First Spring Flowers--Finally!

Spring this year has been late for everyone.

I think this is the first year that my roses didn't start blooming in April or even as early as March. Two days ago, May 3, I had my first rose bloom.

It was a pale pink mini. I can't remember the names of all my minis anymore, some have been replaced with no names, but then others I've moved around. For some reason, I think the pale pink one is called Absolutely.

And another one. I think this once is a white rose called Pacesetter.

And two more budded. These two were no name ones I picked up at a local garden store.

Now this isn't to say that nothing has flowered in my garden. It has. My Batik iris are bigger and prettier than ever.

And I don't know what is going on with my peonies, but those plants have become massive this year. They are almost as high as my arm pit. Yes, I know I'm short, but this is taller than in the past.
I thought the progression pics of the buds looked fun, so I took a pictures of different flower heads to show what they look like.

And, of course, my pretty little columbine.

That was when I realized I had lost my hellebore (Christmas Rose). :-( *sad face* It was a harsh winter, and the location it was planted faced North, along with the hideous drying North wind. The plants used to hang out under the Japanese maple in the corner by the pond.

I have about half of the new plants that I purchased in the ground--perennials mainly. Shrubs and a few dianthus that can survive for more than one year, but eventually die. I also found two tiny blueberry plants (sorry, no pictures) and a couple of Dahlias. I haven't had much luck with dahlias in the past, but this is the first time I'm planting them while they were in bloom, instead of in the tuber form. 

This purple tipped one is planted in a shady location, so I don't know if there's enough sun for it to be happy. I'll have to wait and see. 

While this yellow-orange one is planted less than four feet away, but in a totally different micro-climate around the corner. The yellow one will get lots of late afternoon sun and this area can be HOT. 

Yes, those are my toes showing an appearance in the picture. 

I'm just happy that my pool is plastered and full of water. We turned on the heater yesterday, but will slowly inch the temperature up to a swimable warmth. And I'm happy the bubbler is providing happiness for all the birds in the area--as a watering trough AND automatic bird bath. :-) And I'm happy that my yard is starting to look green and lush after the long, hard winter.

What makes you happy??

Later, Peeps!

Time for a little Bubbler

Another week has come and gone with barely a blog in betwixt.

Last week we finally had the plaster crew here to plaster the pool.

It is done!

Before

The pool was drained. Holes were drilled in it to keep it from 'floating' out of the ground. Plaster was chipped around the tile and fixtures. And acid was used to wash it down and etch the old plaster, which would make the new plaster adhere to the surface.

After

There's about three weeks of daily maintenance--brushing, mainly--to bring the chemicals into balance and harden the nice white plaster. I don't think you would want to swim in it quite yet since the pH isn't close to bleach level, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

And because we don't have enough water in the backyard with the pool . . .

And the pond. 

(notice the fresh mulch everywhere?? We bought about 100 bags of cedar mulch for all the garden beds)

The hubby wanted to add a rock bubbler. 

In fact, the hubs has been pestering me for a bubbler for years now. A few weeks ago we picked out the rock. It's a really fun rock with lots of holes in it. I think it's called Cathedral rock. Anyway, he purchased a plastic tub and pump, and proceeded to dig up my roses to place the rock in the garden bed to the side of the pool. 

On an aside, I'd like to plant a Venus Flytrap in the big hole on the left. If one can't survive the heat of the rock, even though it will be getting plenty of water, I'll find something else fun to grow in the hole. Plus I need to find a couple other plants to put in the mulch on either side of the black rocks. I know I want a rosemary plant (I lost mine this last winter. It was a harsh winter!) and something else that won't be too tall. 

This picture is from a couple of years ago. The sundial and six roses around the dial have been moved and the bubbler rock has been installed. I had about five roses along the fence die this last winter, so it was no problem moving the minis to a new location. 

And this was how we spent our Easter weekend! 

Later, Peeps!

I Got a Rock

I got a rock this weekend. It's slightly over a foot wide and two and a half feet long. This type of rock is called Cathedral rock, due to the holes in it . . . I think.

