very
well now and just need a few flowers to fill in around
them.
The outdoor furniture will need to be brought out of the
shed and scrubbed down.

Happy Gardening Everyone!!