The iris season may be over but the rose season has begun!
‘Blessed Again’ opened the iris season on 16 April – an early IB rebloomer. The late frost at the end of April damaged a lot of stalks so there was a bit of a gap in blooming. The main bloom period actually lasted from mid-May up until now. That is three and a half weeks of iris blooms. A short season but intense! There are still a few individual stalks with blooms but the main season is over.
These bloomed during the last two weeks
Most of the iris crosses that I did are forming nice big pods so I am sure I will have a couple of seedlings next year. I have had a lot more to work with this year and have tried quite a few rebloomers and space agers so maybe I will have some interesting blooms in 2019.
With 100 new iris on order for this season, new bed space is imperative! DH isn’t thrilled at the prospect but also not absolutely dead-set against the idea. The robot mower will have to be moved and a lot of new edge stones laid but it will give me space for some of the iris. We have been playing with ideas ....
I have my doubts that it will be ready by the time the iris arrive – great if it is but also not a tragedy if not because I still have quite a bit of space in my trial beds where they can be parked until next season.
The Dutch and Siberians, the few that I have, also bloomed during the last two weeks. The Sweet William are now in full bloom, as well as the Geraniums, Lupins and Foxgloves.
All things considering, I think the garden is actually looking pretty good right now.
The end of May was extremely hot and dry! Actually, I cannot remember temperatures over 30°C in May since we moved to this house – I measured 33°C on 29 May. The rainfall for May was also extremely low! Only 97.5mm in comparison to last year’s 244.5mm. Great for the iris bloom but not so great for the lawn and other plants. After the measly 8mm on 14 May, we finally had a downpour on 29 May which registered 36mm, and a bit more the next day and quite a few times since then. With the rain and temperatures more typical for this time of the year, +/- 24°C, the roses and plants in general are taking off. The frost at the end of April delayed the first rose flush but now they are starting to bloom.
Rose seedlings from previous years
Some first blooms on this year's seedlings
I think I planted these three roses in the beginning of 2011. Three supposedly pink HT’s in so-called ‘body-bags’ at a Frank a piece. It took a while for me to realise that they were Hybrid Perpetuals and not Hybrid Teas. A definite ID is difficult but I now refer to these three as my ‘NOID Aldi Pink – maybe John Hopper’s’. Up until last year they were pillard but this year I tried pegging them into an arch and I must say that it looks quite good. These three roses are plague by rust – a bout of which we have already had this year – and if it continues, they will be history. But for now, they look pretty good ....
That’s gardening for you: ever-changing and always something new!
Well at least for me – out with the old, in with the new, moving things around, doing things differently – never a boring moment in the garden! Always something that needs doing ...... when I finish up here, I am off to do my first round of dead-heading the roses - the first of many this year!
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