September has been GREAT

September is usually a month of frosts, and dying flowers! But this year, we have had rain, cooler nights, yet good days for continued growing and blooming... great for my yard! The flowers continue to bloom! :)

Click the photo below for a larger view:

I have begun work on the other sides of the house... where I have had potatoes, veggies, etc. growing, but also some very persistent weeds! But I am working on them! :)

I have also hauled in more loads of manure, and dirt! Plus adding more plants like iris, plants scavenged from abandoned yards, etc! :)

More photos to come later.

More flowers... and Mary Rose again!

Still admiring Mary Rose:

(Please excuse the gray smudging on the leaves: I pump from a river (appropriately named the Milk River by the Lewis and Clark's expedition) and whenever I sprinkle my plants, they receive a misting of sand/mud as well as water!)
I am enjoying the flowers .... the past several nights we have had near-freezing temps and it is a warning that our first frost is near!
Gem Signet marigolds:

A bee visiting a Celebration gladiolus blossom... I think he spent the night there!

Blue lobelia in a strawberry jar:

Love Lies Bleeding, an ornamental amaranthus:

Oranges and Lemons gaillardia:

White Maverick geranium:

Still rambling on about roses....

One more rose: This is Quadra... spending this first year building a root system, but I have pretty high expectations for this plant next year!

Finally!!! My only tea rose, Love, finally produced a typical bud/blossom! I couldn't fault this plant's blooming ability... it produced blossoms all summer... but I think the heat was to blame for the 'non-typical' coloring and shape! With the cooler weather we are having, this blossom performed more favorably.

And one more photo of Hope for Humanity! This rose has out performed nearly every other plant in my yard!!! I have fallen in love! :)

The above photo was taken 8/29.
I want to put my photos of this rose together, so you can see how wonderful it was!
Here it is on 7/20:

When these first blossoms faded, the plant seemed to grow literally overnight!
Here is a photo on 8/3:

And again this photo, taken 8/29:

I am a HUGE FAN of Canadian roses.... for a brief history of their breeding programs, read this interesting article on the Canadian Rose Society web site.

It's been two years!

I just noticed that it has been two years since this blog began!
It has been two years since that first little bit of scratching around began work on the new house!

If you want to see the Yard and Garden work around the new house, start on the post linked here.

More Roses...

I've been busy.... it has been hot here in Montana... and everything needs watering every other day. I have only so much water/water pressure... since we pump from the Milk River... and it is some distance from the pump. So, it takes some 'creative' planning to get the one sprinkler back to whatever plants need it.. when they need it! :)
I've decided mowing grass is fun... especially when you've been without! :)
Here is a recent photo, from August 7th:

And another view... looking back toward the house:
(yes, I need to finish the sidwalk!)

More roses:

Morden Sunrise

This next rose is one of my all time favorites:
Mary Rose ... it blooms well, is very fragrant... tolerates many different situations... and will usually survive our winters with minimal protection (grandly comes through with proper protection)

This is Petal Pushers:

Oh, and I have hauled in more manure and goat pen bedding!!!!!

My mom is coming in a day or two to look at my yard.... and I have been frantically pulling/mowing weeds, and trimming, digging... and rushing around. Other things have been happening... like a fox and an owl stealing my chickens (LOTS!!), and the usual rush of summer work! I haven't done any housework for nearly a month, so if Mom will be coming in the house when she visits, I had best do some major cleaning too! :)

Hot Summer... but some plants are blooming!

The good news: I have been MOWING LAWN!
The bad news: until this past week, I wasn't cutting grass, only weeds.
But this last time I mowed, the grass was tall enough that I actually cut the grass itself... and when I was done, you could see big patches of grass!
It actually looks like a lawn now! :)
And there may be a lot of weeds, but no perennial weeds, and even in the thinnest patches, there are grass plants every 6 inches or less! So, I feel that next spring will see enough grass to compete with any annual weeds that may sprout! YIPPEE!!!
The patio area on July 18, looking from the front door at the same angle as the 'raining photo':

and a few days later on July 24, looking in the opposite direction, back toward the front door:

Here is a Hope For Humanity rose... which came so very small and weak looking, starting off so very slowly.... and I haven't mulched it yet...... AND it still is blooming it's head off. The color in this photo is a bit 'neon' looking, but the red color is very eye catching, and nearly this color.

Another Canadian bred rose: Morden Snow Beauty. This one is a low growing, groundcover type of rose, but it is so very fragrant, and this first-year plant was just covered with blossoms!

We have had excellent luck with Canadian bred roses wintering over here in Montana... even though we still cover/protect them each fall.
Anyway....
Just had to post a few photos.... I have flowers and grass! :)