Hot Days in the Garden

We just finished the hottest June in recorded history here in Oklahoma.  Today we hit 110 degrees and our 20th day of triple digit temps.  When it gets this hot there are few roses that can stand up to the heat.

This morning I took a few photos in the garden.  Here is Graham Thomas with a few roses fried by the sun and one that opened over night. Below is the same cluster of roses just eight hours later.

While many of my roses enter a summer semi-dormancy, usually this comes a month later than it has this year.  When you see how the Summer heat affects the flowers you understand why.  Still others seem to flourish in this heat.  Here are a few others that got caught in the sun today. 

 This is Braveheart and it actually holds up somewhat better than many other red roses.

Here is St. Swithun surviving the day.

This flower of Twister made it through unscathed.

The heat turned out to be too much for Tradescant.  I'm praying for rain and cooler days - the forecast has 107 for tomorrow but we will cool off to 101 on Tuesday. 

Braveheart for Sherman

In June of last year we said goodbye to Sherman Pruett.  Sherman grew up in Prague, Oklahoma and was one of the full Czech members of the community.  Though we were separated by many years in age I took an immediate liking to Sherman and I think he to me.  In his last months he would tell me stories about growing up in this community, his service in WWII, and life as a farmer/rancher.  After his funeral Eileen (one of his children who shares a common love of roses) gave me an envelope and told me to be sure to get a rose to plant at the parsonage in memory of her Dad. 

  I thought I was finished putting in new roses that Spring but I had a spot which was already prepared and I had always been interested in John Clements rose Braveheart so I ordered one up from Heirloom Roses.  As you might know John and Louise Clements started Heirloom Roses with a very extensive catalogue of Old Garden Roses (OGR) and was the primary source of own-root English Roses in the United States.  I think John was something of a haphazard  breeder using what he liked, which often included miniature and English roses and not necessarily together.  Having long been drawn to the red English Roses and having ordered roses from Heirloom since the early 1990's I had always been interested in Braveheart but had never ordered it.  Set free from any plans and with this gift I decided to step out and try something new. 

Braveheart is a cross of the floribunda Tamango with the English Rose The Dark Lady.  It produces a very full, true red rose in the English style on a plant that is very floribunda-like.  Stems on Braveheart are stiffer than most English Roses and currently my plant is a little over two feet tall producing many blooms in rather large clusters.  I planted this bush from a small band just one year ago later this month, and it has made a nice home for itself.  It has been very healthy and regularly produces flowers.  So far it has been very much like Sherman - small in stature but with a big, good, kind, and generous heart. 

 Here you see Braveheart planted near Rhapsody in Blue and an unknown daylilly.  You might notice how much lighter the color of Rhapsody in Blue is in our 95+ degrees days.

Here is a picture of me, Sherman, and his bride of 60 years, Lena when I was honored to present a declaration from the Oklahoma State Legislature on their 60th anniversary. 

With a full heart,        Rev. Scott