A spectacular weekend on the weather front. Barely a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the high 20's, with tolerable humidity and a light breeze off the lake. Evenings cooling down pleasantly to make for good sleeping weather. My only concern is that it has been quite some time since the torrential rains of April and even May, and my garden is parched. Have laid out a series of strategically located drip hoses to try to keep things in good health, with intermittent and deep soakings. It's been a busy weekend, but I did manage to get quite a few garden chores taken care of. Here's what in bloom this weekend, and my Order of Work for this week.
These peonies always remind me of the fresh cream meringues I loved as a child!
June is the peak month for Alchemilla molis.
I find these mallows get quite weedy after their first bloom, and mean to pull them all out every year. ....but they always re-seed and when they look like this, it's hard not to give them a reprieve each year.
The meadow rue I planted in the spring is blooming now, and complements the peonies beautifully .
I was weeding beside this dianthus for some time this morning.... the scent is just delicious!
Finally got round to putting up new, stronger brackets to hold the window boxes I planted a few weeks ago. I went "cheap and cheerful" with the planting scheme this year.
Clematis Arabella has been blooming beautifully for a few weeks now.
My yellow rose garden, planted this spring, is starting to come into bloom, and I'm quite pleased with the varieties I ended up selecting. It was tough to decide - so many to choose from!
I'd always thought Sweet William was strictly a biannual, but I've had this one in place for the last 4 or 5 years, and it merrily comes back from the same plants each year. They don't die back, but just seem to go dormant under the snow, in winter.
I had the Achillea "Moonshine" in the back yard for a couple of years, but it never got enough sun. I moved it this spring and it's repaid handsomely for it's new dry, sunny spot. I love the carriage of the flowers and that intense sulphur-like yellow.
The new salvias are a hit, and I love the dark leave geranium (whose name I can't recall right now).
The lavender "hedge" I planted last year is starting to come into bloom. It's still a little sparse , but hopefully next year it will be considerably fuller.
In an "over forty" moment, I cannot remember what this demure bulb is called, but it's quite pretty nonetheless!
Order of Work - June 18 & 19, 2011
much weeding
more spraying with insecticidal soap - both roses (aphids) and now gardenias (spider mites) needed attention
laying out of soaker hoses to provide relief from the drought we seem to be heading into
planted out a tray of Victoria salvias, and a few sunshine impatiens, to fill in some gaps
divided off a couple of pieces of Moonshine achillea, which is suddenly become one of my favourite things in the garden
finally hung up window boxes - better late than never.
Listening to:
Dame Janet Baker singing "Where corals lie" from the Sea Pictures by Edward Elgar. I love Janet Baker, partially because she was the public, or television, face of opera in the UK when I was a child in the early 70s, but I heard a recording on the radio of Canadian contralto, Maureen Forester singing this song, and it can only be described as "breathtaking".
Wow! Your garden is in crazy bloom! Your post reminds me of so many flowers I want to go out and buy right now - mallow, achillea, Sweet William. They seem to be thriving in your garden. I also like the fact that you are probably in the only time zone where peonies are still in bloom. Lucky you!
Wow! Your garden is in crazy bloom! Your post reminds me of so many flowers I want to go out and buy right now - mallow, achillea, Sweet William. They seem to be thriving in your garden. I also like the fact that you are probably in the only time zone where peonies are still in bloom. Lucky you!
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