Tag Archives: Rio Samba roses

April 17, 2024 · 9:51 am

A Trip Around the Yard

Rio Samba Roses, various iris, and Mama and Baby Snails we made.

More Rio Samba roses, and the pretty purple perennial I don’t know the name of.

Azaleas and iris

Some of our flowers are blooming nicely now. It makes me happy to walk around the yard and see a lot of blooms, plus buds. Everything needs weeding, pruning, hacking down, etc., all around the yard, so that makes me feel a bit guilty, as well.

I’ll start with my veggie planters this morning, then move to the roses planters, seeing how far I can get before I poop out or it gets too warm.

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December 1, 2022 · 9:01 am

Hello, December 2022

Southern Living

I’m really not ready for this month – or winter – to start. My hair is blowing so hard as the time whizzes past I’m suffering from wind-shock – if that’s a thing. I’m really trying to get the yard ready for winter, but Mother Nature is laughing at me as she plays ‘crack-the-whip.’

Yesterday afternoon I did get out and cut the Rio Samba rose bushes WAAY back. It seems that these bushes last about 3 years and then have to be replaced. I can’t really complain, because they have bloomed their little hearts out, but I hope they’ll do it one more time before we have to start over. I also bagged up leaves and refilled the trio of planters. The leaves had blown out due to the extremely gusty winds we had a couple of days ago.

It’s 31 outside now, but since it’s supposed to be in the mid 50s this afternoon, I’m planning to check to see if I need to weed whack in the front one more time. I’ll also use the leaf blower to attack the piles of leaves particularly around the front porch. My to-do list outside is beginning to shorten.

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” Victor Hugo

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November 15, 2020 · 10:30 am

Hope Comes Through Flowers

Twice-Blooming Purple Iris
Rio Samba Roses

Even though it’s 44 degrees F. with a slight wind, it was really wonderful to wander around the yard this morning, seeing what is still healthy and blooming.

As you can see from the pics on the blog this morning, I delighted in the elephant ear plants, our Rio Samba roses, and our Twice-Blooming Purple Iris.

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November 5, 2020 · 11:49 am

Hope

It’s hard to be down when flowers are blooming.

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October 25, 2020 · 11:42 am

Today’s Haul

Roses and Tomatoes

I just came in from about 20 chilly minutes outside. It’s not really that ‘cold,’ (52 degrees), but it’s raw-feeling and quite overcast and the wind is whipping around, making it FEEL a lot chillier.

I am planning to have several short sessions outside while it’s not actually raining, since we’re supposed to have rain tonight through Thursday.

This first time I gathered the few ripe tomatoes on the vines and then was caught up by some pretty blooms on our Rio Samba rose bushes. We also have a couple of twice-blooming iris, but I haven’t decided it I’ll bring them in or not. :0)

Even at mid-week, I was having to put on a sweat band to work outside very long. Not so today! I wore a much-used down vest and still got cold.

I will fix us some lunch and then see if I can get the irrigation system controller off the agricultural faucet next.

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October 19, 2020 · 9:59 am

Rio Samba Roses

Rio Samba Roses and celery

As you can see from the tomatoes, onions, and roses, I spent some time working in the yard yesterday.

It will probably rain today – in fact it’s dark and gloomy outside right now – so it’s good I got most of the weed whacking done and used the leaf blower to tidy things up a bit.

We will run errands today – and try to vote on the first day of early voting here in Arkansas, and then we’ll be in the rest of the day. Here’s hoping we don’t drown in the rain!

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August 5, 2020 · 10:23 am

Raccoon # 10

Nat’l Wildlife Federation

We returned awhile ago after relocating Raccoon # 10.  Saying this is a record-breaking year for raccoons is a vast understatement.  We are hoping they meet up at the creek and continue to live happy lives elsewhere. We also sincerely hope this is the last of the bunch.

