For the next few weeks, I want to share with you some of the roses and plants that were standouts this year.

Whether you call her ‘Garden and Home’ or ‘Moonlight in Paris’, she’s still a beauty and a standout in my garden this year!

I was first introduced to this outstanding Delbard rose as ‘Garden and Home’ in the beautiful garden of American Rose Society President, Bob Martin in San Diego, CA. Bob and Dona Martin have one of the prettiest private rose gardens I have ever seen, so to have this rose stand out in a sea of other gorgeous roses is high praise indeed.

Here she is in the Martin’s garden along with a few of her gorgeous neighbors…

Fast forward to spring 2020 when so many things were going wrong! One thing that went so right was my purchase of two of these beauties through the Indianapolis Rose Society’s annual rose sale as ‘Moonlight in Paris.’  These roses were purchased from Lincoln Nursery. 

A BIT OF HER HISTORY (From Help Me Find Website)

This rose was introduced in 2001 in France as ‘Garden and Home’ to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the South African gardening magazine Garden and Home.

Introduced in US by Heirloom Roses, Inc. (USA) in 2011 as ‘Moonlight in Paris’. 

Introduced in US by Certified Roses in 2018 as ‘Moonlight in Paris’.

WINTER HARDINESS

Also from the Help Me Find Website is winter hardiness information for roses. Moonlight in Paris is recommended for USDA zones 6b through 9b. I garden in 5b, so she will need some winter protection.

Here winter protection for a container rose is either bringing the container into our dark and slightly heated garage and give it some water once a month or taking it out of the container, trimming it back, and burying it. I am still not sure which I will choose but I have had success with both. 

I highly recommend ‘Moonlight in Paris,’ it has been in bloom all summer. Right now the 2nd week of September it is covered in bud and bloom. These blooms are not only the large full old-fashion form that I love, but they also have fragrance!

 

MORE ABOUT DELBARDS

Good rose friend, Paul Zimmerman, has been singing the praises of Delbard Roses to me for nearly a decade. He was soooo right. I now have ‘Moonlight in Paris’ to go with my two other Delbard Roses that are doing very well too:

Soeur Emmanuelle 

Papi Delbard (climber)

If you are interested in purchasing Delbard Roses, you might try these suppliers. And, if you know of other nurseries who are selling these roses, leave a comment below!

Roses Unlimited
Palatine Roses 

FALL PLEASURES

Assessing the garden while it is still full of life as you plan for the next year is one of my favorite pleasures of fall. 

Another fall pleasure… As I write, leaves are falling like gentle rain from my huge Skyline Honey Locust. It is beautiful and peaceful. So quickly the landscape changes. 

Wishing you health and safety as we continue to manage through unprecedented times. Aren’t we all ready for PRECEDENTED times!

 

pH … Only two letters but very important in our garden world.

Most years I test my soil with my Kelway pH meter and things have shown in the normal range. Last year the readings were slightly higher. So, this year since I had so much time on my hands to think about such things, I decided it was a great time to go all the way and have a “professional” soil test.

As you know I have a large garden with different garden “rooms.” I decided to actually do three separate tests. My choice was to test spaces that have the most roses.

Many garden friends recommended Great Lakes Lab so I simply hopped on their website where I found instructions on what to do. (FYI: Cost of these tests was approximately $30 each but you get a wealth of information on your soil!)

The results were back within 10 days. It is fascinating to read all the information. I learned my soil was high in organics! YAY! But it was surprising to see that my pH was reading more alkaline than ever before — 7.0 / 7.2 / 7.4. Roses are happiest and healthiest with a slightly acidic soil pH of 6.0 – 6.9. Rosarians strive for 6.5! So my pH was not extremely high, but it’s time to do something about it especially the area that was 7.4. The Great Lakes soil report also contains information on how to correct the situation.

When the pH is too high or too low, your plants can suffer from “malnutrition” as this affects the plant’s ability to take up nutrients. One symptom I had noticed was that a few of my roses were showing some chlorosis (yellowing) of the leaves.

There are no quick fixes at changing the pH of your soil – it can be difficult.  But, armed with this new information I am ready to work toward giving the plants what they need. Great Lakes Lab recommended sulfur – 10 lbs of sulfur per 1000 square ft on a yearly basis. Applications should be done in late fall or early spring. Since my pH is not too far from where it needs to be, I will probably only do 2 applications. However, it will take 2-3 years to see change. I’ll have another test in a couple years. If you haven’t had a “professional” soil test done, I would highly recommend you do. As a gardener, you will be fascinated by what you find.

