Wednesday Wandering

Some of the roses in my cottage garden are in bloom now. All of them that are in bloom are scented so the air smells so sweet as I walk through the garden and stop to smell the roses. 

I have fourteen rose bushes not counting the wild rose I that popped up and I let grow in a corner of the garden.    Yesterday was our 50th wedding anniversary.  We don't really ever officially celebrate anniversaries or birthdays or other occasions. In our early days we never really had a lot of money to spend on ourselves.   A few months ago we saw some roses on sale at Jackson Perkins and so together we browsed the online catalog, read reviews and picked out three roses we liked. I planted them when they arrived, have been watering them every day and they are starting to leaf out.   I think that was our 50th anniversary celebration and gift to each other. It just didn't happen on an official date.  Now throughout the next years as I walk through the cottage garden I'll think of hubby and all our years together when I see the roses in bloom.   Oh, and now I have seventeen rose bushes in my cottage garden not counting the wild rose that popped up and I let grow in a corner of the garden.   The roses?   Sweet Intoxication, Show Your Stripes and Lagerfield. 

I am thankful I have a lot of roses in bloom this year. In past years the rabbits and deer have demolished the canes. Whey they would like to eat thorny bits is beyond me. But I have tried a lot of different things to deter critters so maybe things are finally paying off. 

I'm starting to see a few Japanese Beetles but I pick them off and throw them into soapy water so here's hoping there will not be hordes of them. I go out with a small bucket of soapy water this time of year when I deadhead roses. 

I used to have several different varities of Clematis but now only have a couple. Not sure what happened to the others. Things just disappear some years.   

This variety is Jackmanii and it's almost like a weed but it does know it's boundaries. 

Martagon or Turk's Cap Lilies. It's difficult to get a good pic of them because they grow in dappled shade.  They are lightly scented. (I do love flowers with fragrance). 

I have some in pink and in burgundy. 

Speaking of scents...I have planted different varieties of Dianthus (carnations, pinks, sweet williams) close to pathways so they give off a scent as I walk past and brush against them. I've started all from seed over the years. 

And finally there is nothing here in bloom yet but I wanted to show my Sunflower House. I used to grow Sunflower Houses now and then back when the kids and grandkids were younger. This is a cement slab near my cottage and cutting gardens. Around the edges I have planted Sunflowers and in between I planted Moonflowers and Christmas Lima Beans that should climb the Sunflowers. and grow over the tops to form roof and fill in the sides of the Sunflower House.   A piece of carpeting in front marks the space for the door way and is also covering an old groundhog hole.   I need to sweep off the slab that will be the interior of the Sunflower House and pick up my sticks I use as garden stakes. I left a couple of logs to sit on.   I'm so excited because I've tried to grow a Sunflower House just for old time's sake the last three years and something has come along and eaten my Sunflowers before they have even gotten to this stage. 

The Sunflowers. 

Stay tuned to see if there will be a Sunflower House this year!

The III in the cement was made by my youngest son, John III. I can't believe he will be 39 on July 4. We moved to this house when he was 4 years old.