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!

Bits and Pieces

With all this rain, I had forgotten how quickly black spot spreads. *Remember the last two years have been droughty. No rain, thus no black spot.* And I didn't spray AT ALL. Some of my roses are denuded of leaves. I need to deadhead and spray this weekend. Poor babies.


Last night I made my spaghetti meat sauce and had to open a bottle of red wine.  I searched in my cabinet and found a 2005 Mount Pleasant Norton. We probably did buy this wine about 6-8 years ago, but the last time I opened the bottle it was so tannic that it was undrinkable. Now, it's finally ready. Making the spaghetti sauce was quick and easy because of another little trick--pre-cook your meat. The last time I went to Sam's Club I purchased six pounds of ground beef and about the same amount of hot Italian sausage, in casings. I spent all morning cooking the meat, dividing it and sealing it into vacuum bags. It was definitely worth the hassle when all I had to do was pull the meat out of the freezer, defrost it a little and dump it into the sauce to finish up.


The kidlet goes to Girl Scout camp next week. They are not allowed to take electronics, and the one paperback book I bought her when I met Tara Hudson--Hereafter-- has been read. Guess I'll need to stop at Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million to find books two and three, Arise and Elegy.


Speaking of YA, Ally Carter keeps tweeting that she has finished the very last Gallagher Girls books. So sad. This was a nice series, but characters do tend to grow up. And the Gallagher Girls are finishing up at SPY high school.


I thought I'd be able to putz around the house today, do laundry, spray my roses, weed my garden, but nope, I had promised to take my hubs to have his windshield fixed. *sigh* Which means another trip around lunch to take him back to the aforementioned car. With new tires and a new windshield, its almost as if he has a brand new Corvette. Right?


With the kidlet at camp next week, maybe, just maybe, I'll actually be able to sit down and write. Man, it's been tough this summer. I did make a few corrections on DRAGON DAYS OF SUMMER as I reread the first 50 pages to get back into writing that story, but that was weeks ago! I'll have to do it all over again. Plus I want to get a rough draft down of my next picture book, PIPER AND THE EVERBERRY SOCCER GAME, tentative title.


I think temps will be going back to normal for the summer--90's and dry--so we might actually be able to swim in the pool. . . .along with starting to plan a few pool parties. YAY!

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!

Gardening 101 -- Nom, nom, nom

Today's blog will be a pictorial. A few weeks ago I mentioned that my Rose of Sharon bush had TONS of aphids, those life-sucking insectoids that can damage a plant even killing it.

Now, I have no problem with using pesticides, but it had been so windy that I didn't want to take the chance. Besides, I had discovered an endless supply of ladybugs on my walkies.

Every morning, ladybugs climbed to the tops of weeds, grasses and anything else they were near to 1) warm up, 2) drink dew, or 3) I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go along.

Anyhoo, all I need to do was collect them. So one Saturday I took a nylon bag thinking I would capture them and dance home with a bunch of voracious eaters. But I hadn't taken into account their inability to stay captured. In fact, they keep slipping out of the holes in the bag and I felt like I was herding cats.

 In hindsight, the leg of an unused pair of hose would have worked better! So I finished drinking my water and slipped the bag into the open mouth of my water bottle, covering the hole to keep them from escaping. Once home I placed the eight ladybugs on my plant. Two weeks later, the ladybugs are gone . . . and so are the aphids.

Even though my plant is aphid-free, it doesn't mean the buggers won't return. But with luck, the ladybugs got busy and worked on their circle of life.

And though their larvae are pug-ugly, they are also voracious eaters of aphids. So don't kill these ugly critters!

Later, Peeps!