BLOOM THYME: It’s coming fast

Link | August 30, 2025February 26, 2026 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

A few weeks ago I started this post but it began very differently. There were sighs, laments and serious whining about the heat! This week all that changed! Highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s … with one night dipping down to 49. Oooooo That is a little low for me this time of year. 😳 Around here we are advocates for long, long autumns where the roses get to have a beautiful fall flush. And we pick flowers for months. More weather trauma… oh how we need rain!! Things are getting scary dry. I am even fearful for some of our large trees. 😕 Soooo very glad we added some irrigation this spring for some of the areas and are adding more this fall!

As you turn the page on the calendar and it says SEPTEMBER, are you shaking your head and saying, “where did the summer go?!? If you are you are not alone. It was a fast one. And, if you don’t talk about weather, around here it was a fabulous one! A summer of family, friends, travel, flowers and loads of fun.

I have moved to that gardening stage of ‘reflecting and taking note’ that comes with the end of summer. Deciding what worked and should be repeated AND what didn’t work and what areas need a tweak! I’m taking loads of pictures so I don’t forget the details. I will print those pictures and use them when I get down to serious planning. Those physical pictures are a great help! If you aren’t aware, WalMart does photo printing that is so easy, cheap and fast. I print a ton of pictures!

In an upcoming post I’ll talk about the Hits and Misses for this growing season, but for now…

LET’S TALK ABOUT ROSES

While walking through the garden this week it occurred to me that many of the roses I can’t stop talking about because they are bringing me such joy this year are Meilland Roses and Kordes Roses.

MEILLAND ROSES I GROW…

(To see the rose, click the link. The number beside the name indicates how many I have – if I have multiples.)

As many of your know Meilland Roses is a French company with a rich history. Starting in 1850. They have given us iconic roses like the Peace Rose (Link to Article about Peace), the popular Eden Rose, the gorgeous Francis Meilland Rose, the Romantica Series, the Drift series and so many of the modern roses that I am falling in love with.

Mother of Pearl (9) (Link)

Romantica Moonlight (2) (Link)

Bolero (2) (Link)

Sweet Mademoiselle (Link)

These are brand new to my garden and showing great promise…

Loves Me Loves Me Not (Link)

Princess Charlene de Monaco (Link)

ON MY LIST FROM MEILLAND FOR 2026…

Martha Stewart (NEW) (Link)

To see the complete list of Meilland Roses sold through Star Roses and Plants, read on here.

KORDES ROSES

The Kordes Company is an award winning German rose company known for hardy, disease-resistant roses. They are one of the first companies to stop spraying their rose fields to find the most disease resistant roses. They did so more than 30 years ago. I do find them to be more disease resistant and winter hardy for our growing zone (6a). I have grown so many beautiful ones through the years!

KORDES ROSES I GROW…

(To see the rose, click the link. The number beside the name indicates how many I have – if I have multiples.)

Veranda Cream (2) (Link)

Parfuma Earth Angel (3) (Link)

Parfuma Bliss (2) (Link)

Savannah (3) (Link)

Honeymoon (2) (Link)

Sunbelt Plum Perfect (2) (Link)

Jasmina (Link)

Pomponella (Link)

New to my garden but showing great promise…

Parfuma Summer Romance (Link)

Raspberry Cupcake (Link)

There are other roses from other growers that are big winners too and I’ll talk about them next time.

WHERE TO FIND ROSES

If you cannot find these roses locally, here is a list of where you can also look… (Link)

RECENT ROSE CHATS

This summer I have had some super fun and interesting guests! If you’ve missed an episode, here are recent ones. For others go to RoseChatPodcast.com.

PLAYING FAVORITES
GUEST: Kimberley Dean, The Rose Geek
LISTEN HERE

MINIATURE ROSES
GUEST: Matt Douglas of High Country Roses
LISTEN HERE

TIME TO DOWNSIZE MY GARDEN
GUEST: Dee Nash
LISTEN HERE

BLOOM THYME THIS WEEK

SEASONS

As the seasons change let’s remember the true Master Gardener and His gifts to us…

Genesis 1: 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. These lights will be used for signs, seasons, days, and years.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, Happy Gardening Friends.💐

BLOOM THYME FRIDAY: SOFT FALL

Link | September 13, 2024February 26, 2026 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

It’s that time again.🍂 .🍂 .🍂 If you have been following for a while you know that Fall is not my favorite. (Spring 💐) Getting closer to the long, dark, cold winter does take a bit of getting used too. Mr. G loves all things fall so his euphoria is rubbing off. He even has me totally excited for snow days!

