June is one of my favorite months – because of the weather and also because of the roses which put on their best show this time of year. Although my pink Knock-Out roses bloom all summer long in six week cycles, they are seldom as prolific as in June.
Because they only live around 10-12 years, I’ve been slowly replacing them around the front and back deck.
I scooped up six at the Canadian Tire pop-up nursery for halfprice ($20) in mid-June. I do so love a bargain!
But June started with the peonies.
Then the old-fashioned roses on the south-facing trellis.
They are a brighter pink than the Knock-outs but the lavender in between breaks up the color.
This John Cabot rose is about ten years old, and is now well established. It’s a paler pink and bloomed a few weeks ago….
But after some rain, it bloomed a deeper color. (Another $10 bargain from the Canadian Tire end of season sale)
This one on the back arbor is always the last to bloom. It’s nice when the purple clematis is out at the same time.
Another well established clematis.
This one is newer, and I’m not sure if I like the pale color but it goes well with the lavender.
The bees like the lavender too.
Pink inpatients always make me happy.
We’ve had a fair bit of rain in June so I didn’t have to water too much. I’ve had other flexible collapsible hoses before, (including those heavy plastic ones guaranteed for life or until you lose the receipt) but this one is the best ever because it’s so lightweight I don’t feel like I’m hauling 75 feet of hose around. I got it on sale at Home Hardware at the beginning of the season, as it was last year’s clear-out stock. At $16 for a $60 hose (I got one for the front and one for the back) I don’t care if they only last a few years. (Did I mention I love a bargain?)
Of course it wasn’t all roses…..
There were four painting projects….and still more to be done.
and lettuce to be harvested….and eaten.
And jam to be made.
And then there is the deck that needs fixing….as some of the composite boards are sagging due to rotting wood underneath, but only in a few places, it’s certainly fixable. The first handyman I contacted back in early May came and looked and promised to come back and look underneath some weekend when it wasn’t raining….he never showed up. I refuse to chase anyone around, so after four weeks I moved on to handyman number Two – he showed up but the quote gave me sticker shock, despite reusing the existing composite boards and vinyl railing. So when I was walking in the neighbourhood last week I saw a deck/fence company putting up a new fence. His truck said “free quotes” so I stopped to talk to him – told him I lived just down the street, and he said he would come after he was finished there, about 5:30. He never showed up. What is it with tradesmen? Why can’t they just say no, if they are not interested in a small job. It’s unprofessional and it gives all tradesmen a bad name, especially if they can’t even be trusted to show up a mere two hours later. I could see if something came up or he had to go home for supper or take his kids somewhere, but I never heard from him again. So I’ve shelved that project for the summer – the deck companies are all too busy now, so I’ll wait until someone is wanting some work….or until it falls down completely…..which ever comes first. I put most of the furniture out and it seems stable enough if I avoid putting anything too close to the railing. It will soon be too hot to sit out there anyway, and when that happens I use the table under the trees, as the southwest breezes are better there. I’m not going to let renos spoil my summer. (There are other reno issues to deal with too…maybe in August.)
As much as I hate to see June leave, I’m looking forward to July and the beach, but not this week’s heat wave/dome. I’ll be staying inside watching the Blue Jays lose.
Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers!
thehomeplaceweb 
Your flowers are beautiful. I didn’t realize knockouts were so short lived. My mother was the queen of roses but me, not so much. I had good luck with Mr. Lincoln, a beautiful red rose but between aphids, disease and deer, they were too hard to maintain at my last house. Now I don’t have the energy! Love your clematis too. Wish I had that here.
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Thanks Kate! I think they might be shorter lived here because of our colder winters. They were really popular here about 15 years ago, but not so much now because of that. My older rose bushes have been there for decades, one of them came with the house 50 years ago! I don’t do anything to them other than spread some bonemeal in the spring. They deadhead themselves or with the hose when I water. The few times I’ve seen aphids I just dust them with bug powder, although there was one year they chopped them all up! I don’t do anything to the clematis either. I’m a lazy gardener, and seldom even remember to fertilize later on. I agree, the older I get the less time and energy I want to spend working in the garden. I wish I had a pool – not liking this intense heat.
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They all look beautiful to me, and the fact that you nurture them as you do—and paint the furniture—and sit down to your own vegetables—is all impressive, IMO.
Also impressive is the money you save on all those bargains!
Good luck finding a reliable deck-fixer!
