Yes, the garden has become a soggy jungle. 🐒 My apologies to those of you who are experiencing drought, I do pray rain is coming soon for you. But my garden is drenched. With almost daily rain and a healthy bunch of storms, pathways have flooded, large tree limbs are broken and much of the garden has standing water. Mr. G’s grassy areas are a mess.😞 Today we are getting sunshine (and steam) so I ventured out for a look-see. Sad. Broken plants, mulch has moved on to the neighbors garden, everything is just icky and in need of a good cleanup. I hate wet and icky. Good for us we almost always have a few bags of what I call “emergency mulch.”
THYME OUT FUN
It’s not all gloomy! One dry afternoon I spent some time in THYME OUT (my outside potting area) and had a blast trimming up some of my small topiaries. It is great therapy! This outside girl is going to need more than “topiary therapy” if we don’t get some regular sunshine. There has been way to much inside time. I learned years ago, I am solar powered!! ☀️
LATEST ROSE CHAT PODCAST
Recently I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Malcolm Manners about his work with Rose Mosaic Virus, work in the rose district in Harlem and so much more! Once you listen to this podcast you’ll know why he was named Great Rosarian of the World in 2013. Listen here.
COMING SOON: We are currently working on a new series called ASK THE EXPERTS.
Subjects we are tackling are:
- GROWING ROSES SUSTAINABLY: Pat Shanley
- DESIGNING A ROSE GARDEN: Carolyn Parker
- GROWING YOUR ROSE SOCIETY: Ron Daniels
- ALL ABOUT SOIL: Gaye Hammond
If you have questions for any of our experts, please send them to me via email HERE.
ARS GREEN THUMB WEBINAR
The American Rose Society has been doing a series of Green Thumb webinars. All of them have been great but I am particularly excited about this one!
TOPIC: Going the Distance
PRESENTER: Will Radler (Father of the Knock Out rose)
DATE: Sat, July 24, 1:00 – 3:00 pm (Central Time)
$10 (Non aRS Members)
FREE For ars members (use THE MEMBER CODE in email FROM ARS)
ABOUT THE WEBINAR…
Take a ringside seat and enjoy the inspirational tale of The Knock Out Rose® as told by its creator, Will Radler. One might expect that the world’s best-selling rose was conceived in a laboratory under the direction of a seasoned rose breeder holding many horticultural degrees. Instead, a nine-year-old with two quarters in his pocket changed the rose industry forever. Radler shares a blow-by-blow account of his journey from fringe contender to international champ. The behind-the-scenes details will both amaze and inspire you. Making it to the main event is one thing. Sustaining is another. Radler, with his unconventional methods, is certainly doing something right with 50 plant patents to his name. Fast forward to 2021. Modern day rose breeding has evolved dramatically. Going toe-to-toe in today’s industry presents both opportunities and challenges. Learn an insider’s perspective of the state of the revitalized industry.
Webinar Topics Include:
- The Rose Industry Today
- Marketing Challenges
- Competition
- Diseases (and perception of diseases)
- Breeding Priorities
- IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
BLOOM THYME
Not everything has been beaten down by the rain and storms! Some plants are letting their light shine and making me smile.
BETTER WEATHER AHEAD
Well, it looks like better weather is coming soon – after a bit more stormy weather. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for stopping by.
Looks like none of us have a perfect rain situation, either too wet or too dry, no ‘just right’! Pretty hot here in SoCal and certainly no rain as we don’t get any during summertime. We have a very small garden and no grass. The hubs put everything on drip, with just a few pots that need hand watering. I enjoy spending that time watering to spend time in the garden and to check how things are doing. I love your comment that you are Solar Powered!!! You would seldom have your batteries run low out here. Hope you get charged up soon:-).
Having every thing on drip sounds so good although, like you, I do enjoy hand watering. I love the sun of California! Beautiful place! Enjoy.
Wow! You covered a lot of ground! We also had about 10 inches of rain in 12 days – and our garden sits on cement soil. No joke. We have brought in many! yards of good soil which is a help, but it is still sitting cement soil that was used for brick making. Upshot is, no roses, but they will bloom again, and lots of daylilies.
That’s a lot of rain! I’ve never heard of cement soil. We deal with soggy clay here!
Just getting back on the computer today, Thurs., 07-22-2021. Here in VA we have had a heat wave and some reprieve from the rain and storms. We actually had two tornado warnings in our area not too long ago. We had our helmets ready! But they were cancelled just in our area though. Still picking the Japanese beetles off of my roses. Getting red and delicious tomatoes, cucumbers, and green bell peppers to eat from our garden and also share. Found four sugar pie pumpkin flowers on our pumpkin plants this am. Just hope we will get some of those pumpkins. I saved the seeds from one and shared some of the seeds. I have four little cedar trees that I found in my yard, dugged them up and replanted them in pots. I call one of them The Tiniest Christmas Tree, but it is growing. So sweet! One has really lovely branches, so graceful with pansies planted around the bottom of it in a large and round container. I just love them! I really love white flowers, and my Pee Gee hydrangea is in bloom now. So beautiful! My albelia shrub is also in bloom. So beautiful, too. Be safe and stay well.
So glad you are getting some yummy food from the garden! So sorry about the beetles. Such nasty critters. The cedar trees sound great! Before we know it, it will be time for pumpkin pie!