After the rain, much to do, no time

My apologies for being incommunicado this week. I was spending hours and hours doing genealogy research with my sister. Since she's in Ohio, 'with' doesn't have exactly the normal meaning, but we have fun 'together'. Can't do everything. Must always choose one thing, leaving another thing(s) undone. Is there really such a thing as multi-tasking??

Weeds are growing in the gravel and brick pathways, needing Round-Up. Little oak seedlings are still popping up, needing pulling. The St. Augustine grass on the not-mine slope to the retention area has more weeds than I have ever seen, and there's a bag of Scott's Weed & Feed in my car. Deadheads (and you know what they need) are everywhere after this first bloom was stopped short by the rain. Roses haven't been gazed upon by this gardener (a time consuming procedure) in a week. Perfect photo opportunities were missed. Tax day is less than two weeks away. Bills must be paid, leaves and oak pollen blown away. Photos downloaded and selected for blog. House needs cleaning, but it's not on the official list.

Here's some pre-rain pics.

'Lauren' was so full of buds. Can't say what she looks like now since looking at her is still on my to-do list.

Isn't 'Sweet Chariot' pretty?

The lighter pink at the top are three 'Hermosa' bushes. Perhaps you can see 'Climbing Pinkie' at the tippity top left near the post. The spots of red are 'Red Ruffles' azalea. Right under them, the magenta is 'Souv de Francois Gaulain'. The white is 'Clotilde Soupert', and the yellow is old-fashioned mustard.

You will not believe this 'Red Cascade' when his buds finally open up. He is a sight to behold.

I love this rose. I also have one in the ground in the back garden filled with buds. 'Borderer' is exactly as billed, very disease resistant, and I would go further and say disease proof in my garden.

'Tis the season for falling rose petals. This is 'LaSylphide'.

I believe this is 'Bow Bells', and I think the color is so deep because it was dusk when I was taking these pics. But she's perfectly lovely anyway.

On the other hand last week (not this past rainy week) I re-stained the concrete block patio, changing it from tan to gray, and replaced the river rock with granite gravel so now the patio is color-coordinated with the crushed granite garden paths, relieving my brain of the stress from color-conflict. I did not believe that I would be able to get this project done since it involved re-leveling many of the heavy 16" blocks that had sunk over time. So I'm praising the Lord for this accomplishment since He must have supplied the inspiration for using the tons (minor exaggeration) of tile chips (saved from previous projects) as wedges to level the blocks and since perfection only comes from Him (and it did turn out perfect). And all of my usable seedlings (those that will not become too large for my garden) are in the ground.

Voila! The patio.

These pics are of the back garden which I have noticed seems to be closing in on me with its growth. Not a bad thing, I think.

These roses are potted because I suspect that one day in the not too distant future the one on the right and the one on the left may be kinda ugly due to black spot. So...out of sight out of mind, another motto of mine. Left to right: 'Rose de Rescht', 'Martha Gonzales' and 'Baronne Prevost'.

Left to right: another healthy 'Sweet Chariot', 'Polonaisse' (red rose), walking iris 'Regina', below that 'Pink Gruss an Aachen'.

I just repainted the two largest pots a beautiful shade of teal (they're really 20-gallon black water-garden containers). Now in the bright sun they're almost royal blue. Oh, well, I won't think about that... Remember? That's 'Crepuscule' between the lamp post and the arbor. Another 'Polonaisse' in the teal pot. 'Pink Gruss an Aachen' in the purple. And walking iris 'Regina' and another daylily.

'Sweet Chariot' again, loaded with buds. She's purple, you know.

A long shot of 'Louis Philippe'. I feared his flush would be lost in the rain, but he is very slow to open this year. He's been loaded with buds for almost two weeks, and they're just starting to open. Curiously, he produced some scattered flowers early like all the others, but now he's gotten serious about it. So many things/habits to learn about these roses.

'Reve d'Or' - Her flush was waning when the rains came, and now there's little left. I had thought about taking a pic of the ground under her covered with fallen petals but never did. Now they're all brown.

Deadheading is necessary for optimal re-bloom. I'll try to get to it, because I really, really love her when she's covered with flowers. Note: mostly, visitors/family don't notice and/or mention the roses even though they're blooming they're heads off right in front of their faces. Before the rain when 'Reve d'Or' was in all of her glory, I directed Dear Son to stick his head out the door and take a look at her. His quick response was very gratifying, "Wow!"

Naturally, I don't have a full bush shot to show you. Hopefully, this one will suffice.

Not the prettiest day this morning for 'Maman Cochet, Climbing'. The rains came just as many of her flowers were almost fully opened. They're toast now, and she finishes ugly anyway, holding onto her brown crispies until the end of time. But she's still magnificent.

OK, I've given my first and best efforts to all of you sweet folks. Now it's on to the not-so-sweet IRS. Ugh!