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Thanks Annie…..I don’t really don’t do much nuturing with the garden. And spray painting is easy, the other type not so much but I can get into it if I’m in a zen mood. Since I’ve been retired I enjoy bargain-hunting, I hate to pay full price for anything anymore, I guess I have the time now to shop around. I’ve done renos before and it can be very discouraging….but eventually I’ll find someone to tackle it. In my experience most of the handymen are not reliable, and the deck companies all want to tear it down and built a new one for 20K. The Jays are actually winning against the NYMets today 9-0, so things are looking up! Happy July 4th to you this weekend!
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Congratulations on the Blue Jays’ win.
I’m finding this July 4 surreal bc of the man in the White House on this auspicious anniversary.
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I still can’t get over the wrestling match and the ballroom fiasco. The bizarreness never seems to end…..hope mid-terms will bring a wakeup call to the republican party.
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Wow! Amazing bunch of roses and the clematis, too. You seem to have the right weather for all that. I may have to convert my entire yard to cactus!
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Thanks Eilene! They do put on a nice show this time of year. We’ve actually had a few good months rain-wise, but are heading into that intense heat/drought season now when the grass dries up etc.
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Well Happy Canada Day back to you Joni, my fellow Canadian!
Your roses are all exquisite and make me long for my roses and perennial gardens back in the day before everything was killed off in the Polar Vortex of 2013-2014. My Home Run shrub roses rallied back after I gave them up for dead in the Spring of 2014 and likely because I poured copious amounts of Rose-Tone on them and cut them to the ground. They look alright, but certainly not as nice as your roses. I have always admired your backyard – the Knockout Roses and the roses on the trellis seem to be blooming just as profusely. I like how you mix your pinks and purples – it’s such a shame that the peonies, clematis and lavender don’t last longer. I know the purple clematis are very hardy – look at yours! I planted some in the backyard for my mom as she liked seeing them at Olive Garden where they had clematis plants winding around their cement pillars.
You have been industrious inside and out. I’d be worried the bunnies and whatever else is in the backyard (evidently possums and gophers if you recall my post about that debacle) would eat it all up before I got to pick the lettuce and tomatoes. Your painting jobs look great as well.
I have the same hose I bought in 1985 – it’s sturdy but heavy to unwind. My longtime hose reel broke after 25 years and I bought another one that lasted two years before it fell apart. My handyman told me the lighter hoses are great, just get them with brass couplings and they’ll last forever. Yours looks sturdy. The hose reel mounted on my side wall cracked over the Winter – I hope it doesn’t tumble down.
It’s even too hot to go to the beach and enjoy it. When these few more days of horrible heat and humidity are over, we go into a rainy spell next week. Not much to embrace about the weather in 2026.
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The clematis and lavender should be good for another month at least. I try and have something blooming all the time, so the hydrangeas will be next. I put chicken wire around the garden so nothing can get in to feast. The spray painting was easy – the green cart and white plant stand, and the stairs was a quick job, but those mosaic tables were a pain – I’d forgotten how long it takes for rust-proof paint to dry (days), although it hasn’t really been drying weather. We are in for a whole week of heat and 40% chance of rain ever single day – no not a nice summer this year at all. The only thing I put on the roses is a sprinkle of bone meal in the spring – that’s it. I don’t baby them, and usually even forget to fertilize them mid-summer. I don’t like things that need fussing over.
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My clematis was usually gone by early June (purple Jackmanii and the light purple variety). I remember going to Emily Frank Gardens last 4th of July because they said their lavender only had a few days left, so I went to see it, so yours must be a different type, but I think your growing zone is probably different … it is. Ours is 6b. I had a Twist-and-Shout Hydrangea (it blooms pink or blue according to your soil’s acidity) and the groundhog ate the entire plant. It was hardy and a good bloomer. I did use bone meal when planting all the new shrubs, plants and roses, but the Rose-Tone after that. But I also gave them rose spikes in mid-Summer. Just put on in the soil and hammer it in to embed the spike so it doesn’t come out in heavy rain. Yes, Rustoleum is a pain as to drying. I painted the pole light horizontal bar last Fall and it took forever to dry – it’s the only place where there is an address at the house, so I had to do it in stages. Next time I’ll use a Rustoleum Touch-up Pen as it is faster and not messy. We have rain all next week except Tuesday – yay, but Tuesday I have a dentist appointment and need to pick up my glasses and it will still be hot/humid.
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The roses look spectacular. Happy Canada Day!
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Thanks! Happy July 4 to you!
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Gorgeous flowers!
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