For many of my gardening years I lived in a sea of variations of pink, white, purple and the palest yellow! I tried many reds, yellows & oranges but they didn’t last very long.

PEACHY THINGS

Peach was my gateway color — when I planted my first Mother of Pearl Rose. Mother of Pearl can go from pink to peach. In my garden she is more peach. So, I now have 9 of them. Then in 2019 I found a “sport” on a Petite Pink rose that became Petite Peach! What a wonderful ride that has been!

ADDING MORE FALL

For the last few years I have been on a journey to add more fall into my life in the form of fall colored blooms. I have been successful with having dahlias that blend summer and fall and now I’m moving to Rudbeckias. A bad experience with a rudbeckia pass-along plant given to me 25+ years ago has me very skittish. Regardless of my efforts, that plant keeps popping up and trying to take over!

Have you seen all the rudbeckias out now. There are some beauties out there! Many are annuals in my zone and maybe that’s for the best! 😉 I started the Sahara blend using the winter sowing method and they are just now beginning to bloom. They are gorgeous but I believe I have them planted where they aren’t getting enough sun – so they are blooming later than expected. (They were planted safely tucked out of main sight in case they proved to be too garish!😄) I love them. Next year I will bring them out into the light of day!

While researching rudbeckias on You Tube I came across the Hello Garden account and a particular video on rudbeckias. While Kate was showing some of the beautiful rudbeckias she was planting she used the terms SOFT FALL and GENTLE FALL and talked about easing into the fall with your color palette. PERFECT. I keep thinking of those words and have decided it is my new fall mantra! I want Soft Fall colors in my garden and I want a soft, gentle fall attitude.

Thank you Kate for a new perspective and all the great garden information on the Hello Garden site. You can link to Hello Garden here. She’s also on IG here.

MORE TO COME

I know my journey into fall colors is not over. My friend Dee of RedDirtRamblings has me getting very excited about Marigolds. Marigolds! I have never been excited about marigolds before. Well except when I heard the story about how roses became the national floral emblem and the fact that marigolds were a part of that story. Read here.

Back to marigolds… Dee’s right, there are some super pretty ones out there. Mercy, is there no end! Of course there isn’t! 🎉🎉 While the oranges and reds will probably never work their way into the main borders & beds around here, I can find places where they can work their particular kind of magic!

Do you have a favorite rudbeckia or marigold I need to know about???

Other plants in my garden that are giving me a SOFT, GENTLE FALL vibe …

Hydrangeas as they fade to deeper rose and rust colors

Dahlias … so many beautiful colors of dahlias that go from summer to fall beautifully.

Winterthur Viburnum berries

Grasses

And Zinnias!

ON THE OTHER HAND

Three weeks ago I had hand surgery (right hand 😏) that has certainly curtailed any “real” gardening. On the other hand, it has not even slowed down my planning for next year, my seed, dahlia tuber, and plant research or endless list making! And, I’m finding out how important that little microphone by the text box on my iPhone truly is! Voice to text! A winner – if you proof read!! 😳

Since I couldn’t be out among the flowers as much, I filled my window with vases of cut blooms. We loved it so much that I continue to refill the vases!

This project has certainly given me the opportunity to observe how each of these perform in a vase! Something I have been wanting to do! So far big winners are Plum Perfect, Petite Peach, Quietness and Bolero.

Here is Bolero proving what a winner she is. I do love this rose. So glad I added two of them this year. So fragrant too.

Hand is healing very well, big bandage is long gone and now I just have to protect and do the hand exercises. No “real” gardening for a few more weeks. I’ll ease back in!

ROSE CHAT PODCAST

This week on the podcast I chatted with Gaye Hammond about US Rose Trials. Boy did she bring some interesting facts and behind the scene stories!

U.S. ROSE TRIALS PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
Gaye Hammond, Master Rosarian

Gaye has been an integral part of several U.S. Rose Trials and has much to share with us regarding rose trials of the past, the present, and will take a peek into the future. Gaye will guide us into how they are conducted and the valuable role they play in bringing beautiful and healthy roses to our gardens. Get ready to learn and laugh as Gaye educates and entertains us!

You can LISTEN HERE.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…

Yes, fall is coming fast and aren’t we fortunate that God’s creation gives us much beauty in every season. Let’s take our time and enjoy it slowly.

