Tuesday, July 15, 2008

July Bloom Day

Thanks to last week's rain and giving my roses a few deep waterings, my garden has perked up quite a bit and I actually have flowers to show this month.

First off is the pioneer rose Thomas Affleck. I have two of them, and they've both been growing and flowering like crazy for the last few months, and I haven't seen even the faintest hint of blackspot on either of them. And the eye-peeling intense pink goes well with my pink Knockouts. The one drawback is the lack of fragrance, but hey, no thorns!















The one wide shot of the garden worth showing. It's hard to see in the picture, but I like how the burgundy-purple of the new growth on the Double Knockout and Duchesse de Brabant contrasts with the other foliage.


















The first flower of the second flush of Duchesse de Brabant. I smelled it before I noticed it, from a good three feet away! Last summer this rose bloomed nonstop, and I was a little mystified as to why I'd only gotten one lousy, halfhearted flush this spring, but chalked it up to the weird dieback issues Duchesse had earlier in the year. It turned out that my soaker hose had sprung a leak and half of the bed was getting no water at all, including the Duchesse. Now that I've fixed the irrigation issue, every rose in that section is putting out lots of new growth. Here's to hoping there'll be more roses to show next Bloom Day!






















I cut back the Double Knockout, like, last week, I swear! I cannot believe how much and how fast this rose is growing, even in the filtered shade of the mesquite.























Heya, salvia guaranitica, I didn't see you down there! If I hadn't been carefully picking my way around the roses with my camera, I never would have seen this. But it also serves as a good note to self: When planting something in an already-established bed, spend the extra money and buy a bigger pot of the new plant! I'm hoping this one will be able to catch up with everything else next year.























Showing off for Bloom Day, the most photogenic rose in the garden, Souvenir de la Malmaison:






















...and yet again...


















The lantana has finally-- finally!-- opened. They seemed to get started later than usual this year.



















Mutabilis sports a tiny, lovely bloom. This rose is taking a while to get established for me, and I've only noticed a handful of blooms since I put it in the ground. Isn't it a lovely color, though?






















Ruella. I love the intense watercolor hue of these violet blooms:


















In my quest to find something that smelled fabulous for the new front yard bed, I settled on a bush of Sweet Almond Verbena. It looked incredibly unhappy for a few months, since I pretty much mangled the rootball in the process of getting it out of the pot it had been living in on the back deck, but thanks to some extra attention and SuperThrive, it's finally perked up. It started blooming a few days ago.























The scent of the Sweet Almond Verbena is drowned out every evening by the wonderful citrusy scent of the datura. There are six datura plants in the front yard, and right now three are putting on a spectacular show. You can smell them from the front porch and from the street.


































A tiny little bloom on Ducher. I love the warm yellow hue at the center of the flowers.


















And I leave you with other supermodel in my garden, Gruss An Aachen. Sometimes I feel like I take a picture of her every day, but how could I not? She's too photogenic not to share!























Also blooming:
Pink Knockout
Marie Pavie (1 bloom)
Maggie (1 bloom)
agastache
catmint
Russian sage
wild sunflowers
salvias
white guara "The Bride"
blackeye daisies
moss verbena
bulbine
mexican oregano
sedum "Autumn Joy'
rose "Martha Gonzales" (one flower)
orange abutilon
blue mistflower (just starting)
various trailing verbenas
rose "Republic of Texas' (one bloom)
Rainbow Knockout (still blooming like its life depended on it)
desert willow "Son of Bubba"
Natchez crape myrtles
Himalayan indigo

12 comments:

Cindy, MCOK said...

Lori, things are looking great in your garden and you have lots of blooms considering the freakishly hot weather in Austin. As for Mutabilis not taking off yet, give her time. Mine started life in a 4 inch pot, a cutting rooted by one of the Rose Rustlers. My bush is now 6 foot tall and at least that wide. I think it would grow even bigger if I let it.

vertie said...

