The Summer Cometh

Summer rapidly approaches; the garden sings with delight.

I enjoy watching a sweet hummer through my kitchen window.

Everything lovely and alive stretches toward the sun and sky.

Helianthemum and Salvia 'Purple Rain' glow in the morning light.

The Madam Julia Correvon clematis shows off her rich, wine-red blossoms in an extravagant burst of generosity; I adore her.

Quietness, her delicate pink, fragile-looking blossoms deceptively resilient, glows in the extraordinarily hot weather. 

Shrugging off yesterday's dusty violence, Quietness carries on.

Summer verdure restores its place in the serene morning after.

Summer, glorious summer, lies ahead.

A Sun-Kissed Morning Begins a Beautiful Day

My young white trio: two Bradford pear trees and a Black Tartarian cherry tree glisten in the morning light and chill.

Mornings in my garden this week were bright and cold, with a kiss of color and sunlight brushing the flowering trees.

The cherry tree is brilliant against a clear, bright sky.

Afternoons breeze through, sometimes with dust; at other times the wind feels colder than the sunlight would suggest.

The warm spring allowed my young Burkwood viburnum to bloom. The fragrance is divine and I adore seeing the pink buds opening to pure white, simple blossoms.

I managed to get my little rosebushes from Heirloom Roses planted. My dear friend Sarah Z. treated me to three roses that I was anxious to have. 

My three new babies patiently await.

My previous experiment with Ebb Tide ended prematurely; I believe I planted it too early in the season. I am hoping that this time the roots will have a chance to grow and become well secured in their new home before the season is out. 

Ebb Tide has a roomy new home in front of a rather winter-ravaged Ambridge Rose and next to Cl. America.

I love Moonlight Scentsation so much that I chose another to keep it company.

Moonlight Scentsation poses before settling into a new home.

I ordered Jean Kenneally -- I am fascinated by the idea of growing the highest rated rose ever -- but they sent Cl. Jeanne Lajoie by mistake. I already have several Jeanne Lajoie; charming as she is, I don't need another. I did manage to find a spot for her, and the good, service-oriented folks at Heirloom Roses are graciously sending my Jean Kenneally along soon. 

Fragrant crabapple blossoms scent the afternoon.

Evening quietly closes another  happy spring day in the garden.

Hyacinth to Feed The Soul

"If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,

And of thy slender stores 

two loaves alone to thee are left,

Sell one, and with the dole

Buy hyacinth to feed thy soul"

"Hyacinth to Feed Thy Soul" 

By

13th century Persian poet 

Moslih Eddin Saadi

From his book "Gulistan"

("The Rose Garden")

Hyacinth certainly do feed my soul. They are the first herald of spring and warmth in my garden.

I love their sweet fragrance. They grow in so many fresh colors.

I can never have enough hyacinth, short-lived though they are, and I can never buy as many as I want, however drastically I deplete my "slender stores" to acquire them.

Hyacinth in the herb garden brighten my way to the back door.

                                                             

Thanks to
   Words From the Heart

for the poem

Worst Fears Realized ... A Hefty Dose of Snow and Ice in March

Frosted hyacinth are a normal sight after a mild winter, early spring and a late-winter storm.

This storm is to be the biggest of the 2011-2012 winter season. The high spots in the state will receive up to a couple of feet of snow; our more northern, but lower-elevation, spot will certainly get its share of wind and weather.

Yesterday dawned brilliantly with clear skies, warmish temperatures and calm air.  

But our complacency was short-lived. By mid-morning yesterday, wind-blown dust and dirt found every crevice and fold in our clothes, hair and skin. This morning, venturing out was for the sturdy souls among us. Dirt and dust continued to obscure the horizon, with colder temperatures and a spattering of rain on the windshield.

Do the little apricot blossoms stand a chance?

This is why apricots seldom produce fruits in our area. The fragile, hopeful blossoms are all too often slapped asunder by cruel, late-winter storms.

The grape hyacinth don't mind at all, however, and will be springing back to life after shaking off this small irritation. Of course, their reproductive cycle does not include producing edible fruits.

The regular hyacinth, too, will be just fine.

The snow level in Northern Arizona will drop to elevations of 3,000 feet tonight; already elevations of 7,000 feet have a couple of feet of snow. Northern Arizona University canceled classes for tomorrow, and we here in the extreme north-eastern corner of the state, at a mile high in elevation, will hunker down and continue to wait for spring.

The garden bench offers little invitation today.

Fresh green iris and grape hyacinth foliage offer a tantalizing suggestion of hope through an otherwise completely dreary front window view.

The Blessings and Curses of an Early Spring

Mid-February is too early for the beginnings of vigorous growth, but I am relishing the tease of spring.

Our first spring flower!

This little guy lasted through the winter, blooming on warm, sunny days.

Our unusually clement winter season has me both longing for and fearing an early spring. The sunshine took me outdoors yesterday to root around in the soil and do a little cleanup. The ground is still frozen, but new green and red growth is beginning to show everywhere. 

My Royal Wedding cutting is showing new red growth.

It is gratifying to see what has survived the winter. All my new cuttings made it through on their own roots; of course, the mild winter gave them an edge. I am happy to see that my little volunteer rose seedling is raring to grow, too.

A volunteer seedling, nestled among the grape hyacinth, survived another winter and appears to be set to thrive this coming season.

On the other hand, sometimes our biggest storms come in March and April, freezing the fresh growth and delaying the serious business of plant growth and reproduction. Nascent buds, both foliage and flower, are subject to destruction by late freezes after the seductive clemency of a balmy late winter.

Young Black Tartarian cherry branches stretch to the sky.

Lengthening branches reach toward the stratosphere laden with swollen buds, accentuating the brilliant sky with a sense of renewing life. I am stirred with both a joyful anticipation and a lurking dread that all will be for naught.

A Bradford Flowering Pear tree is eager to display its seasonal wealth with a lavish show.

Fortunately, roses are mighty resilient. Should a late freeze take their early growth, they will simply dust themselves off and redouble their efforts to produce their first brilliant flush. 

David Austin's Ambridge Rose in late June, 2011

Unfortunately, a nip-in-the-bud event will delay their early seasonal display, and shorten the season from the early end. Another autumn like we had in 2011, however, will extend the season. 

Ambridge Rose in early November, 2011

(You may click to enlarge the above photos.)

Double Delight Rose Products

I love Double Delight! I have created a few Double Delight products on Zazzle featuring this photo. Have a look!

Double Delight Rose Mousepad at Zazzle!

Double Delight Rose Mug

Ambridge Rose is Off to a Good Start!

David Austin's Ambridge Rose is one of my Chamblees purchases from  last year. It was planted in spring of 2011. I am pleased to have roses to photograph on November first; it has been an unusually mild fall.

She is planted near Climbing America, and I love the colors together.

Climbing America

They should make a lovely, melodious duo by next season when Ambridge Rose puts on a little more bulk.

Already a full little bush

As it is, I am so pleased with her progress. With her alluring color and fragrance, she is a delightful, sensually stimulating addition to my garden pleasures.

A charming round bud is filled with promise

Sweet little twins

Her weak stems detract somewhat from her beauty, making her a shy little creature. If she realized how beautiful she is, she would surely hold her head proudly to the sky.

She shares her loveliness reluctantly; I mush prop her up on a driftwood log to photograph her.

So pretty together! Climbing  America and Ambridge Rose

 The temperature goes down to 21F tonight; this will be our last vase of cut roses for the season.

A previous post describes my purchases for spring of 2010:

Roses Ordered for Next Spring

You may click to enlarge the above photos