Yesterday I was out for awhile and cut down the grasses. It's time to do this you know. Today it will be the butterfly bushes. I'm also thinking of pruning the forsythia and pussy willow and bring cutting inside to force. I'm also seeing the forsythia's buds are pushing away from the stems and the stems are getting a yellow/greenish hue; a sure sign that spring is here.
I had a window open and the patio door this morning to let the fresh air in. To keep the house warm, I burned the fireplace. It is so enjoyable to be able to run the fireplace with the windows open. It kept the conversation pit warm and relaxing while the rest of the house cooled off some and aired out. The noises of the spring birds filled the house and made the atosmphere even more relaxing. Most of the birds are back now. The red-winged blackbirds are definitely here; the bluebirds and the small songbirds. I've seen robbins as well, though I don't get many of them on my property. The trees aren't mature enough yet.
The Peace Rose.
If I bring forsythia in and it roots, I should be able to pot it up and sell baby plants at my rose society's booth at the herb festival in April. I also have some OGR roses, Bayse's Purple, that needs dug and potted up. I doubt very much that the rose society will let those go. Everyone will want one. I have four or five new plants that need homes.
In an inspection done yesterday, I'm afraid I lost three roses, two of which will break my heart. They are Peace (heartbreaker), Playboy (heartbreaker) and Forgotten Dreams (I'm not sure what I thought of this one). Both Peace and Playboy are strong roses and should easily take the winters here. But, in this garden, I've not had the same results as I did in the Browning Road garden. I have hardpan here and many of the roses are not starting out well. It will be a few more years until I can build this soil into something more plant friendly. The weeds love it though.
Mister Lincoln.
I have a lot of transplanting to do this year, so I'll add a few more to the list. Where Forgotten Dreams is/was, I have Mister Lincoln who is far to large for in front of my fountain. A more perfect spot would be to hide the part of the deck that was designed for the hottub. There Mister Lincoln and Touch of Class can grow to their full 7 to 8 feet and fill in the entire area. For where the Peace rose is, I have a pretty sport of this historic rose called Chicago Peace. It is the same colors only backwards, expressing the salmon pink mostly with the yellow highlights. It waits in the garden for a permanent home. I will get another Peace for the garden because of it's history more than anything else. There is a reason the Peace rose has become the most well known rose in the world.
To replace Mister Lincoln in front of the fountain, I have a lovely smaller rose of darker red called Taboo. This small rose has struggled the past couple of years, but is feeling the effects of the Mills Magic Mix fertilizer I feed. It more than doubled it's size and I'm much more comfortable transplanting it now.
Playboy.
Even though I have 2 Lavagluts and a Little Darling that need homes and will do well where Playboy is now, I just might have to replace this one. I've been promising myself that I will take cuttings of these grafted roses ASAP and haven't started it yet. Own-root roses do so much better for me once I can get them started. I think this year will be the exodus for this project. I go out today to get 2 qt. peat pots from a local nursery to start them in. I've also seen some interesting ways to try starting them in a catalog I recieved yesterday and I just may try this. It looks interesting.
There is a lot of transplanting I want to do this spring. A new large flowerbed going in will be the start of it. I'll be moving a Quince that will get to large for the area it's in and I have a lovely small polyanthan rose that will do wonderfully there. It is a strong little rose, is already own-root and will be perfect with the larger OGR roses I have already there. It will also add much needed color to the bed as it blooms all season whereas all the other plants have a spring blooming cycle.
These are just some thoughts on this early morning. It's to beautiful to be inside right now.
2 comments:
those shots are beautiful. somehow i missed that you belong to a garden group. While I read the entry I thought to myself, I need 2B askin' you for some tips on how to grow Sunflowers this spring. When's the best time to do it. what are the better seeds to buy, what is best to do for Lavendar? Email me will ya? I want to see some huge strong sunflowers in my yard. Gotta have the sunflowers.
Austin
So sorry you lost your roses! The Playboy is beautiful and not one I've seen before. I'm pretty worried about my white tea rose surviving; but it recovered last year from the cats deciding it was a scratching post so maybe this snowless winter won't kill it either.
Carmon
Post a Comment