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Wednesday 13 July 2011

The "drought" and I are not friends !

Eastern Ontario is going through bit of a drought .. heck !! ... a "hell" of a drought and it is beating up the gardens badly .. this picture was a few days ago so it doesn't look all that bad .. but believe me .. it is nasty .. I am going to try and water very early tomorrow morning because the HEAT really does me in .. not that I am a delicate creature ... ah .. maybe a little .. or maybe it is menopause that makes me fell like a furnace and who the heck turned up the temperature ???!!
OK .. I got that out of my system ...
Some of the cone flowers are doing better than other cone flowers ... for the moment ...
I fell for a couple of on sale roses at a satellite nursery .. OK .. it sort of was a rescue mission .. and the taste of bitter defeat from my two dead roses that I lovingly planted and couldn't wait to see some roses from ! I had seen Morden Snow Beauty on Ms S's site Gardening with Latitude and I sort of feel in love with it .. I have a thing for white roses .. but .. having said that , it was in such a state I would not embarrass it by putting a picture of it up yet, until it smiles a little .. but it is going to be beautiful .. I just know it!
Mean while this is "All That Jazz" .. the colour wowed me plus it is also an "own root rose" which are a wee bit hardier I find .. especially this late in the game ..
Winchester Cathedral is still a power house of multi layered white petals : )
Morden Sunrise is still a gorgeous girl ....
Now for some tougher plants that are surviving the dry conditions ... a different version of Lamb's Ears
Lime Colour Flash Astilbe ... mislabeled .. I thought I was buying the red type and I thought I was going to NOT like this one .. but I have to say it has grown on me ... groan ... I know .. but don't gardener's have a list of bad jokes too ?
Next to it is "eupatorium-chocolate Joe Pye Weed .. the foil of dark and light continues on with my little Japanese Maple, .. Dream Catcher Beauty Bush(lime golds) Gold Heart dicentra .. well, you get the idea ... dark and light back and forth type of thing .. something like "good vs. evil' but it is all good in a garden .. all colours are wonderful and appreciated .. for the most part ?
Veronicastrum virginicum aka "culver's root" aka 'colt's foot" a long list of nicknames for a beautiful and graceful perennial that will tolerate a lot of punishing conditions .. and since I am a "bugbane" cimicifuga, type of gal .. they remind me of that very plant too !
The light is darker (is that an oxymoron ?) already in the morning .. I get up at 5 .. my body just makes me do it .. I have tried talking it out of such an early hour but add the hormonal confusion with a cat that head butts the door and juggles the door knob while her partner in crime encourages her from the sidelines .. well ... you get where I am going with this.
It is DARKER than it used to be .. we are headed you know where !!!!
So my Karly Rose grass and echinacea are blooming on time and in rhythm with the upcoming change of season.
SCARY EH ????!!!
So are other ornamental grasses ... Shenandoah has been a beauty from day one a couple of years ago .. it has burgundy stripes and a shape of a vase ... and next to Center Glow ninebark .. well ... even far batter than this picture taken a few days ago !
Still headed towards that other season (which will remain unmentioned ... but ... less than 108 days before HALLOWEEN !!!!!!!!!!!)
So what is a garden gal to do ? .. but have lots of colourful flowering kale in low profile planters so she can watch the show start : )
Meanwhile back at the farm .. Lassie barks out a code, that we have to suffer through many more HOT days with no rain in sight ... roll on AUTUMN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

13 comments:

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Oh Joy, that word Autumn! Although, I am beginning to like it more each year with the cabbages, kale, pansies, pumpkins, witches, or I could go on an on!

It is supposed to be in the high nineties here next week so actually Autumn sounds kind of nice.

Eileen

Netty said...

My gardens are suffering from the heat and lack of rain too - 21 days since the last rain. I have some real troopers in the garden - Echinacea and Culvers Root are looking great but some of the other natives are looking sad. No sign of any rain in the forecast either and the well is looking low. I sure hope we get some rain soon!!

Anonymous said...

I know, where did all our rain go! It just disappeared from June. My garden is dry and I have not been watering because they keep saying rain is on the way, but none for awhile. Plus, it is not in the forecast either this week. Your garden looks pretty good though.

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hello Joy Girl, Sorry to hear you're in the midst of a summer drought. I know it can get tiring, hauling the hose around to make sure all our babies are watered. Hopefully a gentle rain will fall and give you a nice break.

Gorgeous roses.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your garden seems to be ignoring the drought. Love the roses. Winthrop seems to have his back to the wall while looking for rain.

Marguerite said...

