weekly bloom: rose in bloom

Last week was a wash, literally: so wet and wild that there was no gardening, nor gardening pictures, to be had.  All that rain destroyed the Oriental poppies, which had just started to bloom:


Poppies are not terribly robust flowers (though the foliage is fine), so the plants were flattened and pushed by the rain. This was the best picture I could get, and you see, it's lying on the ground. All of the other blooms have been smashed to pieces by the heavy rain. It looks like there may be a second wave of bloom, a very small one, in the next few days — but they'll be done for the season after that, I'm afraid. Which is a pity. Otherwise I'm very pleased, though; they're exactly what I wanted: white with deep purple streaks.

There was another peony, too, on the second shrub — the one I planted last year — and it was of generally the same shade and size as the first. I'm surprised at how well they match, and very pleased that it bloomed the first year, even if it's just one. The garden is fast establishing itself, finally.

Speaking of which: roses! The backbone of the front garden are the roses, which hem it on two sides. (The anchor is the serviceberry tree, which I can't do anything about. And I don't know what to call the lavender — carpeting, maybe? Filler?) I planted them in the spring of 2012, three species: 'The Fairy,' which are miniature pink roses, maybe a foot or two tall; 'Amber Sun,' which are slightly bigger and vermillion, and 'Graham Thomas,' which is the most traditional of the three, with big, robust flowers on a six-foot shrub. The first two roses took to their new digs like ducks to water, but 'Graham Thomas' merely sent out one lonely (but beautiful) bloom before dormancy in October.

It's still a bit too early for 'The Fairy' — although I can see the buds forming now — but both the 'Graham Thomas' and 'Amber Sun' shrubs burst into bloom this week. I was so excited that I ran outside and took some quick pictures yesterday, despite the dreary weather:





The 'Graham Thomas' roses are the most perfect buttery yellow, and there are oh, so many of them, and the 'Amber Sun' roses are as adorable (and prolific) as ever. And the best part is that they are both repeat bloomers, which means now that they've started, they're liable to keep going until fall. Which, again,  is just about perfect.

weekly bloom: at long last

I'm a little late posting this. This picture was actually taken last Thursday and, given the heavy rain we've had since, this particular bloom is no more. It bowed more and more throughout the week, until one day I came home and the petals had exploded away.

Still, though. A peony! This one came from a root I planted three years ago, which originally came from my father-in-law's garden, and it's a complete surprise: one, because the dratted plant hadn't bloomed yet, though it had grown foliage every year (this year was its Last Chance; I said this year I would replace it with a rose if it didn't bloom; perhaps it heard me); and two, because it came from a clump of peonies my father-in-law had divided, no one had any idea what colour it would. It could conceivably have been white, pale pink, or this, a deep magenta.

There's another peony that I think is about to bloom; it's the one I planted last year and it's a singleton, as well. I suspect it's also a dark magenta. I had to admit that I am partial to pale pink peonies myself, but I'm quite fond of the magenta, too. Also: it's a peony. There's nothing not to love. Maybe next year there will even be more.

It's been very dreary and rainy (and relatively cold!) this week, so I haven't really worked on the garden or taken any pictures. The Oriental poppies are starting to pop up, and the irises have come and are thinking of leaving. On the weekend, I planted a large hosta (to replace the one that hadn't made it through the winter), an alpine anemone, and some lovely blue delphiniums. I don't think the delphiniums are going to take, though. I may have been a little too rough on them during transplant — we shall see. But they are so lovely that I may just swallow my pride and get more.