The smaller hole near the top is the drilled hole, but we discovered a couple other natural holes which might be fun. The front left one cascades like a waterfall.

What did you do?

Hubs has been pestering me to let him put a rock bubbler in the backyard. I finally gave in, especially when I might be able to raise some bog plants, namely Venus Fly Traps. I need to get rid of those pesky 'squitos, don't I? I haven't had much luck attracting bats, so I'll go the carnivorous plant route now.

As it's springtime and my roses are just starting to grow, I need to get them transferred soon, which is why we bought the rock.

This is the location. It runs along the edge of the pool.

It's no hardship relocating my roses since I've lost about six minis over the last few years. And I have six to move.

I'll post a picture when the rock is in place and ready to bubble. It might be a couple weeks since we need to wait on the basin to arrive.

Later, Peeps!

Rain and Roses

Last night we got some much needed rain . . . along with thunder and lightning. I don't mind waking up to stormy weather as long as it isn't tornadic. According to our big rain gauge in the backyard, aka swimming pool, we got about an inch of much needed rain. More rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. Too bad it's also supposed to come with an increased chance for tornados along with rain, hail, thunder and lightening.

So to bring a little sunshine to the gloomy day and projected forecast, here are a few pics of my rose babies.

A variety of minis

Rock and Roll floribunda

First Prize floribunda

Julia Child floribunda

Iceberg floribunda

Livin' Easy floribunda (new planting)

 

Voyager mini

 

 Moonlight Scentsation mini

I hate to admit it, but I've forgotten many of the names of my mini roses. I could probably figure it out if I looked at them hard enough and thought about it.

If you notice, I don't have any hybrid tea roses or climbers in my collection. I used to have some climbers, but they got a little out of control. Many of their canes would reach 12-15 feet in length and with a 6-foot tall fence, I had to arc the canes and tie them to the fence. This tended to shade the minis. So when the climbers started failing, I replaced them with floribundas. Though First Prize and Iceberg are two of the original foundation roses. I mail ordered them and they were supposed to be climbers, but obviously they weren't.

I like floribundas and minis for the same reasons.

• They flower profusely all summer.
• They have their own roots, not grafted like hybrid teas.
• They tend to me more resistant to black spot and powdery mildew. This doesn't mean they DON"T get these diseases, they do, but just not as much. .  . though I do have a problem with my mini, Chasin' Rainbows. This pic was taken before the black spot went to town on this one.

 

Next time I'll have to share a picture of black spot -- I just went out to take a picture of the black spot, but the heavy rain washed the leaves from the plant. That's what black spot does. The mold basically, kills the leaves and sometimes the rosebush.

Here's a Google image of black spot.

 

I need to get out today and start deadheading. This helps the plant to make new buds instead of trying to set rosehips (basically the 'fruit' of the plant). Minis are easy to dead head, just pinch them off with your fingers, thus the term "green thumb" comes into play.

 

Well, it looks like I have some yard work to take care of . . . after I take my mom to the beauty shop and go on my walkies!

 

Later, Peeps!

Springtime at the Golla Retreat

Originally, I intended to post a smoothie recipe today.

But that's not happening.

Why?

Because it looked like day old guacamole and tasted like crap. Sorry, but I won't do that to y'all. The picture looked pretty, which was why I made it to begin with. But they lied . . . and used a decoy picture. Not nice, people, not nice!

So here a few pictures from my late-blooming garden. We're about 4-6 weeks behind from where we were in the blooming process last year.

I just hope the intense heat keeps away this summer. Here's a picture of my yard when I look out my writing window. Sorry, it's so gloomy, but we had just been rained on and it was cloudy when I took these pictures yesterday morning. As you can see, my roses (along the fence to the right) aren't anywhere close to blooming. I cut them way back this year, so it took them longer to set their buds.

 

 

These are a few of my mini roses that have started blooming. They are alongside the pool deck. I don't remember all the names of my roses, but I think they are. . .