You have me laughing Joy. I can just picture your cats on their early morning mission. Mine sits at the far end of the hall and meows as he knows I can't throw a pillow that far. If there's drought your garden looks like a tropical oasis with so many colours and that sumac presiding overhead. We haven't gotten rid of the rain yet this year but at least the new trees are happy.

Anonymous said...

Roll on, Autumn, indeed. It's amazing to me that your roses are persevering so beautifully.

Anonymous said...

I think it looks pretty good! Water is not a problem here yet, but you never know. Such an odd year!

Lola said...

ROFLMBO, You are funny girl. Menopause can wreck havoc with one's body. Glad those days are over for me. lol If I'm out after 10 I am wet {not from monsoon either}. Heat. Think the med. I'm on is some of the cause. Diabetic you know. Lost about 30 lbs. so far. That should help.

Anyway I have Shenandoah, Echinacea 'Vintage Wine' & a mum in a half whiskey barrel for a couple yrs now. Grass in not doing too good. Trying to take over the barrel {it does need to be repotted}. Like it's spreading.
In another pot I have the Karley with the lighter potato vine. It seems to be doing what it should.
Monsoon, I mentioned before sure is making things a mess here. Can't mow, about need pontoon to get around yard to check veggies.
Things aren't too bad. Sorry about being so long winded.

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Everything looks beautiful(-: I am trying to grow some white cone flowers. Wish me luck...lol(-: They don't like me.
We have had some awesome weather here. Mid 80 degrees. Next week will be mid 90's but still totally unusual weather for here in July. Normally its 100+ days! I know that is coming but I am not going to think about it!(-: Have a great weekend!!!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Eileen girl!
I am an Autumn freak, no two ways about it .. I love everything to do with it but you have such amazing decorations I am always too happy to check your posts out when it comes to all of those favorite things of ours!
We have the rest of July and August to struggle through with this heat and dry conditions .. ugh !
Roll on Autumn for sure ? LOL

Hello there Netty .. Yes the natives usually can hold there own during these times but wow on the lack of proper rain fall for sure!!
I am doing rain dances here but it isn't happening darn it !! What is a gardener to do ??? eeekkk !

Donna after the cold wet Spring we had I think we became used to have rain on 'tap" but it isn't cooperating and enough of this dry period !! Bring on the rain !!

Thanks Grace girl .. I'm hoping these roses will "stick" !!
I did 3.5 hours this morning starting at 6AM of a deep water in all of the garden areas so you can guess that I am dead tired and fed up with the dry stretch we are having .. so I appreciate the wish for rain girl, thank you !

Lisa girl Winthrop and the rest of the gang are wishing for rain so they don't have to hear me complaining all the time ;-)
I'm hoping to have good luck with these roses this time !!

Marguerite girl : ) that is way too funny because husband's choice of weapon is throwing the pillow .. they don't give a hoot though! haha
You have a smart cat .. but then all cats are smart aren't they?
Too bad we can't swap weather eh ? You could use the sun and we could use the rain .. but the new trees will be that much stronger with all the moisture helping them settle in: )

Patricia girl I think a lot of us gardeners are at the very least "thinking" roll on Autumn too ?
So far so good with the roses .. I use the Epsom salts trick and I think it really works : )

Sandy girl it is a very odd year with the weather but don't we say that a lot in the last 10 years or so .. global warming and all of that thrown in ? .. so far the garden is holding on .. I just did a deep water so it will be OK for a few days .. phew !!

Lola girl : ) that is wonderful to be able to lose weight because I know it helps with the diabetes and meds in general .. I am a wee bit jealous .. I am on steroids and thyroid med and extra weight has me feeling terrible .. add menopause and it is one heck of a vicious period in my life .. but the garden distracts me and girl .. I look like I was under a shower after working a little while in it !
Sorry to hear about so much rain, it must be aggravating trying to keep things looking good .. but send some over here when you can?LOL

Cindee girl I am sending loads of positive vibes for the coneflower mission .. is it "White Swan" or "Lucky Star" or another type ? They are usually so easy .. I'm glad you don't have the usual heat .. I remember how bad you said it was from last year .. I would melt there !! LOL Hope it doesn't happen this year to give you a break : )

Carolyn ♥ said...

I am of need of a little JOY so I came here... never disappointed. I should have known that you are a Halloween lover... another reason why I enjoy you so much. Surely we are kindred spirits. Thanks for the lift... you always bring a smile to my heart.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Carolyn girl .. I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. I am very happy to bring a smile to your face and to have another Halloween fan on board with me as we start to turn later summer's corner ? I know .. I am rushing it but I can't help myself as usual ;-)
Thanks for dropping by girl .. I appreciate it!