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

BLOOM THYME FRIDAY: EXTRA TIME

Link | October 27, 2023October 27, 2023 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Well it’s been a minute since I posted. We’ve had a wonderful time visiting family and and came home and hit the ground running with fall projects.

If you google “first frost date” in my area you’ll find October 10 – 16 but this year like last year, those dates came without anything close to a killing frost. Yay! We still have flowers blooming but looks like that is coming to an end next week!

I feel like I’ve survived the heat of August, made it through September where I made peace with the end of the gardening year and have moved onto October where I can more enjoy the seasonal transition.

October has been just about perfect. We’ve had beautiful days to enjoy the garden and to get things in order before winter.

EXTRA TIME: EXTRA PROJECTS

Mr G surprised me with a truck full of wood and plans for some wonderful projects… updating two of my raised beds and a new gate for the herb garden.

In the first picture you see that the current gate has been lovingly and beautifully hugged by Petite Pink this year to the point it could not open but the more open design of this gate allowed bunnies their free will so we allowed Petite Pink her space. But now she has been pruned back a bit and Mr. G’s newest gate will give the bunnies a harder time getting in. Hope it discourages the raccoons and ground hogs too.🤞🏻

EXTRA TIME: JUST BE

The extra time has also given me more time to “just be” in the garden and watch the changes happen slowly.

Walking down this path is so relaxing with the fall hues. At this stage there is a “hush” to the garden and for now “hush” is good.

EXTRA TIME: BLOOM THYME

Many flowers are still putting out beautiful blooms. Especially the dahlias. The soft peachy tones have turned brighter but blooms are plentiful.

EXTRA TIME: GARDEN VISITORS

The bees, moths and butterflies are still seen occasionally!

Our little friend enjoying the strawflower.

PLANTING DAFFODILS

I only bought one type of daffodil this year and the recommendation for this one came from wonderful garden friend Christie Purifoy from her book Garden Maker – she said it was her favorite and it was fragrant so I had to go take a look! Yep, one look and I ordered them – actually so long ago that I forgot I did! Nice surprise! Thanks Christie!

Meet ‘Bridal Crown”…

Bridal Crown was introduced in the mid 1940s and is an award-winning, multiple stem daffodil – having 3 to 6 white and saffron flowers per stem. This beauty is heavenly fragrant, one of the earliest of the doubles to bloom; is a great forcer and is one of the best looking grown in pots. (I think I am going to plant some of mine in pots.)

(12″-14″ tall / Blooms early-mid spring / Hardy in Zones 4-9) I bought mine at Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. I checked and they still have some available… LINK

I have several types of daffodils and love them but my more recent daffodil love has been aimed at the more “rosette” looking double blooms and the ones with multiple blooms per stem. Other favorites at the moment: Thalia, White Lion, Cheerfulness, and Minnow. Planting daffodils in the fall sure give us so much to look forward to! #thinkspring

SPEAKING OF CHRISTIE PURIFOY…

If you are like me and are a big fan of her books Garden Maker and A Home in Bloom, you’ll be be pleased to know that another book is coming in March Seedtime and Harvest – you can preorder now. Seedtime and Harvest is a series of lyrical essays exploring the myriad ways that gardening deepens our understanding of the natural world and grows our capacity for care and connection. If you don’t have these wonderful books – perhaps you should mention them to Santa! 🎅 🎁 Links are above if he needs them.

STICKERS ANYONE?

I love stickers! I love to put them on envelopes, seed packets for gathered seeds, in my garden journal and such!

These are some of the prettiest stickers I’ve found. They are supposed to look like dried flowers and they certainly do. So, if you’re interested, here’s the link!

LATEST ROSE CHAT PODCAST

GRACE ROSE FARM with Gracie Poulson, Owner

Friends, I know you will LOVE this chat! The delightful Gracie takes us back to the beginning where she fell in love with roses as a very young child and brings us up-to-the-minute on her vision and what’s coming from Grace Rose Farm. Hint: It’s all beautiful!

LISTEN HERE

PLACES OF RETREAT

Much of the news we hear is breaking our hearts and making us anxious on so many levels. I am so grateful that God has told us that we can “cast our anxiety on him because he cares for us.” 1 Peter. 5:7

And, how fortunate that he has given gardeners a place of retreat that gives us joy and peace – whether you have loads of land, a windowsill or a patio where you plant, putter and get your hands in the soil.

“Gardening has been shown to lighten mood and lower levels of stress and anxiety. It’s very gratifying to plant, tend, harvest and share your own food. Routines provide structure to our day and are linked to improved mental health. Gardening routines, like watering and weeding, can create a soothing rhythm to ease stress.