I was very curious as to why the pH was rising each year so I starting asking my local rose society friends. Many have experienced the same thing. It was pointed out that our groundwater is very alkaline and we water from a well. Over time this makes a difference.

JAPANESE BEETLE UPDATE

The beetle season runs from mid-June to mid-August. This week I only found 3 or 4 beetles. They are gone – right on schedule! If you are wondering how many beetles we had … I can’t tell you how many I have (only to say TOOOOOO many!) But, my rose society friend Mark Nolen, who has grown roses for 50 years and is currently growing more than 300 roses keeps a count each year. They use the bag method and the soapy water bath method. From Mark…

The first year that I have a count is 2001 and we had 73,866 beetles. I had two Japanese beetle bags in 2001 located in my front yard and I estimate there were at least 40,000 beetles in the two bags. Last year we had 5,673 and this year we had 2,525. 

BLOOM THYME

This week all the attention is going to ‘Mother of Pearl’. She is ready to celebrate the end of beetle season and is showing off!

This grandiflora rose from Star Roses and Plants is a standout each year. Beautiful color, light fragrance, and very healthy. One of the things I like best about this rose (other than this amazing color) is that it holds it’s petals for a long time and looks fabulous from a distance even if the blooms are beginning to fade. I purchased mine from Roses Unlimited https://rosesunlimitedsc.com

 

 

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER

September is looming so fall is coming soon. Not my favorite season for sure but if I’ve learned anything from COVID, it is to be in the moment and to treasure and be grateful for all things. Yes, this weekend I will celebrate the coming of the new season with a Pumpkin Spice something! Are you a part of the pumpkin spice craze?

Friends, thanks for stopping by! Be safe, healthy, and happy!

This week has been so nice …  temps in the 80s with a bit of rain and loads of sunshine. Aren’t such days just the best! Especially right in the middle of summer!

I have been able to spend so much time in THYME OUT! I know as a child that has a different meeting but that is the name of my new outside potting space. Seriously, pinch me! 

This week Mr. G made the last of my “furniture” for “Thyme Out”…  a framed piece of fencing to go over one of the work tables. I LOVE fencing and use it everywhere I can. I can’t believe this is my workspace. Happy retirement to me! So grateful. 

I find I use this space almost on a daily basis… planting seeds, taking cuttings, and keeping things “potted up.” It is the perfect place to have my early morning routine of coffee and devotions.

TOPIARY…

This week I got back to work on my topiary projects I started last year and even started some new ones! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw that video. For my local friends, that covered wire I featured was bought at Franks Nursery and Crafts. Yes, that sure “dates” that wire!

I might have mentioned to Mr. G that I was concerned about what would happen this winter to Thyme Out and maybe we need to enclose this whole space. He rolled his eyes and went about his business. He’s smart. 😉

JAPANESE BEETLES…

They are still here and still disgusting but they are certainly fewer than last year and I am grateful for that. 

Rose blooms are precious and few. Most of the roses have been “cut back” so that they aren’t as attractive to the Japanese Beetles.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that the old garden rose Queen of Denmark who was not blooming was being devoured! It isn’t just the blooms they want. They are also devouring my pole beans! #nastycreatures

BLOOM THYME…

It is finally oriental lily season! I was not sure how many we would have this year. Remember that nasty May FREEZE. We covered all we could but not all of the lilies were protected and many were damaged and are not blooming this year. But some of there are spectacular!

I had a special bokay to make recently and wasn’t sure if the garden had any roses to add but I found some! 

The peachy rose closest to my hand in the bokay above is Papi Delbard. Isn’t it just stunning!

Papi Delbard is a fairly new rose to my garden. Beautiful, fragrant and healthy! For many years I have heard about the Delbard roses from great rose friend Paul Zimmerman. So glad I now have a few of them! I purchased mine from Palatine Roses. They are also available from Roses Unlimited. You might want to take a look!

ROSE LOVERS…

If you’ve grown roses for very long, you have most likely had to learn about the dreaded Rose Rosette Disease. 

Recently I chatted with the very popular Dr. Mark Windham, Distinguished Professor in Ornamental Pathology at the University of Tennessee. He shares the latest news on a very unpopular subject RRD. Mark talked about where the research stands at this time as well as the research funding and he reminds home gardeners what to look for, where to find the correct information and what to do.

Listen Here.