Our tomatoes have slowed way down. I only got cherry sized tomatoes yesterday when I harvested. We can’t be greedy, though. We have been enjoying wonderful ripe tomatoes with lunches and dinners for weeks now.

We are at the time of year here where, no matter how much you water, the sun is so strong it just boils the plants. I checked on my garden yesterday. There are still a lot of plants, and my onions are continuing to grow, but there was just ONE, lone ROUND zucchini. I’m not even sure this will be edible. I’m about to give up and pull the plants for the season. I’ve had a fun year in the garden, growing lettuce and spinach, tomatoes, and some celery (though I’m not sure if we’ll get actual stalks or not – or just leafy plants.

 

While I was out, though, I gathered some Rio Samba Roses to enjoy in the house.

 

Today is a sad day for us. We are having to say goodbye to Molly, a canine member of our family for over 15 years.

She was diagnosed with malignant cancer of the jaw several weeks ago. We have had her on antibiotics and pain/inflammation meds since then to try to give her as many happy dog days as we could. She has milked all the extra attention for everything she’s worth – demanding to go outside, then demanding to come in again – with a treat, of course. I have made sure we had enough treats that she could have all she demanded, and even a few more. Up until a few days ago, she was still having fun, even trying to play with us in the yard. She has given us over 15 wonderful years of her happy personality, cheering up her people and fellow dogs and cats alike. For that, we will be eternally grateful.

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April 23, 2020 · 2:06 pm

Our Favorite Rose Bush

Our favorite rose bush is called Rio Samba. We have no clue what we’re doing on growing roses, but this one seems happy with us. We have three of these. You are looking at three photos of the same rose bush from different angles taken just a few minutes ago.

We love the fact that we have so many different colors on the same bush, depending on how long the rose has been blooming.

 

When it is a bud or very early bloom, the flower is bright yellow with a swash of coral. When it opens completely, it is still yellow, but has coral edges and the older petals start to turn a much milder coral.

When if is almost ready or ready to prune, the whole blossom is a sweet shade of coral.

 

 

There are few things that lift my spirits as much as visiting our rose bushes this time of the year. They give me hope that things will one day be back to normal, in the normal flow of nature.

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June 22, 2019 · 6:55 pm

A Storm is Coming

It’s as black as night outside right now, ready to storm. Before it got dark, I got out and took some pictures in the yard I wanted to share with you.  This is one of our Rio Samba rose bushes with Impatiens around the base.  We have two other Rio Sambas, but for some reason, their leaves are turning yellow. I’ve sprayed them with fungicide plus all purpose rose bug killer, hoping that will help them.

 

I love the red roses on this bush. It seems quite happy at the moment.

 

This is one group of phlox. I love these. They come in a lot of colors. We have  a lighter pink shade and this one. I’m afraid if it rains hard, these will be beaten down.

I have to tell you about my stupidity of the day –

I checked my veggie garden and noticed the plants weren’t getting enough water. My husband came out to help me trace the water from the outside rural faucet we have out to the garden. It turned out that I had forgotten about a “Y” connection of hoses we have and it was turned the wrong way. The water wasn’t going anywhere, much less to the garden! We fixed it and tested it. On the way back to the house, Mother Nature rained on us….

 

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May 7, 2019 · 1:33 pm

Happy Roses!

I cut our three Rio Samba rose bushes, plus a red rose bush WAAAAAAAY back, quite ruthlessly before winter. They were all in sad shape, having some kind of fungus and having grown out of shape, having some branches that died, etc. I figured that either my severe pruning would work, or we would have to start over and get new plants.

Happily, my pruning seems to have given them all new life!

This is the red rose bush and you can also see one of the Rio Samba bushes further back in the trio of planters.

We love Rio Samba roses because they start out bright yellow. Then they develop coral edges on each bloom. Finally they turn coral before it’s time to prune them off to encourage new blooms.