-Mayo Clinic

Science has discovered that working with soil is beneficial to your health and happiness. The reason is the soil bacterium, mycobacterium vaccae. These microscopic bacteria enter into your body when you touch the soil. The bacteria triggers serotonin and dopamine production, both chemicals that produce a feeling of happiness. By the way, they are chemicals normally present in antidepressant medication.

-Manager Up, June 2023

Until next time Friends, I wish you joy, peace and time in your garden.

BLOOM THYME FRIDAY: Spring Excitement

Link | September 15, 2023September 14, 2023 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

One of my favorite things about Autumn is that as I tweak the garden, dividing plants, and removing undesirables etc., I get so excited for how the “new” garden will look in the Spring. She may be tired now and in need of a good layer of mulch but in the spring she will be glorious! #dreamstage

I have already found 3 prime spaces and will be on the lookout for 3 beautiful, power-blooming, fragrant roses. #reachforthestars 🌟 Do you have a rose recommendation for me?

And then there’s seed excitement. 🎉 Few things are more exciting to me in the garden than seeds! I am gathering seeds, looking for new varieties and ordering seeds!!! SO MUCH FUN. Every time I see my little brown bags of seeds I’ve gathered I get all gushy about spring! Am I alone???

NEW HYDRANGEAS

Proven Winners sent out 4 amazing new hydrangeas that I get to try in my garden. They are planted, watered, mulched and ready to experience an Indiana fall and winter. Look at these beauties…

TUFF STUFF | Reblooming Mountain Hydrangea

SIZE: 2-3′ Tall and Wide
ZONES: 4 – 9
SUN/SHADE: 4 – 6 hours of sun preferred

This beauty is said to be cold hardy and heat tolerant. Two attributes that mean a great deal to me! Just look at those beautiful lacecap fowers.

PINKY WINKY PRIME | Panicle Hydrangea

SIZE: 6 – 9′ Tall and Wide
ZONES: 3 – 8
SUN/SHADE: 4 – 6 hours of sun

I have 7 of the original Pinky Winkys and love them but am so excited to try the PRIME version as it is said to have bigger and fuller flowers! Big win!

LET’S DANCE LOVABLE | Reblooming Big Leaf Hydrangea

SIZE: 3-4′ Tall and Wide
ZONES: 5-9
SUN/SHADE: 4-6″ hours of sun

This lovely has vivid bloom color and glossy foliage with the “super-charged” ability to rebloom! Foliage turns burgundy in the fall.

LET’S DANCE SKY VIEW | Reblooming Bigleaf HydRangea

SIZE: 2-3′ Tall and 2-4′ Wide
ZONES: 4-9
SUN/SHADE: 4 – 6 hours of sun

We are constantly hearing that we need more blue in the garden and PW says these are easy to get to turn blue by adding aluminum sulfate if you don’t have acid soil.

ONE MORE HYDRANGEA

I love my Fire Light Tidbit so much I had to add another one. Luckily when I made this big decision to add another, a local garden center had several beauties!! My two will flank a walkway through a section of the garden.

This is how she looks in my garden this week… A beauty indeed! I just can’t wait until spring and to see both of them in their prime!

ROSE CHAT PODCAST

UPDATES, PLANS & PROJECTS
Diane Sommers, American Rose Society President

On today’s episode, Diane Sommers, President of the American Rose Society is here to bring us up to date on some exciting projects including their recently launched digital initiative. And, we’ll take a peek into plans for the future.

It was so fun to chat with Diane about our wonderful organization! LISTEN HERE.

BLOOM THYME

This week I tried to make the most of every bloom and share bokays with friends.

One of the most relaxing things to do is watch butterflies in the garden… don’t you think?

Friends, thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget to let me know if you have rose recommendations for me!

BLOOM THYME FRIDAY: The Dog Days of Summer

Link | August 25, 2023August 26, 2023 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

These are certainly the Dog Days of Summer … hot! hot! hot! 🥵 But, there’s more than just heat going on in August.

August is universally the time for vacations and holidays especially in Europe. We joined that group this year and have just returned from a lovely vacation in New England. There is nothing quite like the north eastern seacoast. We were with beautiful people and went to so many beautiful places! Oh and the food! I love seafood and it was out of this world. 🦀🦞🦐

One of the places we visited was the Elizabeth Park/ Helen S Kaman Rose Garden. It was amazing. I thought I knew what it would be like from pictures I’ve seen through the years, but, oh no – it so exceeded my expectations. I’ll tell you more about my time there soon.

