Sunday, July 15, 2012

It's July's Bloom Day!

It's July!  It's July!  It's July!  And that can sometimes mean unbearable heat, drought conditions, and dormant blooms.  But not this July!

While most of the country is having unusual weather, our weather report here is: normal.  Normal!  Hot, but not triple digit heat.  Scattered showers.  No storms, no drought.  My roses are still blooming, and it's cool enough to work outside in the early mornings.  I feel for those in areas of the country that are suffering from unusually high heat and drought conditions.  We went through that last year.  I'm glad Mother Nature decided to give us a break and let us have some normal weather for a change.  I wonder how long this normal weather will last.  It seems 'normal' and 'weather' just don't seem to go together very often!

So what's blooming in my garden for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day?  Here's just a few photos:  Enjoy!

Kronprinzessin Viktoria

Hosta

Perle d'Or

Lantana

Koko Loco

Crape Myrtle

Red Cascade cascading over Carnival Glass

White salvia

Gruss an Aachen

Even a confused iris decided to bloom!

49 comments:

  1. Hi Holley, could that be a reblooming Iris? Ours are blooming now too--but ours are definitely rebloomers...

    Glad you are having 'normal' weather this summer... I remember that horrible drought you had last year.

    Love Crepe Myrtle... My mother used to have some --but I've never had any...

    Have a great day.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. I'm not sure about the iris. I thought it was just a plain one I had transplanted there, but perhaps it's one I got free from ordering something else. It looks a little different than my other irises. I will have to watch it for a year or two to know for sure, I suppose.

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  2. I just found your blog Holley and see that
    you have a beautiful garden full of roses.
    Maybe you can help me... At the end of April
    I planted a new "Blaze of Glory" climbing rose
    in a 60gal pot. Used the best potting soil and
    followed Jackson and Perkins directions to
    the T... it's grown over 6' since then and has
    had several bouts of blooms but the leaves have
    been turning brown, on the tips... I did some
    research and it all tells me it needs more water
    because I may have over fertilized it or there
    is too much salt in the soil? I'm in hot Florida
    and it gets lots of water now that rainy season
    is in full force...it also gets about 9 hrs of
    full hot sun? (we get about 2 hrs of rain each
    afternoon)
    Let me do some more reading on your blog because
    I bet you have the answer...
    love your site
    thanks
    Sandy

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    1. Welcome! I'm so glad you found my blog!

      I am not sure I can answer your question totally - there's a lot of guessing involved. It seems like you are getting enough rain, but you may want to make sure you're actually getting precipitation instead of just sprinkles. Put your finger in the soil and make sure it's still damp below the surface of the soil. And if you're getting two hours of rain every afternoon, it may be that all that rain has depleted the soil of it nutrients and your rose may need fertilizing. Only you will know what degree of precipitation you've been having. And while you've got your finger in the soil, be sure it's not soaked. I assume you've got holes in the pot for drainage, but roses hate to have their feet standing in water, so if your soil is too wet, check that the drainage hole is not plugged (that's happened to me). And be sure to check for spider mites, too, just in case. Of course, if you've been getting a lot of rain, you may also be getting a lot of wind, so wind damage might be something to think about. Sorry to throw out all these possibilities, but it seems like your rose was doing great until just recently, so it seems that something has changed in its environment that it doesn't like. I don't think it's salts or over fertilizing unless you're also fertilizing in addition to all the rain you're getting.

      I hope that helps somewhat.

      By the way - since you live in Florida, you may also want to check out Sherry's rose blog. It's sherryocala.blogspot.com. She has mostly antique roses, but she has had to deal with Florida soil (and Florida weather).

      Good luck with your rose!

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  3. Nice blooms for a normal summer! But an iris? That is confused!!!

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  4. Holley, Coco-Loco is beautiful! I love white iris too!

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    1. Koko Loco was another impulse purchase. :O I thought it was such a pretty color!

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  5. Beautiful blooms. You can always count on some Roses, I have a couple giving off blooms also, but the Iris, hmm must be a rebloomer.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Sometimes it gets too hot here for the roses to bloom, so I'm happy that they're still blooming for me! But you're right - most of the time, the roses are very reliable as a summer bloom machine!

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  6. Lovely Blooms! I too have Perle d'Or and love this Polyantha rose. Your white Iris is a blooming 'rebel'..haha

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    1. Blooming rebel! haha That will be my name for it from now on! :)

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  7. Normal?!? That's probably the most unusual kind of weather there is! I love all your white and pale blooms. I had accepted the received "wisdom" that white would visually fade out in the hot sun of summer here, but lately I've been realizing that white blooms in the hottest season are really very refreshing. I need more! Thanks for sharing your photos.

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    1. hahaha - Yes, you're right! Normal weather is anything but normal, usually! :)

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  8. I am glad you are having normal weather. We finally got some rain...it was so nice! The Koko Loco rose has such a nice color with so much fullness. Is that a very fragrant rose? Your garden is looking lovely. Happy GBBD!

