For those that can grow them, these are blues that is currently blooming for me.

I love those plumbago! We can grow them as annuals here, but I haven't for several years. Such a gorgeous shade of blue. I actually grew some agapanthus for a few years, but last winter finally did them in.

The plumbagos are planted along freeways here, they grow huge. Mine 4x4 already.

Neal, there is a hardy form of blue plumbago. I just now realized mine is gone...probably that wicked freeze we had last year early in November. It had been hardy for 7 winters before that.
We've been getting downpours about every 7 - 10 days. Last night, we had a frightening light show to go with it! Three inches of rain every week is unheard of! Of course, the reason for this change is I finally broke down and installed a drip irrigation system over the whole yard. I laid or buried Many 500 ft rolls of pipe, and I have not needed it yet!
Roses I thought were goners this spring are now growing and blooming with the clearest colors and clean foliage. A few of mine do have blackspot, but the big shocker is that more don't, because the rain has fallen primarily at night.
What should I do with my Cinderella Fairy Tale that has outgrown its location? I had no idea it would get 12 feet wide and tall! It is acting like a climber. Should I wait until winter to move it? Or wait until spring, or do it now, while it is growing rambunctiously? Should I just prune it back hard?
It's almost time to order from Palatine. I'm anxious to see what they offer, since Rahel said they are going to offer fewer varieties, but stock bigger numbers. Anyone have any inside information on that?

I don't have any inside information, but I'm wondering when they're going to update. They still have last year's information on their website.

Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and let them know we are waiting and getting impatient...

ooh yes--hardy plumbago
Leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides)

highly recommend it

Cindi, at first I read a frightening light snow to go with your rain and I was frightened for a second--winter eventually discourages any rose that gets too big for me and dictates what shall be pruned, no big decisions to make there.
If it were me, I wouldn't move it now, while it is so rambunctious and the weather is so hot--too much like work.

Ah yes, I do grow the hardy plumbago, but haven't noticed it doing much this year. Hmmmm....maybe mine froze out too? Nice color, but not like the tender form.

Cindi, I'm having the same issue with Golden Fairy Tale- it is behaving more like a climber too. If it were upright it would be over 5' tall. I've never had a first year rose grow with such vigor!

alas, they are not even close to real plumbago, but they are blue and I saw a hummingbird drinking from them yesterday who knew?

I think you guys should make up some new fairly tales for these roses

Today was the day that my roses should have been sprayed. Instead I had to pick lots of tomatoes and Summer Squash. But the time that was done it was far too hot and sticky for long pants which I have to wear for rose spraying. The humidity today is quite high. Hope the weather is more co-operative tomorrow.

If I ever sprayed my roses, I'd have to wear a haz-mat suit, and so would my cats.

Yup, my dog has to stay inside until after I am finished and everything is dry.

Golden Fairy Tale outgrew its spot, and so did Caramella! The amazing thing is, they were all on the east side of the house, near the foundation, where sunlight is limited. They not only grew, they bloomed! The growth was full, not stretched as if they were reaching for light.

That's Cinderella tonight, with a flash...almost focused.

Should be renamed Jack and the Beanstalk Fairytale.

Sprayed the roses today yea! and only afew days late. Temps were mild yesterday and I really wanted to get to it but other things kept interrupting. So lucky that today is another nice day. When the temps and humidity go up it is really unpleasant to get into the long pants and coverups I have to wear. Been lucky that at rose spraying times thru the summer the temps for at least a day or two had been mild and less humid. My roses look really nice again this year.

Today I planted 'Peachy Keen' and several new clematis. My mother gifted me with 4 'Happy Chappy' roses, not sure yet where I am going to plant those. I think they'll look good as a group somewhere. I have 2 others that stay nice and low so probably these will go in front of a bed.
The nursery down the street from me has Oso Easy Pink Cupcake and it is beautiful. I have resisted buying one, but every time I go in there, that rose calls my name. It is always in bloom, and yesterday I almost panicked because the display garden at the front of the store had several Pink Cupcakes in the beds. I was afraid they planted all of them and I couldn't buy one if I weakened and pulled out my wallet. As it turned out, they have several left, and they are now half price.
I'll take a picture tomorrow.
Another big winner this year is Red Riding Hood. I'm so glad I bought that one, and I don't care if it does get as big as the other Fairy Tale roses because it is planted where it can grow and grow.
My Susan Schneider from Palatine is really different. Some of the blossoms are yellow, some are red. Most are a blend of the two. Red Impression is still alive, hooray!!! I have 3 blooms on it right now! It must be because we had 10" more rain this year than normal. We've had a LOT of rain this year. We'll get more tonight, probably, so I need to get outside and take some pictures! We've been overcast all week from the fires way up in Washington, and the smoke is causing me all sorts of allergy/asthma issues. It's nothing like the smoke hanging over Colorado Springs near my daughter's house, or the quarter-mile visibility my other daughter has up in Portland, but it's enough to set off my lungs.
Maybe the storms tonight will clear some of that out.

Finally! Some progress on the Palatine site. Some of the "Sold Out" notices have been removed, so they're in the process of updating the list for next season. They'll start taking orders September 14th. I suppose we can expect big changes in the list over the next few days.

https://palatineroses.com/rose...

Lots of pretty blooms today.








Jacob's Robe with Arabella clematis


And the not so pretty, heat fried blooms on Crepuscule but i thought it made a neat shot with the newer bloom and the knot and texture of the fence.

Very, very pretty. My blooms are few and far between because of the drought. I'm trying to conserve water by watering each section of the garden only once a week. It's been a rough year for the plants, but at least I haven't had any of those $400 water bills.

I'm giving up on some plants. I spent a fortune on heucheras and salvias last year, but they are such water hogs! Too bad most of the drought-resistant plants are so boring.

Beautiful photos Suzanne - love that Grace!!!
It's been hot and humid here with little rainfall. They are calling for the same all next week. I deep watered all the roses over the last 2 days in preparation. Many of my Heuchera's are burnt to a crisp - I know I lost a few Berry Smoothie's.