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April 14, 2018 · 1:14 pm

Mother Nature in a Snit

Mother Nature was in a snit yesterday afternoon and evening, bringing us a cold front with accompanying 60 mph winds, hail, rain, tornadoes, and flying hair balls. The sky was black in mid afternoon and I watched the hard-working local weather guys try to warn people in our area and all around us about when to dive for shelter.

Happily, though we got wind and rain, all the bad stuff either went north or south of us. We came through her bad temper well. I checked this morning when I took the doggies out, that the greenhouse was still standing, we didn’t have any damage to the house, my roses were still intact, and the square foot garden was still looking good.

We planted 3 new rio samba rose bushes recently. I’m just thrilled that they seem to be happy.

 

 

 

Even though it’s too cool to be comfortable outside today, I’m thankful to see the sun and our thriving plants.

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April 3, 2018 · 11:46 am

I’ve Definitely Quit Dancing!

piccsy.com

Okay. We were in the middle of a drought and it even caused bad problems with our water supply, making the turnovers in the lakes cause our water to have a bad odor and taste.  Wildfire danger was high. Warm, windy days were worrisome.  I started doing mental and physical rain dances, trying to get our area over the problem.

Mother Nature listened. I’m not sure if she saw and heard ME, or if a whole lot of people were also doing rain dances, but she delivered. Big Time. We’ve had rain, rain showers, heavy rain, storms, sleet, and more rain. I’ve definitely STOPPED even thinking about rain dances, but now I’m thinking Mother Nature is saying, “You wanted rain. Okay. Here it is!”

Today we’re due for MORE storms, particularly between 11:00 and 3 this afternoon with possible severe weather.  We did a group of errands this morning, paring our list down to one appt this afternoon, in an effort to be ONLY blown away, rather than blown away and DROWNED trying to get our stuff done.

The doggies came and demanded that I take them out a couple of minutes ago, insisting they would blow up if I didn’t take them out NOW. I complied, then came back for my camera, to record some of the beauty I found while walking around the yard. The storm today might wreak havoc with our yard, so I wanted to try to catch Mother Nature at her BEST – first.

Every day the wisteria gets more lush and more purple.

It SMELLS wonderful, too!

We have purple iris blooming in planters, in clusters around the yard, even off the edge of the civilized part of our yard, plus down our driveway.

 

We have buds on the three new Rio Samba rose bushes, and now some of the buds are starting to open up!

 

A knock out rose bush is starting to have blooms.

 

This is the north side of our square foot garden.

And the south side.

The winds really picked up while I took pics and walked the dogs. We’ll probably be right in the heart of the thunderstorms this afternoon, since we have to be out at 1:30. It’s a good thing we don’t melt in the rain. We’re thankful for our warm, dry home. Our doggies have already snuggled down for a nap, and even the two cats came in with us.

Have a wonderful day. Stay warm and dry!

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April 3, 2017 · 1:44 pm

Trip Around the Yard

My husband has three clematis plants he’s trying to nurture. This year they seem to be happy. Were walking around the yard this morning and found these.

 

Our purple iris are still blooming nicely in clumps around the yard while yellow iris are just now starting to bloom.

 

These are growing down one side of the driveway. There are a couple more ‘drifts’ further on down, but this is the main one.

 

This is one of our Rio Samba rose bushes. I cut them back harshly this past year because of various problems. I didn’t know whether they would live through my efforts or not. One of them didn’t, but two of them did.

 

 

 

And the pale yellow iris have started.

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December 3, 2016 · 5:34 pm

Last Rose of the Season

lastrose1

My husband brought this in on his way back from the shop this afternoon. It’s probably the very last rose of the season. This is our favorite rose, called, “Rio Samba.” It has a long blooming season. It starts out as a tight yellow bud with a very narrow coral band around the edges of the leaves. As it opens, the yellow is in the center and the outer leaves are coral. As it ages, the whole bloom turns coral.

 

lastrose2

Here’s another view. This will have to hold us until the spring. I hope you enjoyed this.

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