What a week! Just when I thought that Nature was starting to warm up, the cold weather returned with some kind of fury. Still I am grateful. I was able to sort my thoughts and organize ideas for my next book (yes, it has been too long and I am working on it).
I had plans for the garden this weekend. I bought a set of 3 cobalt blue glazed ceramic planters that I was hoping to fill with plants; unfortunately, the strong winds and dust particles in the air are definitely harmful to my health. I will work on them during the next few days before the heat sets in by the weekend.
Dahlia Flowers.
Hannah Gordon Rose and Little Pete Mini-multiflora Rose are actually Rose Trees and the oldest plants in my garden. Last year I honestly thought they had died and made plans for replacements. To my amazement, they came back fuller and stronger this Spring and I am grateful.
Hannah Gordon Rose.Little Pete Mini-multiflora Rose.
For many years I had these Snapdragon in pots and for all those years, they bloomed profusely and remained quite short. I finally removed them from the pots and planted straight to the ground, where thy have grown taller and seem to be healthier.
Snapdragon Flowers.
Wishing you all a wonderful Memorial Day with your loved ones.
I am loving these Spring to Summer flowering deciduous Azaleas, the Cannon’s Double Exbury Azalea shrubs; the latest addition to our plant family. With their delicate green foliage, cream, pink, apricot and yellow flowers; they have begun attracting bees and butterflies.
Cannon’s Double Exbury Azalea.
The amount of rain we received this year has done wonders to the plants. I pruned them last year and they have all returned healthier with strong growth on large canes. I used to have over fifteen rose bushes on my property; the ‘Blue Moon’ Hybrid Tea Rose is now the oldest rose bush and the only one I kept from eleven years ago. I love the large delicate double lavender-blue fragrant blossoms. There was a set and only one survived.
‘Blue Moon’ Hybrid Tea Rose.
My lone California Poppy blooming …
California Poppies.
Kordes Perfecta Rose is thriving too. She is the replacement of one of the ‘Blue Moon’ Hybrid Tea Rose lost a few years ago.
Kordes Perfecta Hybrid Tea Rose.
I can’t remember the name of the gorgeous hybrid rose tree below; its flowers however, keep on amazing me year after year.
Hybrid Tea Rose.
One of the rose buds on the Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose formed with elongated sepals. At first, I thought it was a deformed bud, but it opened its petals just fine. Interesting …
Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose (bud with elongated sepals).
Snow has not completely melted on the mountains, giving us that beautiful view.
Mountains.
I am looking forward to the weekend, there is so much to do in the garden.
The weather is warming up, awakening and encouraging the plants to thrive. This is the Spring I love. When everyone and everything comes alive. When the old suddenly becomes news, when what was lost is once again found and when beauty is given for ashes. I love all the seasons, but I love Spring best for new beginnings in the garden.
Last Spring I bought two climbing roses (Yellow Lady Banks Rose) and planted them at each end of the second set of arches by the front gate leading to the backyard. By now, the arches would have been fully covered, but as you can see, only the climbing rose facing the front yard has covered half of the arch. Late last Fall, my neighbor’s cat was strangely attracted to that climbing rose and continuously peed on it for weeks straight. Of course, I could see the tracks, but I didn’t know at the time since all my plants run on drip irrigation. One day I saw that the rose was wilting, so I increased the amount of water thinking it was due to the heat. The next day, the plant died and I could smell the cat urine around the plant and in the soil. I would have made them replace the plant, had the cat (who has caught several times on camera) not gone missing. Yes, cat urine will kill your plants.
Yellow Lady Banks Climbing Rose.Yellow Lady Banks Climbing Rose.
I had to wait until early Spring, when climbing roses were available in nurseries to get a replacement. I bought a White Lady Banks climbing rose and given that these are fast growing roses, I am pretty sure the arch will be fully covered by the end of the year. The Lady Banks’ Roses are beautiful and being thornless, they make training and maintaining painless. Also, they are drought tolerant and disease resistant especially when provided with full sun exposure.
White Lady Banks Climbing Rose.
After getting rid of almost all my rose bushes years ago, I decided to buy one more last month to replace one of the Blue Moon Roses which died. This one if called Kordes Perfecta Rose and bloomed for the first time yesterday. It’s quite a beauty.
Kordes Perfecta Rose.
My Rose trees are always infested with Aphids during this time of year. As I was about to spray the rose tree in the backyard with liquid Sevin® Insect Killer a couple of days ago, I was delighted and grateful to see a colony of ladybug larvae at the base of the plant while the majority were making their way up. Knowing the solution would kill them too, I surrendered and allowed them to do their job. As of today the rose tree is almost insect free.
LadyBug Larvae.
A Painted Lady Butterfly resting on the green leaves of a Golden Arborvitae.
Painted Lady Butterfly.
Happy gardening and I hope everyone is having a great day.
Spring break was wonderful. I slept a lot, ate a lot, and gardened a lot, just as I wished I would. My backyard looks amazing, it really does and I love how everything turned out.
We are redesigning parts of it, but as of now, we are working around the gazebo. I have been training a different set of climbing roses to make their way up the second set of garden arches by the side gate.
On Friday we saw a sun dog, (a little late as it was fading away). It was bright and quite a sight.
Sun Dog.
The Spanish Lavender I thought I had lost last Fall came back strong this Spring. It did poorly in a planter, so I planted it in ground, in a well drained soil and it’s thriving. I love the pleasing scent and vibrant flowers.
Spanish Lavender.
The Julia Rose Itoh Peony has tripled in size since last week and the delicate leaves will soon turn green.
Julia Rose Itoh Peony shoots.
A lone California Poppy plant.
California Poppy (young plant).
Today was such a wonderful day and I decided to reward myself with a simple pleasure. For dinner I had a barbecue chicken pizza, a glass of beer (I hardly drink beer, if at all. But when I do, the only one I can handle is Stella Artois). I also enjoyed a delightful read (Didn’t My Skin Used to Fit?: Living, Laughing, Loving Life After Forty!) by Martha Bolton.
BBQ Chicken. Stella Artois. Martha Bolton.
I feel blessed in my garden after all the work we have been putting into it these past years.
It’s been a very busy weekend for us. We helped two neighbors get rid of weeds around their property. Although we are a little sore, it felt good and it brightened their day. We offer such physical labor once in a blue moon to neighbors who need it the most.
We were gifted a 3 year old, 8 and a half foot Elm Tree, which we transplanted on Saturday. The seed from the mother tree landed on my neighbor’s backyard, on the side of a sprinkler line and grew. We carefully dug it out and transplanted it in our backyard. We hope and pray that it survives and thrives.
The weather has been wonderful since the beginning of the week and even though the ground is getting stiffer, it is still a good time to pull out those weeds before they start shooting their seeds (which remain viable for many years). It took me a few years of dedication and hard labor to eradicate those seeds and my yard is weed free today because I never gave those weeds a chance to sprout to begin with.
My Gaura plants as well as my Scotch and French Broom shrubs have spread their seeds all over my property. It’s insane, I could start a nursery with all the seedlings. Since it was a little gloomy in the morning, I spent over an hour digging out, transplanting and relocating the seedlings. I also transplanted a few Dwarf Cup Flower seedlings.
The Purple-Leaf Cherry Plum trees are now in full bloom. The Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry is starting to bud and flower.
Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry Blossoms.
I haven’t done much this Winter but read, drink tea and read some more. With the weather getting warmer, I am ready to redesign and expand parts of my backyard garden.
By JM Perez
