Roses

Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out a proper way to maintain my blogging schedule in addition to everything else. I'm still hopeful that I can find a solution.


Today, I have roses to present. On the left, we have a lovely bud and below an open flower. Both pictures were taken on a rainy morning almost two weeks ago. The variety is Tahitian Sunset, and it's really quite lovely. The bush is currently huge, leafy and covered in buds to bloom again (the first four blooms have already passed). I am experiencing a bit of a beetle problem, so I broke down and sprayed it with some pesticide-style stuff.

Peonies

First and foremost, I'd like to apologize about the length of time since my last post. My readers (Hi Mom!) certainly know that it's been a hectic month, with my thesis proposal, Keisha's graduation, the cold Keisha gave me and our new addition to the family, a beautiful Newfoundland puppy named Iorek after the armored bear in Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass (and the rest of the trilogy).

Last weekend we had a rather unpleasant heat wave, but the upside is that we have been jolted into summer, so I begin a series of posts about my summer flowers. We begin with the peonies, which are one of the very few flowers that neither Gue nor I planted at our house. Unlike all of the flowers I have featured so far, these lie in the bed on the East side of the house. They're contained by those metal cage things but clearly far exceed the size of them and are flopping all about the place (and over the irises, which I believe Gue planted). I may need to get brave and split these whenever that would be appropriate.

Here's the accompanying detail shot of the peonies. These weren't a flower I had a previously formed opinion on, but I have to say that they have won me over; it's largely the scent, I think, although it may be how little work I've done for them to be this way. I desperately need to weed their bed though (ugh).