We came home relaxed, refreshed and recharged. We can’t wait to go back!

August celebrates sandwiches. in August of 1762 the Earl of Sandwich requested two pieces of bread with meat inside. We’re all about celebrating sandwiches in August too — we had the first BLT with a homegrown tomato. Nothing like it! 🎉🍅

August… the gateway to all things Autumn. I’m sure enjoying autumn more than I used to, partly because I became more focused on plants that have their heyday this time of year … Dahlias, Zinnias, alliums and power blooming roses that can take the heat!

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Well, I don’t know that they truly LIKE IT but many roses in my garden are acting like it is a normal summer day… not a day when the heat index is 105 and has been in the 90s for way too long.

Are there roses in your garden that do better in the heat than others?

My “some like it hot” observations…

Mother of Pearl isn’t phased – keeps going strong.
For Petite Pink and Petite Peach the heat is no big deal.
Sweet Drift says “bring it.”
Music Box isn’t phased much.
Flamenco Rosita has so many blooms even if they are a bit smaller.
Reminiscent Pink is doing very well.

Others are blooming but sparingly and many of the blooms melt so quickly. The roses are pretty much on their own during these extremes. Minimal watering, no fertilizing and no big expectations. I do think we are going to start cooling down next week and more of the roses will have a chance to shine!

Unlike many of you we have had some rain. Not tons but enough to keep things going without too much supplemental watering. We don’t have irrigation so we are extremely grateful for the rain. I am praying that those of you dealing with drought will have rain very soon. Drought is so cruel.

August is also a time when many schools start. Maybe it’s seeing all the back to school items but August has me itching to get new pens and paper and make lists. Mr. G would tell you that every season is a season of lists for me. The garden lists I am currently working on:

What did well…
What needs to go…
What I need more of / less of…
What was outstanding…
Seeds to buy…
Dahlias…
Bulbs…

Roses:

Who was outstanding…
Who struggled…
Where will I put more roses.. (I’ve found a few spots!)
What roses do I “need”… (That list is always in place.)

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT I’M LOVING:

If you are like me and love dried flowers, I have an Instagram account recommendation for you.
LAYLA ROBINSON DESIGN / Creating happiness with everlasting flowers.
She does such beautiful arrangements and crafts with dried flowers! LINK HERE.

ROSE CHAT PODCAST

Coming this Sunday (August 27) is a new podcast… don’t miss this one. You’re gonna love Rachel.

ROSE CHAT NOTE:

I am beginning to work on the 2024 line up for Rose Chat. If you have suggestions of who you’d suggest I have on the podcast or topics you would find interesting, let me know. Email your ideas to me HERE.

BLOOM THYME IN AUGUST

The day we returned from vacation the garden greeted us with a light rain falling. It was such a welcome site, I immediately got out my phone and took videos. I posted a video on YouTube for easy access if you would like to see it.

The misty rain was such a blessing!

Yes, August is here and so is Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Did you know PSLs have been around for 20 years! That’s a lot of spice! Mr. G and I enjoy having one to celebrate the season. But we may wait until the temps drop to at least the 80s! 😳🥵😉

There’s no going back on the seasons so let’s hit this season head on and enjoy every minute. Until next time …

Stay cool, stay safe and have fun in your garden … 💐🌸🌱🌼🌹🌺🪷🌻😘☕️

Bloom Thyme Friday: Maybe if I change the name????

August 29, 2014August 28, 2014 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

For years I have had a love/hate relationship with Fall. Yes, I know the changing of the leaves are pretty and who doesn’t love going on a hayride or to a pumpkin patch. BUT, I can very easily get hung up on the fact that Fall means the growing season is over and the l o n g … l o n g … L O N G Indiana winter is soon to come.

So, today I have decided to change the name of this season to Autumn. A U T U M N … has a much richer and more pleasing ring to it. Almost poetic… The more I think of the word Autumn, the more I think that I can embrace the season that is just around the corner.

No spring nor summer’s beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face….
~John Donne

What do you think? Can a change in the name make a difference? I’m sure gonna try because I am surrounded by people who L O V E fall and I don’t want to be a party pooper.

TRUTH TIME

I gotta tell you the whole truth, there really is another reason why I feel differently about this season … You’ve probably guessed it …. Mr. H has a birthday! So, how can you not LOVE the season when you received one of your very richest blessings.

Yes, Mr. H will soon be 1 and by the way things are going now, he is just about ready to take on the world. And, we just might let him!