Friends, so glad you stopped by today!

Wishing you good health, cooler temps and plenty of blooms. 

 

Those destructive, nasty, no good, horrible Japanese beetles are here, so we might as well talk about them. 

THEIR HISTORY

The Japanese beetle is native to Japan. These little nuisances were first discovered in the United States around 1916 near Riverton, NJ in a nursery. It is thought that beetle larvae got into the US in a shipment of iris bulbs before inspections of imported goods entering the country began in 1912.

It is not just roses they love … they feed on around 200 species of plants.

I used to read that JBs were all east of the Mississippi, however, they are now being spotted in many other places around the country. I suspect they are still hitchhiking in plant containers! So no one will be safe before long. Now if only we could get them to “shelter in place” so we could eradicate them

MY WORLD

Japanese Beetles are a real problem in my area, especially last year. I first saw them on June 21 and I was still seeing them in late August. Mark Nolen, past president of the Indianapolis Rose Society, who has been growing for 50 years and grows over 300 roses, counted them last year and his total count was over 5,000. Let’s hope that record is not broken this year!

https://videopress.com/v/qZ4idKvl?preloadContent=metadata

Are you grossed out yet?

One of the very few upsides to drought is that it can interrupt their life cycle. After a particularly serious drought a few years ago, we had several years with few to no Japanese Beetles. I visualized the larvae being killed in the parched earth. Do you think differently of me now?

WHAT TO DO???

SPRAYS

I have chosen not to spray them as the spray kills more than the targeted pest and we want to protect the good guys. I did try sprays many years ago but saw little help. Your call on that one. As always read labels carefully and protect yourself!

HANDPICKING

The best method of control I’ve found is “handpicking.” When I say handpicking I mean tapping the area where the beetles are on the shrub and watch them fall into a bucket of soapy water. When startled, it is their natural response to drop and get to the ground as fast as they can (procreation and all that) – so in the water they go. The recommendation is to start this daily regimen as soon as they arrive and get them off the plants as soon as possible. The damage and droppings they leave behind contain their pheromone – a call to all their friends to come! So, the more you have the more you get!! It is best to even cut away and destroy the damaged area on the shrub. If you’re in a stressful season- squishing them works too. However… I have heard that the squishing process releases the pheromone that calls in the JB troops. Your call. No judgment here!

Beetle Traps

There is great debate about using beetle traps. They do work and beetles by the thousands have found their way to the beetle traps my husband “loves” to use. He places them at the edge of property and is gleefully happy when the trap is full. Some say it helps control and some say it brings more in. Your call. We buy them at Lowes… good luck. Note: Since our beetle population is down a bit this year, we have not put out the traps. Mr. G agreed to wait and see how the season goes.

GRUB CONTROL

Many are trying biological means to control them in the larvae stage. I have a very large garden with a good size lawn and none of the biologicals out today (primarily nematodes and milky spore fungus) seem worth the effort. However, though it takes time, do some research – it might be worth your effort. 

MOLES

Another unwanted pest in our garden is moles but they do eat grubs … so nature does have it’s ways. However, moles digging up your garden is a whole other horrible problem.  

Geraniums

Research is being done with Geranium petals as they cause temporary paralysis in Japanese Beetles – making them more vulnerable to their enemies. It’s a start and I bought 3 more hardy geraniums – just in case. The variety is ‘Dreamland’ and it’s very pretty. I’ve always loved geraniums – this just takes that love to the next level. 

YOU

If you have any tips and tricks that are working for you, please leave a comment so we can all benefit!

BLOOM THYME…

Finally, it’s time for something pretty! With all the talk about the JBs you are probably wondering if any blooms have escaped. Oddly enough they don’t love every flower… but we do!

With COVID and all, I went a little crazy with seed starting. It was mostly veggies. I had some great seed success and we gave some plants away but kept a lot of them. There are tomato plants in every nook and cranny we could find. Mr. G loves his tomatoes and we always have tomatoes on the driveway but NOT THIS MANY. Oh well, we will share, we’ll make salsa, we’ll make salads, we’ll have BLTs and we will eat tomatoes right off the vine! Oh, happy day. We also have several varieties of squash … most in pots. I am certainly looking forward to the cute little round zucchini – Ronde de Nice from Renee’s Garden. Our summer food will be interesting and yummy!

It’s been in the 🔥 90s 🔥 all week with another week of the same predicted.

friends, stay cool and safe and enjoy your garden thyme!