What with the cool temperatures and sporadic rain, I can stop complaining about aphids and move on to grousing about powdery mildew on those new roses. At first, I thought a couple of them just weren’t getting enough sun, but now I realize it’s the weather. This too shall pass, but at the moment those curling leaves and that suspicious white film creeping over the leaves is enough to curdle my insides. The back garden’s mature roses, however, WOW! Take a look: (That’s a variegated leaf weigela behind the rose)
The variegated leaf pelargonium is blooming, and has its very own ladybug. Where was she when the Attack of the Mutant Aphids was underway?
These white bearded irises were a “gift” from a friend who had divided hers and left these extras in a hefty trash bag, intending to dispose of them. I performed an intervention and gave them a home in my garden. Had to divide them again last fall, and now they are everywhere! Not much fragrance, but that cool blue-white is a lovely foil against all the more vibrant colors elsewhere in the flower beds.
I knew eventually the personal would creep in to this blog. I just got my braces removed after an eighteen-month stint with rubber bands, metal wires, the works. No more metal hooks to snag the insides of my cheeks, giving me a fleeting resemblance to the Jester of Batman fame. No more do the insides of my cheeks feel like raw hamburger. No longer does it take me 20-30 minutes to floss. No longer does anyone mistake me for a teenager… wait a minute: maybe that part wasn’t so terrible. There are compensations, of course: I may look middle-aged, but boy-oh-boy are my teeth ever straight!
Comments welcome