Gloom Is Good

'Belindas Dream'
We are having "normal" weather.  We've had "normal" weather since about October of 2016.  The Ridiculously Resistant Ridge/The (Northern Pacific) Blob that imposed a long and terrible drought finally let go about then. 
Broadiaea (Triteleia) 'Queen Fabiola' 
  Since, we had a miraculously rainy winter and an utterly "normal" spring with daytime temperatures hovering in the mid-high 60sF (in the neighborhood of 20 C). 
Leucadendron 'Wilsons Wonder' colors up! 
 May brought our classic May Grey weather--overcast provided by the Pacific.  Now it's June, and we still have that overcast.  Lots of gardening getting done here. 
 Some find the Gloom depressing.
'Lady Emma Hamilton'
   For others, it is weather heaven-sent.
 Grevillea 'Superb' doesn't have as many flowers as it did a couple of months ago, but it is hardly scruffy:
   I'm--and the plants--are in the heaven group.
Agave marmorata looking--sigh--perfect: 
 Our unceasing summer sun bleaches flowers and scorches stems and leaves.  
Aloe brevifolia:
 June Gloom allows everything to remain saturated with rich color.  Faint lemon in July is golden in June.
'Molineux' 
 The tan of August in June is flame.
'Wildfire':
 Beige is not beige--it's pink and peach.
'Jubilee Celebration'
 Crimson, not ash.
'Rouge Royale':
 Velvet, not blackened toast. 
'The Prince'
 No sunburn for Baby Face! 
 June's idea of fiery glow:  Gaillardia 'Arizona Peach':
 Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' :
  Gloom?  I don't see gloom.  Endless summer?!?  Perish the thought! 

Comments

  1. "it is hardly scruffy"...hardly indeed. Gosh darn gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They were not exaggerating when they named it 'Superb'.

      Delete
  2. The "gloom" is a particular pleasure for those roses!

    We're getting milder temperatures than usual for the turn to summer -- maybe in response to my prayers and imprecations back when we had a 90s spell in mid-spring (as in, "There had better be some April weather in June to balance this out!"). As a result, the in-full-bloom Rosa palustris, which is usually a straight pink, is a deep, deep color that's much more attractive. Fragrance is also much more notable, and it's semi-doubling for the first time. That last settles the question of whether it's straight R. palustris or the var. scandens that Antique Rose Emporium has spread about. The good news: nearly thornless. The bad: unlikely ever to have hips -- which was more than half the point of planting it. Oh well...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rose hips are good in your climate I think, feeding birds in the winter? A lovely one, palustris. Fragrance here seems to improve markedly as the rose establishes. True for you?

      Let us enjoy mild--while it lasts!

      Delete
    2. The fragrance from R. palustris this season is markedly stronger, with more blooming shoots and more blooms per shoot. Would be great if it's going to be this good from now on -- helps make up for the lack of hips.

      I'm not sure what animals if any eat the hips on the few roses here that produce them. The 60-year-old rambler 'Silver Moon' makes attractive fat orange cherry-sized ones, but not that many considering how heavily it blooms. Possibly the cardinals that regularly nest there make use of them.

      The Scotch rose makes plentiful dark maroon / near-black hips the size and shape of blueberries, which darken and shrivel over the winter. By spring not many seem to have been eaten.

      The Rosa glauca here is struggling in its third season, possibly from the toxic effects of a black walnut stump that I didn't realize was nearby until too late. I may have to start over in another location. I yearn to have a full-grown, hip-producing one, but that looks to be another four years or so away...

      What the birds do eat are the tiny red hips of multiflora (carried in eye-catching sprays -- so decorative! so invasive!). Fewer each year, but apparently ineradicable, because birds.

      Delete
    3. Ah yes from what I have read multiflora is a serious problem east of the Rockies. Then RRD introduced to try to control the multiflora, which then infects "good" roses...what a mess. :( Your garden must be beautiful about now with species roses putting on a show. 'Silver Moon' is one of the parents of 'Belindas Dream'--probably the source of its vigor and impressive disease resistance. (The other parent is 'Tiffany'.) BD is probably the all-around best rose in my garden.

      Here it is rodents who eat the ripe hips so I attempt to remove them as soon as they form. A champion hipper is 'Fourth Of July'--nearly ever flower forms a big fat hip.

      Delete
  3. I love the June Gloom. Your garden looks marvelous. Your roses are astounding - it would be impossible to pick a favorite. I hope the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge is gone for good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that drought was long. I hope for a "normal" winter next winter!

      Rain is magic!

      Delete
  4. I am hoping for June gloom , and I can at this moment see a cloud bank to the west. Do you have the name of the Daylily in the photo below Lady Emma ? I have dug up all but a few of mine because of unreliable color. I don't have anything in this range and I think if it's ok for you it might work for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, I don't know the name. It was a gift from my MIL, and I've lost the tag. I thought I recorded the name with a photo on the blog, but can't find it. It's particularly pretty.

      Do you get June Gloom way up north? I thought it was a So Cal thing, a gift from Catalina Eddy.

      Delete
  5. Who needs sunshine when you have all those fabulous colors in your garden?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our 'RRR' is forecast to become the mother of all storms tomorrow evening. With weather warnings for Wednesday. We have been watching our winter fronts roll in, to be swept south of the country by a persistent high.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, finally some rain for you? That would be great news!

      Delete
  7. Those roses are just gorgeous! I love roses but here in subtropical Argentina we have too much humidity and that is a problem for them, high humity and warm temperatures make blackspot and powdery mildew go rampant, not to mention Leafcutter ants who have a penchant for roses, I adore roses but growing them here is an uphill battle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. High humidity accompanied by warm temperatures are very difficult for roses! Have you ever tried some of the old 19th century Tea or China roses? Some of them have exceptional resistance to blackspot. 'Mrs. B. R. Cant', 'Ducher', 'Mutabilis', 'Maman Cochet', 'Hermosa'?

      Best wishes!

      Delete
    2. I've heard a lot about china roses and their resistance to blackspot but I never ever found them in local nurseries, in fact no one here seems to have ever heard of them.. all varieties one can find here are hybrid tea or floribundas. I've been trying to stablish a rose garden here for 20 years and the results are quite disappointing, I think I should move to a cooler place!

      Delete
    3. Oh, that's a shame. Surely someone in your country is growing old roses? I can appreciate exclusive of rose growing, living in a cooler climate! I am not fond of hot weather.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Always interested in your thoughts.

Any comments containing a link to a commercial site with the intent to promote that site will be deleted. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.