One of the joys of a flower garden is having cut flowers in the house.  This has been an especially good year for that.

The Gladiolus bulbs that came in a packet several years ago are still producing profusely.  Sometimes they’re called Sword Lilies.

It’s always a surprise to see which color will open up next.

Some are daintily colored, while others are bright and bold.

There are many new bulbs that need to be taken out.  Thinning is supposed to be mandatory for bulbs.  Somehow, I never seem to get around to that task.

A couple of years ago I bought a different variety of glads.  They have a smaller red flower with white edges.

Sometime I put all different colors together for a bouquet.  Other times I try to achieve a color scheme.

Now to my other favorite flowers for vases – roses.

This is actually a spring blooming climber.  I’m late in showing it this year.  It is Madam Norbert De Velleur climber that was bought at Antique Rose Emporium years ago.

One of the attractions of this particular rose is the clusters of blossoms.  When in bloom, it’s covered with flowers.

Each flower is not particularly impressive.  It’s the mass of them together that I like.  As I’ve said on a previous post, this bush has the largest thorns I’ve seen on rose bushes.  I yell “ouch” often when working around it.

Therefore, I don’t use them in vases.

This was the first rose bloom this year.  It’s a Knock-Out Rose.  It was unusual to be right at the ground level.  Notice the native grass I’m still fighting.

During the spring and summer this Oso Easy Paprika Rose bush is either covered with flowers or has no flowers.  That’s because it has to be deadheaded in order to rebloom.

I often wait until all the flowers die so they can all be cut off at once.

This is a hybrid rose that blooms fairly often, but the blooms don’t last long.

The flowers on the Mr. Lincoln Rose will stay pretty for several days if left on the bush.  Once they are cut, they’re gone in about a day.  These I usually just enjoy from my kitchen window.

The flowers on Tropicana can be brought inside and will last about a week in water.

So pretty with Russian Sage behind them.

Another hybrid I don’t know the name of.

Belinda’s Dream has not bloomed as much this year as most years.

This is what the blooms on my all time favorite bush Double Delight looked like early this spring.  A diluted mixture of Rose Systemic Drench by Bonide at the base of the plant took care of the problem.

These are the roses from that bush after it recovered.

Double Delight is the strongest smelling rose I have.  It is truly heavenly.

Both the scent and the blooms last about a week.  Flowers are one of life’s joys that can occur over and over each year.

Another blessing that we tend to recognize more in July than the rest of the year is our country and our freedoms.

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”  Patrick Henry