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Roses, and Lilies, and Hollyhocks, Oh My!

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A tiny red and white rose--roses and lilies nad hollyhocks, oh my!
A tiny rose blooming in the flower bed

Introduction

Yesterday, I didn’t feel up to snuff, or to anything else, for that matter. Today is slightly better, thanks largely to the roses, and lilies, and hollyhocks, oh my! that are blooming in my flower beds. Yesterday, I came downstairs, loaded the photos I had taken, and didn’t even process more than one of them. I posted that stargazer lily photo on Facebook and called it a day. Just couldn’t stand sitting at the computer any longer. I did do some reading, and I’ll get into that in a bit, but mostly, I just had a very lazy day.

I’m not feeling much better today, but I don’t want to go two days without a blog post, so today I’m going to share some photos of the flowers that are currently blooming in the various beds around the house. We’ll start with the rose shown above. Last summer, we planted eight rose bushes in the upper bed next to the driveway. Then the weeds took over. The weeds are so bad, that Tim suggested just turning the bed into another piece of lawn and mowing it on a regular basis. Doesn’t seem like we’ll ever get the roots out of the soil.

Roses

Of the eight roses we planted last summer, three are still alive. Tim transplanted one to the lower bed, but left two in the upper bed. The rose pictured above is one of those “left behind.” The plant is tiny, as is the blossom. That rose is the size of a silver dollar–a Susan B. Anthony dollar, but it looks perfectly formed. With the TLC Tim is giving the flower beds, I have high hopes for this rose in the future.

A yellow rose just beginning to open.
One of this year’s roses, just beginning to open.

This year, we purchased six more roses. Three of them are now living in their own planter box in the front yard, and three are in the lower driveway bed. Also small, this beauty is just beginning to open and has a sister just out of the picture on the left. Can’t wait for them to open fully.

The lower driveway flower bed at 12 Kay Wood Drive.
The Lower Driveway Flowerbed

The photo above is not one of my better shots. I’m really missing my Nikkor 24-120 mm lens. It does, however, give you an idea of what the lower driveway flowerbed now looks like. We have planted four rose bushes, several irises, several lilies and 30+ gladioli in the bed. The lilies are courtesy of Roger Thompson and the irises came from Nick Engler. We’ve also put in a small pond with a water iris and rain chimes. Roses, and Lilies, and Hollyhocks, Oh My!–The Hollyhocks are visible in the right side of the photo, in beds in the back yard. And that’s Tim standing on the deck.

And Lilies

A day lily flanked by grass and raspberries.

There are at least three different types of lilies growing at 12 Kay Wood Drive, and two of those types are currently blooming. Years ago, we bought several day lilies from Joel Ahr Carlson in Moiese and planted them in a bed just outside the raspberry plants. Raspberries, being raspberries, have sent out new shoots that are now growing alongside the day lilies. And as is the case with all my flower beds, grass is growing rampant in the beds. Another day lily features in my August 4th post where I talk about making my own 4B’s tomato soup. And if you’re interested in a comprehensive look at day lilies, let me recommend Jen Stark’s site Happy DIY Home where she talks about growing and caring for these beautiful plants.

Yesterday, I found that my stargazer lilies were beginning to open. Years ago, I planted three stargazers in one of the boxes in the back yard. I interspersed them with domestic lupine, which, unfortunately, hasn’t survived. But other plants, including cushion spurge, volunteer chives, and hollyhocks are now filling the box. Fortunately, the stargazer lilies live up to their name and have risen high above everything else in the bed.

A flower bed with stargazer lilies and one hollyhock.
Stargazer Lilies (and a hollyhock!)

And Hollyhocks, Oh My!

I have always loved hollyhocks, but I’ve never planted them. Last summer, when JJ and Brian stayed with us, they moved some of their hollyhocks from Polson and transplanted them in the backyard flower boxes. None of us were sure if they would survive the move, let alone come back this year, but come back they have. In addition to the one visible in the photo above, the middle bed has several more hollyhocks in a variety of colors.

A flower bed with several different colored hollyhocks.
Hollyhocks, Oh My!

So that’s it for today. As you can see, we are surrounded by roses, and lilies, and hollyhocks, oh my! And there seems to be no end in sight–well at least not for the next few weeks. Until tomorrow!

A single hollyhock in pink. The last of today's roses, and lilies, and hollyhocks, oh my!

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30 Comments on “Roses, and Lilies, and Hollyhocks, Oh My!”

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