ToyTrains1’s Garden Journal

Over the last few weeks, the garden has truly sprung to life.  The azaleas are in full bloom and I've shown one eyepopping shot below.  I actually had more tulips than I expected, with the yellow and red parrot tulip putting in an appearance this year.  The grape hyacinths have bloomed and have clearly spread compared to years past.  The wood hyacinths have also bloomed and the bluebells are getting ready to do so.  I remembered to place the peony support before it shot up so that its growth is strongly upright this year — there are already lots of buds that promise a profusion of large, sweetly-scented blooms.  All of the hosta have emerged from their winter slumber and are putting on very strong growth.  All in all, it seems to be a banner year for the garden.

In the world of the roses, I'm pleased to report that all of them have awakened and broken bud so it seems that there will be no losses this year.  Most of them are now covered with buds that foreshadow another banner rose year.  Last year, I allowed Falstaff (normally very stingy with blooms) to put out a very long horizontal cane through its neighboring abelia.  Sure enough, this spring, that long cane has put out lots of laterals, each of which should have a bloom, so perhaps the secret with Falstaff will be to train it along the fence of the front porch.  The rootstock of the late, lamented Sheer Bliss tree has put out a lot of growth and buds, so I should see relatively soon if it's Dr. Huey, as was the rootstock of the old Tropicana tree.  Near the new Peace tree, there's a volunteer rose growing well that also has buds, so I'll find out if it's been spread from rootstock or is perhaps a result of some cross-fertilization with Peace.  Time will tell.  Happily, Mme. Isaac Pereire, planted last year, now has buds so I will soon get to see (and smell) this wonderful old garden rose.  I've also given the roses their second spraying, this time with Immunox.  Hopefully, I will be able to stay on schedule this year and keep the nasty evil blackspot away.

Today was a very nice day in the garden.  While the daffodils are starting to fade, the anemone and scilla are in full bloom and the tulips are opening up, though as with years past, this year we'll probably have less tulips than last year and it's probably time for me to replant a new batch of tulip bulbs.  The cherry trees are in full bloom.  And, we have our first rose buds!    This year, both Louise Odier and Zephirine Drouhin claim the honor of having the first bud, which seems to  have come a few weeks early this year.  I've posted lots of new photos on the web site ; the What's New page will always show you what's new! 

Today was also the start of my spraying regimen as all of the roses have broken bud and the new leaves are sitting there waiting for either my spraying or blackspot spores.  I think both I and the roses are much happier with the former.  As in years past, I will do my sprayings weekly, alternating between Banner Maxx, Immunox, and Funginex as I've had good success with that regimen.  Here for your delight is one of the first rosebuds.

… can do wonders for the garden, especially at this time of year!  The Forsythia are in full bloom, the Hyacinths are really popping, the entire Scilla bed is coming up, and all of the Daffodils are in bloom as are the Crocus. Here's one of the Hyacinths.

In walking through the garden today, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that several of the bulb-borne flowers have bloomed.  The crocus are to be expected around this time of year, but the daffy daffodils are in full bloom and the first of the hyacinths has also bloomed!  It's a sure sign that Spring has arrived.  The lawn is going to need a good reseeding as there are quite a few bare patches after the winter.  I'll probably need to dig a bit and put down topsoil first as the good old Jersey red clay is showing through.  A few weeks ago, we had a nice warm day and I was able to clean-up and prune the roses before they broke bud.  They've since broken bud as expected (given our generally mild and rainy winter) and the tiny leaves are already emerging.  Hopefully, we will once again have a bumper crop of roses this year!  Meanwhile, here's one of the first flowers of the year to whet your appetite! 

Did I ever mention that I tend to hibernate for the winter?  LOL  We had roses into November, when the cold weather put an end to them.  Though I had taken a few photos in October and November, the late roses weren't spectacular and I never bothered posting them.  I've got SO many photos on the web site that I need to rethink the directory structure for this year and I think that I'll stick with posting only the very best of each of the rose varieties.  We haven't had much of a winter here in Edison (NJ) — one ice storm, about a half-inch of snow, and not very cold weather either.  Today it's just above freezing after a few days the past few weeks when it's been in the sixties approaching seventy and I went out in the garden to have a look.  Yup!  A bunch of the bulbs (daffodils, methinks) have been fooled and are coming up.  Hopefully, the remainder of the winter won't do them any damage.

What can I say?  The spectacular rose year just keeps on going.  I've posted lots of new photos of the roses in bloom over the last few weeks including Double Delight, Fisherman's Friend, Fragrant Lace, Gertrude Jekyll, Heritage, Lagerfeld, Louise Odier, Melody Parfumee, Pat Austin, Peace, Queen Elizabeth, Sweet Juliet, and Winchester Cathedral.  In a bit of strangeness, the Weigela, which had been wrecked by the old landscaper last year and spent this year recovering, for some strange reason opened a number of blooms in late September though it's usually a spring-flowering shrub!  Here they are.

… of the first half of September anyway.  It's been yet another bumper crop of roses in what has been an outstanding season.  During the last few weeks, I've been taking photos of only what I think are the nicest blossoms.  That's because for most of them, I've already posted so many photos on the web site that I can afford to be picky! Now that the month is half gone, I've gone ahead and posted those fifty photos covering the roses that are in bloom: Double Delight, Fragrant Lace, Heritage, Lagerfeld, Louise Odier, Melody Parfumee, Pat Austin, Peace, Red Ribbons, Sunbright, Sweet Juliet, Tropicana, and Winchester Cathedral.  It was kind of hard deciding on which one to shrink and include in the blog; Tropicana bloomed so seldom this year (I think it doesn't like its north-facing location) that I decided to include it, so here it is.

For the roses, this has been an exceptional August, an exceptional summer, and an exceptional year.  I have a dozen different roses in bloom in the garden right now: Double Delight, Fisherman's Friend, Garden Party, Gertrude Jekyll, Heritage, Lagerfeld, Melody Parfumee, Pat Austin, Queen Elizabeth, Sunbright, Sweet Juliet, and Winchester Cathedral.  Even Tropicana has a bunch of buds getting ready to open as does the Double Delight tree in the front yard.  Peace is also getting ready to bloom once again.  In other garden news, the grass is green and lush and has filled in most of the bare spots left over from last year.  The shrubs (Forsythia, Mock Orange, and Weigeia ) that were damaged by my former landscaper pruning them way too late last year have all put on excellent growth and should be in full bloom next spring.  Here's a particularly lovely Sweet Juliet blossom that's outside right now.  Needless to say, lots of photos of all of the roses in bloom have been posted to my web site.

The roses seem intent on proving that the heat of August is no impediment to lots of blooms.  Lots of them continue to open new blossoms almost every day, filling the garden with color and fragrance.  In addition to those that I've mentioned before, both Graham Thomas and Gertrude Jekyll have started to open blooms and Garden Party has been putting on a show.  Lots and lots of new photos have been posted on the web site.  Here's Garden Party.

In years past, August has been relatively quiet in the garden, as the heat of summer puts a damper on things.  Not this year!  Many of the roses are covered with blooms; I've just posted forty (!) photos of roses taken over the last few days.  It has turned out to be a really great rose year and all indications are that it's far from over.  The bloomers include Double Delight, Heritage, Lagerfeld, Melody Parfumee, Pat Austin, Peace, Queen Elizabeth, Sunbright, Winchester Cathedral, and Zephirine Drouhin.  This is a small part of the show being put on by Melody Parfumee.