Golden Celebration is putting out some yummy looking blooms!




My sister-in-law & brother-in-law were visiting for almost 2 weeks with their kids. Every morning he would get up at zero dark thirty and make coffee and oatmeal and then head out into the garden. He cleared all the crushed granite pathways of weeds, the beds of weeds, pruned overgrown shrubs then dug up these large rocks from an old retaining border and created this curved wall, incorporating some old clay pipes and a rusty fire pot we found on an old abandoned homestead. Once we fill it in with soil, we'll add a row of eating grapes. The clay pipes will be planted with sedum to spill over the sides like my other pipes, (pictured below in last photo taken in 2012).
Family left yesterday, I will miss that workhorse BIL of mine!!

Wow! What a great visit!

Beautiful roses Sue. Wow, looks like so much got done!

Got me fired up to work in the garden again! Just wish my BIL came every spring to help out!
I just added that post to a new blog with extra photos.

Saw it here and saw it in your blog. Now I can't wait to see it in person.

When we hit Sonoma Hort, I'll bring you by. Hey, maybe today?

I'm free today. That would be fun!

wow, so much greenery.... *sigh* buckling down for 2-4" of snow tonight/tomorrow...

I was bad. I knew I shouldn't, but I did anyways. I bought *gasp* 2 body bag roses. Stores are finally starting to get *some* things in.. mostly evergreens & bodybag plants (grapes, blackberries/blueberries/raspberries), plus pansies. Bought a Moonlight Magic from Lowes & a Blue Moon from Home Depot. Amazingly enough, when I cracked them open the roots on both were not bad at all! In fact, the Blue Moon actually had some pretty decent roots, not just 1-2 little main roots, but at least 6 main roots and a nice webbing of feeder roots. Plus the canes were HUGE.. almost a full inch thick! Moonlight Magic actually had leaf buds on it, so I got that one. I potted them both up and have them sitting in some snowmelt in the sun for now. I'll have to bring them into the garage tonight as it's supposed to snow tonight & tomorrow, but I'll put them back out in the sun on Sunday. Only rose that's really thinking about waking up right now is Austrian Copper.. that poor thing is SUCH an abused rose, but it never fails to bloom even though it gets less than 6 hours of sun a day, sits in the driest part of my yard, had mostly rock for soil, and is completely neglected. And it's grown about 6' since I planted it. I never trim that one either... she's a real rambler.

well I woke up to about 4 inches of heavy wet snow !! I guess "old man winter had to get in one last shot " LOL

glevely said:well I woke up to about 4 inches of heavy wet snow !! I guess "old man winter had to get in one last shot " LOL

Although my temps are not as cold as yours, our day temps will be dropping down 20 degrees and the night temps by 10 degrees .. enough where any new growth stimulated by pruning would be zapped next week. I'll need a day fire for a couple of days. They even say we will have a couple of rain days.

Guess I'll have time to follow Arlene's example and clean house ...

Dang ! I was having so much fun ignoring it.

Smiles,
Lyn

Our forecast was for nights in upper 30s for next 10 days, then this morning I see that has been changed to upper 20s. Uh oh. Does that mean all the new leaves on the roses will freeze? For some reason I can't remember what happened in past years, and we deal with freeze/thaw fluctuations every year. All my new bare root roses are sitting outside in tubs in potting soil. Guess I should bring them back into the garage?
One year someone showed a dolly they used to haul their plants in and out when temps were still unstable. I would need several of those big lumber carts Lowes uses.
Like Toni, I fell prey to the lure of body bag roses. I know better, but I do it every year. They were ONLY $4, and yes they did have decent roots, and maybe just maybe this year the rose will actually turn out to be the one on the label.
Toni, don't feel bad. I bought 8 of them. Gulp.
Some of my older HT's were raggedy looking 1 cane wonders, so I'm "refreshing" those areas with the same rose.
What I really need to do is re-think the whole yard, all the plantings. It drives me nuts that other people pay me money to draw plans for them but I can't come up with anything satisfying in my yard.

Short freezes don't ever seem to bother my roses.

It is about 60 this afternoon but supposed to go back to really cold tomorrow and after. I just want spring to arrive.

Cindi ...

>>>>All my new bare root roses are sitting outside in tubs in potting soil. Guess I should bring them back into the garage?

No, you don't need to bring them back in now that they are planted in large containers. Just cluster them into the big mass I mentioned before and it is unlikely that the roots will freeze.

Actually, with the temps you've mentioned, you can leave them indoors. The roses really don't come out of their somewhat dormant state ... as we know modern roses don't go truly dormant ... until temps average 40F. All of the cellular activity in the plant has slowed down. So, even if you give those leaves sun, they are not working to provide food to the plant through photosynthesis.

>>>>>Some of my older HT's were raggedy looking 1 cane wonders, so I'm "refreshing" those areas with the same rose.

You might want to read this old thread about rejuvenation pruning:

The thread "Rejuvenation pruning" in Roses forum

There is nothing wrong with body bag roses, if you know what you are doing, unless the roots have been so badly butchered and dried out that they just cannot grow new roots. Yes, they are often mislabeled, but sometimes you can get some fantastic roses. It's the gardeners who try to grow body bag roses and don't know what they need to do with a stressed plant who have the greater problems with body bag roses and give up on growing roses. They wouldn't be on the market if they always died, so, if you have a chance of rescuing a body bag rose and the price is right, why not go for it ?

>>>>>>>>What I really need to do is re-think the whole yard, all the plantings. It drives me nuts that other people pay me money to draw plans for them but I can't come up with anything satisfying in my yard.

Good grief, I certainly don't have my garden figured out. The only thing I know how to grow is roses. I don't want a mono garden, but I haven't figured out the next step ...

Smiles,
Lyn

I was lucky and managed to grab a shot of Lily with one of her toys in her mouth. The toys are in her mouth often but whenever I point the camera she drops them.

She has that 'you caught me' expression, very cute!

I made a daylily and bulb garden bed in my yard last fall. The daylilies are not up yet but the bulbs are starting to show. So far only the crocus have started blooming.

We are having glorious much needed rain!
I shot these yesterday between showers.


Gizmo the Gremlin


Clematis 'Dawn'

Sue, your garden looks FAB-U-LUS!

Thanks Rita! It's becoming the packed look I had in my itty bitty city garden, all in less than 3 years since planting. Still have lots to finish and still unpot and get into the ground. Slow and steady.