Rose Cottage – June 2026

July 1, 2026July 4, 202627 Comments

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 impatiens 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!

Flower Power

June 17, 2019June 18, 201920 Comments

The only positive thing about this cool rainy spring is that I haven’t had to water anything…not even once. Mother Nature has done it for me. In fact it’s rained so much this past month that most of the farmers haven’t even been able to get their crops planted, the latest season ever as many recall. It’s sad to drive through the countryside and see all those bare soggy fields. The crop insurance has been extended a few days, but things are looking desperate, and the forecast is more of the same. Let’s send out a few prayers for our farmers – because if they don’t plant, we don’t eat.

I’ve been preoccupied with the kitchen reno, but here’s a recap of the best of the spring flowers, even if I’ve been too busy and it’s been too rainy to enjoy them.

The hyacinths at the corner always make going to the mailbox a treat.

These little purple violets scattered in the grass are always so pretty, especially if you ignore the weeds!

The nicest thing about this picture, also taken near the mailbox, is the shade, which means the trees are finally leafing out. I love the play of the shadows on the lawn.

The squirrels dug up most of my tulips,

so I really appreciate it when someone else makes an effort. It’s always a treat to drive down this street and see this yard, and this one.

Last year I transplanted a few blue forget-me-nots from my neighbour – they were so pretty I hope they are invasive.

My only purchase earlier in the spring was a pink and yellow dahlia and a couple of bright pink begonias, my first for both types of plants. I didn’t know what to do with them, and read that the dahlia had to be dug up in the fall so I just stuck them in bigger pots. The dahlia has flourished, with many buds again, but the begonias got too water-logged.

The lilacs finally bloomed, mine pale and anemic, so I enjoyed the neighbors dark purple ones which hang over my fence. The bloom-again lilac was a few weeks later, but I was disappointed in it’s smell. We’ll see if it lives up to it’s name.

The lily of the valley was plentiful too, another invasive gift from a fellow gardener.

My 50 cent bargain iris from last years horticultural sale bloomed for the first time, all of them coming up purple, except for one ugly burgundy one I gave away as it didn’t fit the color scheme. The second year for this fuchsia clematis. My new one, planted last fall, is not out yet but as it is a Jackmanii, it may be later.

Sometimes I’m not sure if things will bloom the first year, but the half-price peonies planted last fall burst forth a pretty pink.

When I finally got to the nursery again, these were my selections. I’ve never had a dipladenia plant before (smaller than a Mandevilla), but it looks very tropical. And one can never have enough lavender.

I may pick up some half-price geranium pots if I can find any, but even the nursery plants are struggling this year. Many look so pathetic no one would want to take them home, which is just as well, as man does not live by flowers alone. I planted lettuce in early May and all the rain has made me the Lettuce Queen of the neighborhood. Let us be grateful for homegrown salads!

A Midsummer Garden Tour (The Color Purple)

July 30, 2018July 30, 20188 Comments

It must be a bad year for garden tours as I have not seen anything advertised and July is almost over. We had a late spring, then it got very hot very suddenly. We had too many days of over 40 C and very little rain and were fast approaching the crispy grass dried out part of summer where everyone but the most die-hard enthusiasts has given up, when the skies opened to a whole week of torrential downpours. Now everything is green again but soggy. Mother Nature is being temperamental this year, but at least we can go to the beach guilt free.

It’s nice to go on garden tours to get inspiration and new ideas, plus it gives you a good excuse to wear a stylish hat, perhaps something with a broad brim and a navy grosgrain ribbon? (I’m always in search of the perfect hat and sometimes the hats are more fun to look at than the flowers). Two years ago, while on a garden tour I snapped a picture of this shady oasis of calm.

While purple and green are not colors that I would ever have thought of for a garden bench, the combination was eye-catching, and I believe the homeowner was ahead of the trend, or maybe I was two years behind as usual. It wasn’t something I thought would work in my predominately pink garden, but I did steal their idea for the birdcage with the ivy flowing from it. (Check Michael’s end of summer sale for birdcage bargains). My ivy did not fare as well being exposed to too much sun, so this year I tried wave petunias which also did not do well either in the small space. Maybe next year a fake ivy plant from the thrift store? Would anyone notice?

I noticed the purple and green theme back in the spring when the nurseries started carrying colored pots. Purple looks particularly striking with pots of herbs,

and since then I have seen deep purple Adirondack chairs as well.

So onto my own little garden space. I will spare you the bedraggled bits and concentrate on the things which looked lovely in June, the most popular time for garden tours.

It was not a great year for the Knock-out roses as I pruned them the first of April and then we had two more weeks of winter, so lots of buds but not as much foliage and many dead branches. For those unfamiliar, Knock-Out roses bloom all summer and are essentially maintenance free.

I have lots of pink roses in my garden and purple can be a great accent color for pink. It can be a dark shade, as in these Jackmanii clematis vines next to the John Cabot climbing roses,

or the purple Salvia, next to the pink Knock-Outs. It can be a mixture of both dark and lighter shades as in this Purple Iris belonging to a neighbor. I bought two clumps of this at the horticultural plant sale in May anticipating next spring. Or it can be a pale lavender shade as in this Russian Sage, and Rose of Sharon. The Russian sage has been in for five years now and is thriving at over three feet tall. It is drought resistant. The Rose of Sharon, eight years old and covered with blooms every year, was another wise choice.

Then there are the mauve hydrangeas who can’t make up their mind if they are pink or blue, (wrong with the aluminum sulfate again).

And of course we can’t forget the lilacs, the delight of every May.

The majority of my lavender plants did not survive the winter so I had to replant, leaving me with a few spiky survivors. This two year old French lavender plant in the back corner although not very full compared to my older English ones, blends in well with the pink wildflowers. Then there were the mistakes. Not every shade of purple is attractive. These foxglove seedlings from the farmer’s market came up a fuchsia color I did not care for at all as I was expecting a rosy pink.

And the Pink Champagne clematis I planted last year bloomed the same bright shade, lovely in it’s own way but clashing with the bubblegum pink of the rose bush beside it. It’s unfortunate these two fuchsia friends could not be together but one is in the side yard and one at the back. Some days I swear I will never buy anything again unless it is in flower and able to speak the truth.

This year I planted multi-colored morning glories in front of this old recycled trellis…..twice. They came up and then seemed to disappear. I suspect the rabbits who lounge in my backyard in the evenings have been munching them for desert. (They were upset because they couldn’t get at all those glorious carrots in the potager. They have now moved on to sampling the petunias). I was pleasantly surprised to see how much purple I actually have in my garden, but as every gardener knows there is always room for more and that neglected corner was telling me to buy a purple clematis to go with the lime green cart, and to think it all started with a garden tour…..