Possibly Last

Possibly the last of the 'Raeann's Torch' to open. We had sun today and a little wind so it is drying up nicely but it is getting cold out there now. Noticed I have been spelling this wrong all along... there is no end e. Going to fix the posts on flickr and the blogs.

Mystery Glad

Now I'm puzzled.  I remembered this as purple with white markings.  Instead it's fushia or even dark pink with no markings.  It's been chewed on from lying on the ground and really should be in the ring garden next year.  I have 5 like this but the rest are buried under Snow Fairy.  I'm going to have to go back through old photos and such and solve this mystery over the winter.

Rain, Rain, Rain... and now Wind

Three days of weather has wreaked havoc on the 'Gerrie Hoek'. The unstaked 'Hot Lips' and 'Raeann's Torch' are doing fine. The tallest bud up front and centre is 'Sandia Showboat' which will open this year if we can keep the frost at bay.

Dahlia Update

Kasasagi looks really striking from further back but I can't seem to capture it with my camera.  The yellow is becoming more pronounced as it continues to open.
Here's what else is in bud now:
Little Scottie
Cornel
Orchid Beauty
Brookside Snowball
Preference

Mass of Purple

My aster may not be as compact and uniform as it would be if I'd pinched it, but I kind of like it like this - a big bush with beautiful flowers that move around in the wind.  Earl mussed her up a bit but she's still blooming like crazy.

Undamaged Flowers!

My first Gladiolus flowers that are not destroyed. This one is Passos. I have a patch of them that are damaged and this patch that seems to have escaped.

Dahlia 'Glow'

As you can tell this one still has layers and layers of petals to open.  A nice bright red!

Really Big Bee

His friend is regular size.

Alpen Cherub Finally Makes an Appearance

I'm beginning to realize that the bigger the flower, the longer the bud takes to open.  I haven't measured this yet but it must be at least 3 inches.  Nice bright white with faint yellow around the centre.  Had to climb in among the glads to get this because it's facing the road.  Now I have my own collarette ;)

Another One Beat the Frost

'Ferncliff Fuego' opened. As did 'Wine & Roses' but the first flower on that is missing petals and there are 3 more buds so I am going to try and wait for the next to open before posting. Of course, since they take forever to open, I might not make that goal ;)

My Moment Today

I got a laptop and notice I already have a flower wallpaper... priorities.

Kasasagi

One thing I think we've both been experiencing about dahlia this summer - the waiting game for the blooms to open.  This is really tiny - perhaps 1.5 inches across.  There are 2 small blooms today and lots more buds.  I'll take a better picture when it opens more.  Alpen Cherub and Cornel are both partially open; Glow and Orchid Beauty aren't far behind.

A Survivor

It survived the storm and opened this morning - name is Home Coming.  I'm impressed... haven't had any mostly white glads before.

Grasshopper Problem

In the Front House Garden. I just keep going through and knocking them off which seems to be working. Along with Didi and Maggie attacking them as they fall when I do knock them off.

For Kelly

Just now getting to clearing out the bushline in the front. Turns out the groundcover underneath is some kind of juniper. The branches are long and run under the mulch but not rooted into the soil. Everything here is growing on top of landscape fabric. Yuck! Anyway, there are quite a few of them, whatever they are because that is it running all the way back at the top of the photo and the rock you can barely see to the left is a big boulder and there is more of it on the other side of it towards the lawn.

Hurricane Earl in the Backyard

The worst seems to be over now and we were only without power for 3-4 hours.  There didn't seem to be too much major damage till Kelly came home and told me about the tree down next door.  All the glads out front were broken or snapped off, whether they were staked or not.  The dahlia that we staked faired better but it's a darn good thing we staked them.  Many of the plants were blown around so much that the earth looks scooped out around the bottom of the stalks.  I'm hopeful that most will recover.  My hibiscus had 8 big blooms on it this morning and they are all shredded.  The new glad in the back that is about to bloom survived.  Most of the papyrus was snapped off down low on the stalks.  All of my bamboo trellises holding up clematis were totally trashed and snapped off but all the plants seem to be still in the ground.

Dark Pink

The darker colours of hollyhock are opening. Seems like the lighter were earlier. Dark Red is also opening but it is low, in back and I couldn't get a decent shot.

Morning Glory Volunteer

Well I don't get many volunteers because I'm yanking things up before they get a chance to grow.  When I saw the distinctive first leaves of this morning glory growing in the front garden, I was smart enough to leave it alone.  The little seed must have survived 4 years in the compost pile.  Great that it bloomed before the storm.  Kasasagi dahlia bud is starting to colour up and will open this weekend if it survives.

Bright Spot

On the corner of the deck.

Annabelle in Green

I can't stop thinking how pleased I am with this girl now that she's found a new home in our front garden.  In previous years, all of these blooms would have been dragging on the ground (and eventually cut off) long before this point.
The day is another scorcher and it's just been way too hot to be outside for more than a few minutes all week.