 

Lemon Drop

 Little Sizzler

 Dancing Flame

My clematis

Batik iris (Moonlight Scentsation rose is budded out next to it)

Some cool looking evergreen ground cover that blooms blue flowers. ;-) (next to mini Alberta pine by fireplace)

And various columbines. Alas I don't know the names of these either. The pale lavender and purple ones self-sow, so they are in a different location every year. The pink/maroon one seemed to come back from its rootstock. An astilbe is the purply plant in front and the plague from hell--cinnamon fern--is behind it.

And that's about all that's growing in my yard . . . oh, there is a hosta--Guacamole--in this bottom picture. And if you think I don't have garden pests . . . I do. I just didn't take a picture of my poor Rose of Sharon bush. It had aphids last year, but I found some ladybugs to nosh on them. This year it's been so cool, I haven't seen any ladybugs to collect!

Plus we have gophers and moles we're trying to encourage to visit our neighbor's yards instead of ours. I did plant some garlic chives in the side yard, and I think the gopher didn't like the smell of them. If they stop tunneling there, then I might have to break up the clump and plant it in various locations in the yard!

I hope you have a good weekend, Peeps! It's Mother's Day so do something nice for the woman who incubated you for 9 months before she took care of you for the subsequent 18+ years.

I know what I'm going to do--I have numerous annuals to plant in my bare places and in six pots that decorate my deck.

Later, Peeps!

Webworms . . . not Internet worms

I started taking pictures of webworms a few weeks ago. The weather had started getting warm and I was seeing evidence that it would be a bad, bad year again, but then we had quite a few gloomy, rainy days, which slowed their growth.

When it's hot and sunny, they are prolific. Cold and rain, not so much.

So the first question you have is what are webworms?

They're disgusting catepillar-creatures who are the larvael form of a moth. The moth lays the eggs, the eggs hatch to webworms. As the worms grow, so does the web. If there are enough of these little buggers they can cover, and eventually kill a tree.

One year I did see these things take over a hickory tree on the school property behind our house, and the tree did live, and it did grow quite a bit the next year. The problem with webworms, other than they denude a tree and look disgusting, they tend to attack nut trees. And in this part of the country that's our pecan trees.

More webworms, less pecans to harvest. This is bad business.

We've had webworms on our river birch once. We cut the branch off. But let me tell you that they scurry away, so be prepared with chemicals or fire to kill them once the branch is down.

Personally, I'm a fan of fire versus chemical irradication. With fire, you have to catch them in their early stages when they are barely formed in the crook of a tree branch. With chemicals you have to spray into their web nest, which can be difficult.

If you happen to be driving across the country this summer and you see these nasties in the trees, you now know what they are and why they are so difficult to get rid of.

This has been a Gardening 101 public service announcement.

Later, Peeps

Weeds or Wildflowers

So, what would you call these?

Wildflowers or weeds?

It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my yard and garden, these flowers would be considered weeds, and I would do everything in my power to eradicate them.

But on my walking trail, I’m enjoying the unexpected beauty of the wildflowers.

Life is how we perceive it.

 

Sometimes we are blessed with the unexpected. Just like this lone mushroom throughout all the acres of trail that I walked.

Sometimes we need to narrow our focus, to cut the clutter and chatter of rhetoric, to understand the truth, to enjoy the true beauty around us and in others.

 From a distance, this is a pretty woodland picture. A creek meanders in the background amid trunks of trees and tufts of vegetation and grass.

 A closer look shows a tangle of crazy vines.

 The tangle of vines make way for piles of flowers nestled next to the dead grasses of the previous season.

Only to reveal the beauty of a wild blackberries.

 

Other times we are so focused within that we forget there is more to life than the inner ego. The world doesn’t revolve around an individual, and the world will still revolve when we are gone. 

 

 

 It doesn't take much to find a minuscule piece of joy and happiness, as in these teeny, tiny little flowers.  Slowly opening our eyes to the wonders that we can enjoy if we but actually take the time to see.

Life is all about perspective. Sometimes we need to change our perspective to see the whole picture.

Something to think about.

Later, Peeps!

*these pictures were taken with my Samsung phone Wednesday, April 17, 2013.