Bloom Thyme Friday: The Ritual Begins

Link | October 20, 2017 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

It is that time when the weather is UP and DOWN. We have been close to frost on more than one occasion already. It comes quickly!

THE RITUAL: Bring them in!

For as long as I can remember, I have overwintered plants and cuttings of favorite plants in the potting shed. While the potting shed is my happy place, it is a tiny place and believe me, I sometimes feel like I am working a jigsaw puzzle to fit everyone in and have room for me!

This week I took the first inhabitants into the potting shed. A pot of this, a snip of that and the overcrowding has begun.

Hudson’s single African Violet leaf is growing! Exciting!

Mint in my grandmother’s pitcher–a prized possession.

One of the new kids on the block. Too small to be thrown out into an Indiana winter!

This simple verse always reminds me that gardening was God’s idea first.

The geraniums and pot of mint, a bay tree, some succulents and a couple of roses are still outside looking in — wondering if she is going to forget about them or give their space to some of the new kids on the block like those cute little Perle d’Or roses. Hummmm I still believe there will be room for all of them. 😳

I am rushing to get some of the plants in this week, due to the fact that we are leaving tomorrow to lead a mission trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

Please remember our team in your thoughts and prayers as we go to serve and show love to those who have so little by the world’s standards. We have not been to this area before but those preparing us have told us to think 3rd world conditions.

We intend to bloom where we are planted this week and hope you do too.

Happy Bloom Thyme Friday

Hey speaking of blooms…. this carpet rose and Señorita Mi Amor Cleome will not stop. Blooming machines! I would highly recommend growing them in your garden next year!

Bloom Thyme Friday: Hello Beautiful

Link | October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

While I was at the Biltmore Rose Trials my neighbor called and said there is a big box on my front porch — it might be roses. YIKES! That week the temps in our area were in the mid 90s. She took them home for me and took great care of them while I was away. Big shout out to my special friend Z! A trip to the Biltmore winery unearthed the perfect gift to reward her for her quick response! 💪🏻 👊🏻

I returned home to a beautiful box of strong, healthy Jackson and Perkins roses to test in my garden. Savannah, Belinda’s Dream and Jasmine! Gorgeous all.

SO MUCH PINKNESS! Be still my heart!

Savannah: A lovely, fragrant Hybrid Tea was a big winner at the 2015 Biltmore International Rose Trials … Best Hybrid Tea, Most Fragrant, and Most Outstanding Rose of the Trial (Best in Show). Read more here.

From Jackson and Perkins website: Savannah™ Sunbelt ® boasts silky petals that go from powder pink to deep salmon. Their large flowerheads rest against a handsome backdrop of glossy dark green foliage that holds its tidy and shapely form quite well. Punishing heat and high humidity do nothing to diminish the extravagant beauty. Not even diseases like Black Spot and Powdery Mildew dare challenge this sweetest of roses.

Last year I added one Savannah. It is doing very well and I look forward to having more to test for this area.

Belinda’s Dream: An Earth Kind shrub rose that I have grown, but never had out in the garden. I have grown this rose in a container on the deck.

From Jackson and Perkins website: The romantic, arching habit of grandmother’s cottage garden rose, plus modern vigor. You owe it to your gardening forebearers to take a look at this charming rose. Bred by a mathematics professor(Dr. Robert Basye) who spent his life trying to knock out blackspot in the roses he bred (with a good bit of success, we might add!), ‘Belinda’s Dream’ is a lavish, over-the-top fragrant beauty of soft pink with an old-fashioned habit, petal-packed hybrid tea bloom form, and disease-resistant foliage that stands up to the worst summer heat and humidity.

Time will tell! I am expecting GREAT things. More information here on Earth Kind roses…. here.

Jasmina: I have wanted this climbing rose ever since I saw Bill Kozemchak’s pictures on Facebook!

From the Jackson and Perkins website: Jasmine is part of the Arborose® series, which means it is not your average climbing rose! The flowers are bigger and come in greater numbers. The canes are softer, making them easier to train onto any structure. The plant has fantastic own-root vigor and resistance to the biggest rose killers: cold, powdery mildew, and blackspot

Thanks to its flexible canes and fantastic performance, Jasmina™ is a dream to grow near practically any garden structure. Plant it this season and enjoy its soft beauty and rich, fruity fragrance for years to come! Zones 5 to 9.

Jasmina in Bill Kozemchak’s Garden. Check out his Facebook page here.

Hey, Annie, here’s Savannah getting her first drink of Moo Poo Tea just like all the other roses in my garden.

Savannah’s Christening…

And, to my friends at Jackson and Perkins … a big Thank You!

Fall is here. Spring is 166 days away.

Regardless of the season, let’s bloom wherever we are planted!

Happy Bloom Thyme Friday!

Bloom Thyme Friday: Biltmore Rose Trial Winners!

Link | September 29, 2017September 29, 2017 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Last weekend on a perfect day in a enchanting garden we chose winners in the 2017 Biltmore International Rose trials!

Ping Lim for Bailey Nurseries, Inc. and Altman Plants, swept the show winning 5 awards. Ping

First up, winning 4 of the 7 awards for 2017 is Screaming Neon – including Most Outstanding rose of the trial. A rose you couldn’t miss. A beautiful, healthy rose just covered in bloom. It showed no sign of disease. This rose will be beautiful in your garden or landscape!

Awards for Screaming Neon were:

Lord Burleigh Award for Most Disease Resistant

Chauncey Beadle Award for Best Shrub

William Cecil Award for Best Growth Habit

And, the George & Edith Vanderbilt Award for Most Outstanding rose of the trial!

Ping’s roses have won in these trials before…
2015’s Gilded Age Award for Best Climber — ‘Flying Kiss.’
2016’s Pauline Merrell Award for Best Hybrid Tea — ‘Double 10’

Screaming Neon with it’s neighbors in the Biltmore garden

Ping Lim also won the Edith Wharton Award for Best Floribunda with the lovely Lion King.

The gorgeous Anastasia, bred by Michel Adam, won the Pauline Merrell Award for Best Hybrid tea.

And, TADA, the coveted Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil Award for the Most Fragrant rose goes to Dee-Lish. This rose is from the esteemed House of Meilland.

Our time on the Biltmore Estate was lovely as always. It is a magical place especially when you have the opportunity to be in the garden when it is shrouded in fog. Enchanting. Magical.

If you have not visited the Biltmore, do put it on your list. You will love anytime of year, BUT ESPECIALLY when the roses are in bloom.