Nice survivor pictures. We had some of that same weather earlier also with the same results.

Oh!!!!! I love your lilac!! My goodness they're gorgeous blooming fools!!

Abe looks stunning. Wow!

And I adore your iris. I really, really like it!!

Carol

WoW! That lilac is something! Roses still look great! Hopefully you weather improves Boxofrox. I've heard others comment on silmilar troubles with wet yucky weather.

Very lovely plants and photos. I hope your garden recovers soon although it seems to be well on its way. What a beautiful California lilac!

Ingrid

Your Joseph's Coat makes the prettiest flowers.

Soggy weather or not, those are beautiful pics and plants. Love your CA lilac and Abe Darby. The kalmia is wonderful too.

I bet the roses loved that nice long drink-----they seem to be recovering nicely----

Love the lilacs and the Iris.

Florence

Thanks guys :-)

bustopher, it's been some kind of wetness. What complicated everything was the unseasonably warm winter that got everything jumping the gun and then the squirt gun thing started happening and doesn't seem to want to stop.

Carol, that iris came to us from my late MIL so I'm quite fond of it. It's planted amongst bright oranges and yellows that overlap the bloom a bit (they finish just as it's starting). I've tried getting a shot but the bed is above the wall and behind the contorted cedar and the angle of the pictures never do it justice.

Jim, you should see the bees on them lilacs. I have one above the pond, one by the BBQ and those two by the swing and whenever I'm near one I have a tendency to duck ;-)

Ingrid, it seems I always whine the loudest about the weather for the effect that it has on the roses. More than enough rain is one thing but not enough sun quite another. It's the latter that has the most negative impact. I hate bad foliage, slimed and unopened buds, and weak stems trying gamely to hold out for vitamin S :-)

iris gal, that JC has been so spectacular this year both in quantity and quality. It usually struggles a bit on such a narrow arbor but this year especially the color has been awesome.

huttnem, when someone from my lilacs namesake state pays it a compliment, I must have done something right ;-) The kalmias were a challenge and I almost gave up. They remind me of what someone once told me about the horse business...if you want to make one million dollars in the horse business, start with two. I started with 6 kalmias and lost 4 of them before I finally nursed these two long enough to get them established. They are temperamental little thangs.

Love those California Lilacs. Do they bloom only in the spring? Have any scent? You roses look great as usual, wet weather or not.

Rita,

Thanks :-) The ceanothus usually bloom once a year in late spring/early summer. They have a vanilla/honey fragrance that I quite enjoy.

Speaking of wet weather, we just had a huge after the deluge deluge. I had left all the many, many cushions out because they said we were supposed to get one more dry day. It was raining so hard last night that it woke me up and I went out to retrieve them all :-(

I got soaked just going out to feed the koi this afternoon and shot a couple of rain soaked blossoms...............

Outrageous

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Sorbet Peony

LDB

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I'm so adding CA lilac to my list!

Aimee,

Look up ceanothus 'Julia Phelps', it is stunning !!!! Darker hue. If I didn't already have 4 'Victoria', I'd get one myself ;-)