Local radio stations have been repeatedly broadcasting severe thunderstorm warnings and even a risk of tornados for some parts of the Provence.
After recent heavy rainfalls and flash flooding, I think we are all a bit gun shy in Southern Ontario. A little over a week ago, a relentless downpour halted traffic, flooded basements and left many parts of the the Greater Toronto Area in darkness for hours.
Fourteen hundred passengers got trapped on a commuter train when part of the Don Valley filled with storm water. Terrified passengers huddled together on the upper deck of the train while the lower compartments filled with water. Thankfully firefighters and police were able to rescue everyone safely by boat.
In the sunshine this morning it seemed hard to imagine another
bad storm might be on the horizon.
The roses in the front garden are just about rest before they bloom one
final time in late summer/early fall.
I find it disheartening to watch Japanese Beetles eat and fornicate all at the same time (Canadian Explorer Series, John Cabot Rose).
They seem to feast on some roses and not others.
Could it possible that a bug can have a color preference? If so, yellow is a Japanese Beetle's favourite color. They simply adore all my yellow roses!
These more open roses and the fragrant less Fairy roses along the front remain largely untouched (Hybrid Musk rose 'Robin Hood').
Daylilies and hostas are carrying most of the show at the moment.
These are the most common daylilies I have, but I still love them.
This is a pretty miniature daylily, which is cream colored when not illuminated by the sun. Hemerocallis, 'Precious D'Oro'
White Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet'
Ornamental onion, Allium 'Summer beauty'
Double Soapwart, Saponaria officinalis
I have a quite a number of garden centre clearance items and new plants that are lined up waiting to be planted like cars caught in a rush hour traffic jam.
Pink Betony, Stachys officinalis, 'Pink Cotton Candy' and Butterfly Weed, Asclepias Tuberosa are among them.
Bee Balm, Monarda,'Rasberry Wine'
This is my jungly herb garden minus the parsley that the bunnies have beheaded.
Hopefully, the storm forecast for this evening never does materialize.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Your flowers are all so lovely. I am on an island in Maine and severe thunderstorms are forecast for tomorrow. I hope they by pass both of us.
ReplyDeleteTus fotografíasde flores son espectaculares!! Precioso `post.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo grande.
Your lilies are quite striking and I love the raspberry wine monarda. I hope your beautiful garden braves the storm and everyone stays safe.
ReplyDeleteJust opened the front door and something very black cometh this way. We may get it after all - I am a bit southeast of you. Will let you know.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime I commiserate with yourn japanese beetle and rabbit problems I have them as well. But your daylilies and other flowers are gorgeous.
Let's see what happens - here it comes…...
Hope your beauties make it through the storms. Here in Tillsonburg, the sun is still shining. But the wind is wicked and there's black clouds in the horizon. A break from this awful weather would be nice though.
ReplyDeleteUpdate: The first wave of the thunderstorms struck our area around dinner hour. The sky darkened really quickly and the wind whipped up suddenly. I ran onto the back porch to grab my laundry before it blew away. Between grabbing towels, I looked over to the backyard and couldn't believe the way the trees were bending and swaying in the wind. Suddenly a huge branch on the big black walnut gave a loud crack and crashed to the ground. Then I saw the 35 foot black walnut in the adjacent vacant lot sway violently and fall. My first thoughts were for the motorists in the nearby road. A tree that size could easily crush a car! I called to my husband and we ran out in the pouring rain to see if anyone had been hurt. Thankfully the tree missed the road by a matter of feet. I bet seeing it fall scared some poor rush hour motorist half to death though!
ReplyDeleteOh My goodness Jennifer...I can well imagine your fright when you saw the walnut tree fall. Just saw your post after looking at the cbc online weather. Batten down the hatches!
ReplyDeleteThe beauty in your garden will bounce back and likely glow...when the sun comes out again. Will stand by for an update.
Fortunately the storm seems to have passed as quickly as it came. The sky is fairly clear and the horrible humidity that has been hanging over the area seems to have lifted. Now that the rain has stopped we are going to go take a closer look...
ReplyDeleteOh, that sounds like a horrific weather! I hope everything is reasonably OK in your garden.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I always get jealous when I see American blogs with photos of daylilies like yours, they don’t grow like that here in Britain! Mine grow to a large tuft of green leaves and a 2-3 stalks with flowers, and even though I have a row of 4 daylilies I could never get a picture like yours :-) I love daulilies and 'Precious D'Oro' is a real beauty.
Shame about the Japanese beetles, I have heard about them but fortunately they haven’t arrived in Britain!
Hope you have a great week-end, take care, Helene.
Brrr, reading your story about the weather. It must be frightning seeing a tree falling down. I hope you did not get another storm. Your garden looks so lovely. The beatles are not spotted overhere. After years of bad weather we finaly have summerdays like they should be.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend Jennifer.
We heard about the terrible weather headed towards you and our family in Ontario. We'll be watching the news in a few minutes - I hope you are all okay.
