Pink Roses…

All photos taken this week in my zone 6 Indiana garden…. we are in a serious drought and over 14 inches below normal rainfall. 

My love for pink roses knows no end…  I have yet to meet one I did not want to grow.

So when I planned my raised beds in the rose garden they were welcomed in masses.

Even with our horrible dry weather they are blooming beautifully. 

Giving me a new show with every open bloom.

These pictures were taken last Sunday evening.

After a light shower of less than a half inch of rain.  That is our only rainfall since early May.  Areas around us got measurable rain this week, but it has missed us by mere miles.

But the good thing is the heat is down a bit to low 90s/high 80s.  The nights have been much cooler giving the plants a bit of a break.

Enough that I have been working in the garden again cleaning out scorched plants and dying leaves.

So far I have hauled off 13 washtubs full of garden debris….. leaving large spaces in the garden looking exposed.  I debated about doing a post about the plant damage, and it made me so frustrated, so I just went into full garden clean up mode.

But I am hoping if we do get additional rains and cooler weather they will fill back in. 

My roses are definitely stars of the garden right now.  I wish more areas looked like this.

But if you remember this is the area I did the shade tent and focused the majority of my attention to.

The tent is now down, but it was still up in these shots. 

It worked really well, I took it down because we have had wind and I thought it would be torn up.

As long as it is under the 100 degree mark I don’t need it and I pray we stay cooler for a bit.  I feel with my trusty hose I can battle no rain, but those days of horrible 105 highs were the final straw for so many of the things I grow. 21 of 23 days now we have been above 90.  Way too many.  Next chance of rain is the end of the week.  Fingers crossed.

Right now I am back to my every three days watering of the roses.  It seems to be a good schedule, only the containers need every day watering.

Here you can see an overview of the beds and the tent after that bit of rain.  Sometimes you gotta use what you have and I am so glad I did!  More pics to come…. :)

Happy Gardening….Brooke

Roses featured:  Queen Elizabeth, Raspberry Swirl, First Prize, Crescendo, Amber Flower Carpet

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