Yesterday

I have no photos of the garden today . This evening was grocery store day and cook dog food day . The dog food cooking is so funny . I got the idea from Connie at Hartwood Roses . As is my weird way, I modified her recipe of ground turkey, rice, kale, carrots and green beans . I added chicken livers, lamb neck bones or shank and switched from white rice to brown rice . This is the third time I've made a batch which was 22 cups today since I forgot to add dry dog food which I'm sort of glad I did . The funny thing is that Ellie knew exactly what I was doing while I was making the second and third batches which are about six weeks apart . It doesn't matter how many people meals are cooked in between . She knows when I'm cooking for her, and she's very attentive especially when I'm scooping from the food processor and filling the containers at the end . I always give her a taste . She absolutely loves this food . I add a heaping tablespoon to her half cup of dry food twice a day . It makes me happy to see her eat it all down in one breath . So thank you, Connie, for the idea .

However, yesterday I took a quick walk through the garden with camera in hand. Here follows the day-old news .

'White Maman Cochet'

I have tried to compost with variable success, so since much of my debris is rose cuttings I usually donate it to the city .

I wanted to show you 'Mme Abel Chatenay', such a lovely healthy and lush Hybrid Tea albeit from 1894 . She's just putting out new growth for her next bloom .

'Pink Gruss an Aachen' was a transplant over the winter . She's doing much better .

I have several echinaceas . This is the oldest plant and the one with the most blooms . Ones grown from seed this year are not blooming yet but are close .

'Bermuda's Anna Olivier' - when she's on, she's stunning . When she's not, she's a mess . The heat is here so I guess she'll decide to do her best .

Above and below 'Pearl Harbor' is a lovely show-off . I can't decide if I have enough yellow daylilies or if I should fill the garden with them . The decisions of a gardener!

 

This is the only Fordhook phlox seed that actually survived to maturity . Actually, I'm quite impressed . I had no clue what phlox was so this is a total win-win . It flopped from its earliest days and has been a sprawler, but I have never seen any spent flowers . It always looks like this . Can't vouch for its tolerance of our humidity since it hasn't really arrived yet .

The femme fatale of the garden, of course, 'Souv de la Malmaison' .

A 'Full Moon Rising' bud

'Secret Splendor', evergreen mid-late rebloomer

'Duquesa' Tea rose

My mounding dianthus are scattered everywhere . They take the full sun all summer and stay green all winter even at temps under 20 degrees F . They come in shades of pink, burgundy, red and variations of white with pinwheel patterns out the ying yang . These photos are each a different plant . Unfortunately, the deep reds and fuschias are often beyond the reach of my camera and simply explode out of focus much of the time . I really love them . They're only about 10" tall, and when they need deadheading, I just give them a haircut .

 

Flax Lily and 'Aaron' caladium

Clematis texensis 'Princess Diana' blooming again

'Le Vesuve' - a partial full bush shot . She tends to bloom on one side and then the other side . Don't know why .

A closer view from the other side and farther back (below) . Her non-blooming side is out of frame to the right .

 

'Leonie Lamesch' is in a pot with canes almost 5' long . She is turning out larger that I thought she was going to be. I need to find a spot in the ground for her . I wonder who's on the bubble .

Daylily progress is slow and minute, I think because the plants did not have much root system at arrival . Thankfully, they're tough and are able to grow a root system and then grow leaves .

 

Several of the daylilies aren't showing any new growth yet .

Above and below is 'Blush Noisette' which is a shrub right now, but I understand it can be a climber, too .

 

Above and the next two below is another noisette 'Princesse de Nassau' from before 1829 . I have it climbing on a pillar .

 

'Crepuscule' - a Tea-Noisette climber from 1904

 Old news is good for more than just wrapping fish, don't you agree?