Giant White Calla Lily

White Giant

My Giant was purchased this spring and is rather petite yet. She looked gorgeous right after a shower so of course we had to get a picture. Her expected mature height is over 6 feet tall! And hardy done to zone 7 to boot.

If you've never shopped at Plant Delights, you are missing an eyeful! Luckily, I live not too far away so I got to treat myself to an open-house visit in March. While the Hellebores were gorgeous, I bought lilies - the Giant and a White Queen to add a bit of height and drama to the rose garden (giant) and nearby strawberry patch (queen). The Queen is an even tinier thing however and won't put on a show for some time.

Darlow's Enigma and Madame Alfred Carriere Rose

The first of the roses are starting their show! Madame Alfred Carriere has several sweetly perfumed blooms going. She'll soon be tall enough to begin to train up the trellis on the wall. This lovely came from The Antique Rose Emporeum in Texas. She's on her own root and was relatively trouble free last season (summer of 2006 - aka the dark summer of black spot). Every rose got at least a touch of the BS, but only a touch for the Madame.

My Darlow's Enigma arrived looking great from Ashdown Roses. She's adapting swiftly and is the first rose in the shadier back yard. Everybody else is on the sunny side of the house.

Ashdown is a great choice for me as the shipping distance isn't much. But both Ashdown and Rose Emporium sent me marvelous specimens! Last year both my Pat Austins purchased from another mail order company were disappointing. One started showing symptoms of Rose Rossette Disease by mid-summer. I should have taken photos, but once I realized what it was it was yanked, bagged and gone instantly! The weird super succulent, massively thorny red growth presented by the mite-borne illness is truly alien looking.

The second Pat Austin was mailed separately (originally omitted from my shipment, a mistake quickly remedied by the company) and shows no signs of the disease despite a relitively close position. I'm just not sure what it is though. I don't think its a Pat - it has too many petals giving it a fuller shape and the color is not quite right either. She's pretty, this mystery lady (shown above).

Ants on the Peony buds

The buds on the peonies are teaming with ants. I think its still a few weeks until they bloom. This bud is from the least mature of the three pink guys who came from my mother-in-law's garden. He's the only one of the three that bloomed last year. This year, only one of the three is still not ready to make buds.

A freeze tonight after several 80 degree days?!

Can you believe it?! We've had so many days in the 80s already and now we're expecting a freeze tonight and several days (through Sunday night) of similar lows - BBBRRRR!

I think I'll move everything inside and go ahead and dismantle the pine straw cold frame. I don't have a car to use this afternoon and I'll need the straw to prep all my little babies already poking out of the ground. Even my Rose of Sharon has already leafed out (much earlier than last year!) because its been so warm.