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| 'Morden 6910' |
ProfessorRoush admits, woefully, wistfully and wantonly, that this Spring season is definitively not living up to is hopes and dreams and expectations. That early promise of so many buds on the redbud trees and lilacs so quickly turned to dust after a harsh and untimely freeze, and nothing yet in the garden is living up to the promises made in early March.
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| 'Morden 6910' (foreground) & 'Harison's Yellow' |
Even after I dismissed my anticipation for magnolias, lilacs, daffodils, redbuds, and Puschkinia, I maintained it for the waves of roses, peonies, and flowering shrubs to come, but so far, nothing is yet living up to my desires. Roses are blooming sporadically and sparsely, one bloom at a time, while others wait. Lactiferous peonies, normally dependable mass spectacles here, are also either sparsely budding or begrudgingly offering only single blooms one by one. Even the Itoh peonies this year, including my established bright yellow 'Yumi' and 'Bartzella', are withholding their masses of cheerful color.
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| 'Nightmoss' |
There are still a few bright spots, but I'm receiving only mild consolation from them. Yes, 'Harison's Yellow' (above) put on a still-ongoing show, doing its best to make up for the shortcomings of its neighbors. And I've been delighted by the large, single-flowered, bright red blooms of 'Morden 6910' on my still-young plant (above and top). I hope that one has a good third season of growth ahead of it! And the purple, Paul Barden-bred, moss rose 'Nightmoss' gave me a few scrumptious blooms in its 2nd year (right). I love that deep moody purple!
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| unknown Itoh peony |
There are the usual "surprises" also, those first blooms on new plants that I planted and forgot. This peony,front and center on the walk to my front door, managed two blooms on a very small plant (left), and it's beautiful, but I have no record of planting it. It is obviously an Itoh hybrid, but which one? If I got it from Van Engelken, it is most likely 'Julia Rose', but it is much too gold-colored as it ages (below right) to confirm that identity. Other than that, I don't have a clue of its provenance. My frustrations and joys are mixed, as always.
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| unknown Itoh peony, aged |
At this point, I don't know what to expect for the rest of the year, and it is only mid-Spring. My daylilies, killed to the ground in the late freeze, have all grown back and look healthy, but was their bloom period affected? I just don't know. The Orientpet, Asian, and Oriental lilies all look good right now, healthy and tall and starting to bud, but it only takes one good storm with lots of wind to change their outcome. Yes, I stake them, some of them, but I can only do so much. As always, the nature of a Kansas garden is subject more to the whims of weather than to the intent of its gardener.