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    1. So glad you got some rain! I know how desperate the garden (and the gardeners) get in a drought. Koko Loco is not very fragrant, although there is supposedly a slight scent to it. It's an interesting color - sometimes lavender, sometimes apricot.

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  9. Hooray for normal weather! I remember last year we both had terrible droughts. Glad to see everything looking so lush, especially your roses. Happy Bloom Day!

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    1. I am VERY happy to not be enduring another drought this year. The plants all needed a break!

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  10. Wow, someone with NORMAL weather, that's new this year! Glad to hear it Holley :-) Loved your Koko Loco, both the flowers and the name! And your red cascade, wonder if it is a sister of mine crimson cascade?!

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    1. Isn't it unusual for someone to have normal weather? :) Red cascade is a mini climber, so some similarity to your crimson cascade climber, but I don't think there's any relation - that I know of, anyway!

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  11. Beautiful blooms this month! Your garden must smell so good. Glad you're having normal weather. Happy GBBD!

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    1. I have been very happy with the blooms. Usually by this time, we are in triple digit heat, and the blooms have all quit until the weather cools down some.

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  12. Oh what lovely colour and blooms!!! I love the salvia and the Hosta? Is that the large leaf plant? I really love those!

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    1. Yes, although I only took a picture of the hosta's blooms, they do have lovely large leaves. The blooms are just an added bonus!

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  13. Your garden looks so beautiful and I am glad you are not having all the extremes that seem to be plaguing most. Your Iris is so pretty and I am sure you are enjoying it just any time it wants to bloom. LOL! I have noticed that the blooms my Gruss an Aachen is putting on now are more toward the pink side. I do not know if it is the heat or something happening to it. Your looks lovely.

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    1. My Gruss an Aachen is quite pink right now, too, so I bet you're right in thinking that the heat affects it. Good deduction!

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  14. Beautiful! I'm so glad Texas is getting a break, especially after last year. Love that Viktoria rose. :o)

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    1. Yes, we needed a break. It would be nice if Mother Nature would give us several year's worth of breaks! :)

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  15. Beautiful pictures and flowers!

    Satu from Finland

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  16. Gorgeous blooms Holley, and hooray for 'normal' weather in your area andthat it's not too hot :)

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    1. I am especially thrilled that it hasn't been blazing hot here. I have been able to work outside some, and that is unusual for summer here!

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  17. I love the new look here with the purple color to the blog...and your blooms...supposed to hit triple digits here and still no rain...all my blooms are dying...not anything you can do except admire others blooms..your are lovely!!

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    1. I feel for you with triple digit heat. Most of my flowers go dormant in that type of heat. But oh, when the heat breaks, they all love it! I hope the heat breaks for you soon - with some rain!

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  18. Thanks for visiting my blog! I looked your earlier texts and saw a beautiful "gate". I've been thinking to get a gate like that and plant there some vine.

    Satu

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    1. I have a clematis growing up my gate, but it's in quite a bit of shade, so it hasn't bloomed for me yet. I'm still hoping!

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  19. Love the new look and the header hot is terrific! Despite the weather, you have a number of pretty blooms. We here in Ontario are some of those folks experiencing high heat and drought. The lawns here are all brown. Crops are failing in the farmer's fields. It is certainly one tough summer! But as you say, its July and that is something to be happy about and remember next winter.

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    1. So sorry to hear you're suffering from the heat and drought this year. I hope this fall will be kind and bring lots of rain. I feel for the farmers. My grandfather farmed, and it was always a gamble on the weather.

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  20. Wow, Holley,
    I LOVE your new header! You are indeed the Rose Queen of East Texas!
    Happy GBBD to all your flowers and a toast to NORMAL weather.
    David/:0)

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    1. Do I get a tiara with that title? ;) Normal weather is great! Too bad we can't have it more often!

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  21. Whenever I visit your blog, I wish I could grow roses here. I just love Coco Loco. No wonder you snapped it up for its gorgeous colour.

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    1. It's an unusual color, but I really like it. I think it will blend well with the other colors in that garden, too.

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  22. Your garden is blooming it's sock off, the scent from all your roses must be magnificent. I particularly like Perle d'Or which is new to me, lovely petals.
    Paul

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    1. I love Perle d'Or, too. It's been a very easy rose, and very prolific bloomer.

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  23. Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm so excited that this year hasn't been so very hot. A lot of summers by now all the roses have gone dormant from triple digit heat. I'm thrilled that my garden is still full of blooms.

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  24. Your roses and iris are beautiful! The weather must really be perfect for them. I enjoyed visiting!

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    1. I think they really have been enjoying the weather. Although the next two weeks are the hottest for our area, so far we have not had triple digit heat, and that is something the garden and the gardener are happy about!

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  25. Beautiful flowers! I am glad you have managed to miss the bad heat this year. Everything looks so fresh... more so than here in PA even!

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    1. I have been soooo happy with the weather here - so far. The end of July and first of August are always unbearable, but at least leading up to it, it's been wonderful!

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