I'm astonished, Lori. What a fabulous bloom day for July. My plants are just hanging on for dear life.

chey said...

Your garden is looking wonderful Lori! I love the wide shot of your garden. Things look so lush.

Anonymous said...

Lori, I'm so impressed with your garden! Mine is barely alive and certainly not blooming and thriving in this heat wave. You have the touch, without a doubt.
Robin at Getting Grounded

Annie in Austin said...

You can keep Thomas Affleck and Knockout, Lori - but I do covet your Souvenir de la Malmaison! Isn't Mutabilis beautiful when it first opens?

I saw your twitter about Rain lilies and can probably share a few 'Labuffarosea' in fall if they (and we) make it through this horrible summer.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Rock rose said...

I think I'm going to have to come over for a lesson in rose growing. Knockout is my one success-probably everyones. i cut mine back 3 weeks ago after someone gave me a severe warning about how big they grow. I loved the pink flush of new leaves. However, when it comes to the others I have problems. Felicia, down to one stem and showing signs of blackspot and Marie Pavee died when my drip system failed. I have a feeling they need something more than I am giving them. Can you give some tips for success?

Lori said...

Cindy - Thanks! I did photograph selectively, though, since quite a few parts of my garden aren't looking so hot. As for the Mutabilis, yours sounds quite impressive. I'll try to be more patient with mine.

Vertie - I blame leaving the soaker hose on by accident for the number of blooms this bloom day. I wasn't thrilled about almost flooding my yard, but my plants have never looked happier.

Chey - Thank you! It's getting a little jungle-y over there, which makes me happy.

Getgrounded - Thanks! It's been a lot of work, giving most of my new plants extra TLC before the sun comes up every morning. I can't wait for fall when it cools down and I'll be able to catch up on my sleep! I've been looking at my neighbors' cactus and agave gardens with envy.

Annie - I do have to admit that I really wasn't impressed with Souvenir de la Malmaison when I first got it, but it seems to have finally settled in and gotten much healthier this summer, with none of the annoying dieback and blackspot issues that were constant last year. My fingers are crossed. How's your Julia Child doing? And I would love some rain lilies if they triumph over their current battle with the Death Star. :)

Lancashire Rose -You know, I'm not sure why I seem to be doing so well with roses. I suspect that part of it was how obsessive I was when I planted them, having killed so very, very many roses in the past. All of the roses went into huge, rough-edged holes where the caliche was replaced with rose soil from The Natural Gardener. Most of the best-performing roses for me are in raised beds as well. I'll dump a bucketful of John's Recipe and SuperThrive on them a few times a year, and occasionally throw on some old coffee grounds or Dillo Dirt, but I'm not obsessive about it. From what I can tell, after good drainage and good soil, the most important thing is to make sure they get a lot of water when it's hot and dry like this. I got a little perforated bulb thingee that screws on to the end of the hose and I've been putting it on each rose for 5-10 minutes or so once a week. As for Felicia, how much sun is she in? My roses that get blackspot are all in the most shady spots (Marie Pavie), or blackspot-prone to begin with (Gruss an Aachen, I'm looking at you!). But if you're already doing all of this, I'd just recommend trying a big dose of SuperThrive. That stuff works miracles. :)

Cindy, MCOK said...

Lori, you seem to be very successful with roses so I'm sure Mutabilis is just biding her time. It would help if y'all got some rain, I'm sure!

Linda at Meadowview Thymes tagged me recently and I've chosen you as one of my six. My post is at http://texascottagegarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/very-short-sunday-stroll-lets-play-tag.html

Diana said...

Lori, I love the Gruss an Aachen rose, you know we were only about an hour from there when we were in Trier! And there is a lovely climbing rose named Trier, too. My mom has one of those. Glad you're enjoying my blogging. I don't have much time to read other blogs, but am having fun posting a little bit.

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of plant children to keep track of, Lori!
I particularly liked the multicolored lantana. Very pretty. Kathryn

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