A miscellaneous things post.
#1 Dahlia Abuse: excepting a few left in the ground, most of the Dahlia tubers sat unprotected in pots out in the rain all winter. Winter having been so rainy I assumed most if not all of them had rotted.
Nope. They all appeared firm, plump, and healthy. Huh. How 'bout that? Repotted Friday, it's time for them to wake up and grow.
Undamaged area of rose on the right, areas stripped of leaves center and left. I put a piece of screen over the damaged areas and leaves are beginning to grow back.
Stripped, darn it!
#3 The roses are soooo late this year. Normally they'd be finished up with their spring flush about now. This year, they are just beginning.
'The Endeavour':
A few hours later. Plentiful winter rain packed the flower with petals:
Third Year Leap:
Aha! Next day, reveals GAA's true (equally beautiful) color. Indeed, it's the real GAA: 
Okay! The answer to a twenty three year old question is confirmed: what I've grown since 2000 as 'Gruß an Aachen' is indeed 'Pink Gruß an Aachen'. I've long thought that, but the rose purchased three years ago proves it. Oh, the satisfaction of fact!
'Fourth of July':
#4 latest clumsy attempt at hiding pond pipe:
Resembles the $5.99 Pteris cretica ‘Albolineata’ purchased at Trader Joe's some years back:
This is not the aggressive Polystichum californicum which some years back completely packed the top of the pond shower. Then Santa Ana winds knocked the whole shower over. A memorable disaster that was.
#6 Iris 'Thornbird':
Beautiful shot of that Leucospermum! Dahlias are hardier than you think. Ours make it through a typical western Oregon winter without any major issue. Rain, some freezing temps, snow. I just dug up a clump a few weeks ago to give away. Hope you find the rose nibbler.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, did not know Dahlias can survive in Oregon in the ground overwinter. We don't get all that cold here--was just concerned with the rain--we get this much rain only once every 10 or 20 years!
DeleteSurprisingly tenacious and hard to kill, even in our mucky, wet, clay soil where the top inch or so will freeze solid for a few days each winter.
DeleteI had three tours last year and it was as exhausting as it was fun. All that socializing and answering questions. I've always wished I could grow Gruss an Aachen, so I am amazed to discover there are two versions. I am a sucker for plant names that have an association that speaks to me. Won't grow things whose names I don't like (any plant named Elvis). Love that Iris #6. So elegantly subtle in color.
ReplyDeleteThere was a long-running discussion on the old Gardenweb Antique Rose Forum about 'Irene Watts' not really being the 'Irene Watts' but actually the pink form of GAA. I remember vaguely some one actually contacted the curator of the rose collection at a French botanical garden who thought with pretty solid evidence that 'Irene Watts' was lost and the rose in commerce as 'Irene Watts' was really the pink form of GAA. I bought GAA from Antique Rose Emporium to compare it with my Pink GAA, and last year bought Pink GAA from another vendor to compare it to my Pink GAA. This is a rose grower thing.
DeleteYes, some names are just not good plant names.
That Iris is a trip! Sometimes it is ecru, sometimes grey, sometimes a weirdly wonderful green...you never know what color they'll be--very weather sensitive.
"The rose grower thing" is probably just an excuse to buy another rose! Ha! Ha! Ha!
DeleteHaving "firm, plump, and healthy" Dahlia tubers is a good thing! Do you dig them out every year?
ReplyDeletePeony 'Misaka' flower is gorgeous. I don't grow Peony, but usually see the white-to-red color spectrum everywhere; it makes the yellow bloom unique.
Chavli
No I don't dig them out every year. A local botanical guy said dig them up and move them every three years for best results. He said they get lazy after three years in the same place. I don't know about the "lazy", but they do seem to decline after year three, and are refreshed after a move.
DeleteThe 'Misaka' is an Itoh Peony which is a hybrid between herbaceous and tree, so different color range. They also don't have the wonderful fragrance of the herbaceous type, but they will flower here without winter chill, unlike herbaceous Peonies.
Beautiful blooms everywhere in your garden, HB! 'Blanche Ito' is the Leucospermum I'm considering adding to my front garden if I proceed with the musical chairs approach to replacing the woody Echium 'Star of Madeira' once it finishes its current bloom cycle. As my cutting garden is so far behind in flowering, it appears I'm going to have to resort to starting my dahlias in pots again this year - the fact that I once again have more tubers (some ordered back in August that still have yet to be shipped due to issues with the growers) is another issue...
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing grasshoppers since last week. As my neighborhood had a fire 2 weeks ago and a flood (due to a water main break) last week, I've joked that locusts would be next. Maybe I've jinxed myself?!
'Blanche Ito' has very pretty foliage and a tidy, attractive growth habit as well. As Leucospermums go the plant itself without flowers is quite lovely.
DeleteI started my Dahlias in pots in hopes of getting them going a little sooner. Once it gets really hot in July they kind of shut down. :( I see a grasshopper or two, but there's a pair of Scrub Jays that seem to like to hunt them--saw one Jay flying twist around and grabbed one mid-air other day hooray! Makes up for them planting acorns everywhere.
Congrats on confirming the ID of 'Pink Gruß an Aachen'. It's just nice to know, right? Everything looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI just couldn't miss out on a GAA. The pink version wasn't enough, had to have both.
I just did it a lot faster.
ReplyDeleteClosing understatement?
It sure feels like understatement. I'm still recovering!
Delete