ReplyDeleteJust another terrible aspect of world weather conditions. We are having our first heatwave in seven years. Your garden photos are beautiful - those day lilies knock your socks off in the sunshine. I seem to be missing your posts so I have subscribed by email now so I won't miss any more - they brighten my day.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I've read that the in storm you and your husband ran to the road to help people. You're both such brave! Terrible weather, thank God no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteI love your last photo, nice combination of colors!
I love the exuberance and sheer color explosion of your front garden, and the wonderful visual tension of the sidewalk and fence containing it all. A beautiful scene. Stay safe in the scary summer storms!
ReplyDeleteWe had a big storm last night and our weather has been scorching! Yes, the beetles have arrived but my two Tanglefoot traps have certainly lessened the damage. I will put in a couple more next year. They seem to really prefer my Rainbow Knockout roses.
ReplyDeleteEileen
Hi Jennifer
ReplyDeleteWell there was wind and very heavy rain and lots of lightning and thunder. I swear a few of the lightening bolts almost landed in our backyard. And then it carried on right through till 3 a.m.! But now it's just cloudy and overcast and no more rain predicted. I think I can safely put the sprinkler away :)
I turned the computer off when the storm started so i wrote my first comment in a very hurried way. I never had a chance to say that you have some wonderful flowers that i have not seen before: summer allium, pink betony, the milkweed and the soapwort. Very lovely! Ok - let's enjoy the weather now that the humidity has let up. Have a great weekend.
Heard the tornado warning was lifted last night so hopefully you didn't have too much bad weather after all. It's amazing how much severe flooding there has been this summer, and coupled with hot weather. Each year is a surprise weather wise now. hello global warming.
ReplyDeleteAs usual beautiful shots!! Did you get the bad weather they were forecasting? Hopefully you got good rain and nothing eventful. Love all the beautiful roses!
ReplyDeleteHi Kacky, The storm passed through our little village quite quickly. Several trees in the neighbourhood went down, including a large black walnut in the vacant lot adjacent to the house. Residents elsewhere in Southern Ontario experienced a much lengthier period of high winds and thunderstorms. Power is still out in many parts of the Provence. We were much luckier here.
DeleteI hope that the storm went right by you all! These weather patterns have been so extreme lately....hopefully climate change will be looked at more seriously soon!!! I always enjoy seeing your garden beds. You always have fantastic colors popping through in your space no matter what month we are in!!! Your herb garden is amazing!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI´ll cross my fingers for you - gorgeous flowers you´re sharing!
ReplyDeletehttp://tinajoathome.com/
I grew up in Zephyr, Ontario and had a foster sister living in Aurora. I moved to New Brunswick 30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw one of your pictures with a white picket fence I knew I was going to like you. :)
So much rain this year. But for us the flooding stopped a month ago. Now we're breaking temperature records from the past every few days. Very hot and humid here. Although this morning has no humidity and actually feels cool.
Glad you stopped by James. It has been really hot and humid here too. One good thing about the storm was that it brought cooler weather.
DeleteJennifer, your photographs are just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese beetles hit here this past week, and oh my goodness did they hit!
I am wondering if it has to do with the heat wave we've had, as we usually don't see them until about the third week in Aug.
I actually found the beetles showed themselves a few weeks later than they did last year, but then last year we had an early spring. This summer we have had lots of rain, heat and humidity in the early part of the season. Right now, the beetles are availing themselves of all their favourites-Porcelain Vine, some roses, and Virginia Creeper. My garden is a veritable beetle buffet!
DeleteCharming, charming flowers! Your observation about a color and a J.beetle is very interesting! I have very few yellow flowers, and I've never seen a Japanese beetle.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful array of blooms you have, especially those orange daylilies.
ReplyDeleteYour weather does sound dramatic, how terrifying for the train passengers, I'm glad they were all rescued.
Here's hoping no more severe storms come your way.xxxx
Beautiful series of photos.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos - I grow that same Asclepias incarnata, I think - is that 'Ice Ballet'?
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, I grew the Asclepias incarnata from seed. It is a couple of years old and I have misplaced the original seed package. Based on its appearance, it likely it is 'Ice Ballet'. I also have the pink variety which is also very pretty.
DeleteThe J beetles just started and thankfully not many yet. And the floods stopped here a couple of weeks ago but then we had extreme heat and humidity...this week we may actually have some nice weather without all the extremes...your flowers are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy daylilies are blooming like crazy right now, too. :o) I hope that storm just brought rain and no damage. I also have more beetles this year than normal although it's still a manageable amount. I like to squish them while their eating/screwing so at least they die happy. Plus, they move slower that way and are easier to catch. Your daylily photos are beautiful. :o)
ReplyDeleteWe too had this storm with the same intensity. I had a post about the damage in our area. We also had the preceding storm that trapped the commuters. That would be the scariest of feelings being in that situation. I am so lucky living at the gorge not to have flooding outside, but like in Toronto, basements filled rapidly with raw sewage.
ReplyDelete