When winter approaches I typically bring potted plants I want to save into the Potting Shed where there is controlled warmth and light (geraniums, mint, lavender, etc.), except for my large potted roses, they are taken to the garage (no windows). The roses go dormant and “spring” back to life in the spring. Because of “over crowding” in the Potting Shed, I took this pot of herbs to the garage too.
Last week I brought the pots out of the garage and couldn’t believe how well these herbs sprang back to life. They never lost their “green” completely and now they look almost robust! Today they are outside getting some sunshine and intermittent light rain. Let the thriving begin!
The roses left in the garage are doing quite well too.
I typically cut any spindly growth completely back and let the roses start fresh. But this one is recovering so fast that I may do minimal pruning and she how she does. Meet the “winter in the garage, in the dark version of the Coretta Scott King” rose. Anemic though she may be, I think we are going to start from here and see what she does.
Tonight on Rose Chat Chris and I were joined by Pat Shanley, incoming President of the American Rose Society.
Many of my rose loving friends are concerned about the effects of chemicals in their garden. Pat offered so much insight and encouragement to those wanting to grow a beautiful yet sustainable rose garden. Pat does not spray her beautiful rose garden and has joined with other environmentally concerned rose gardeners to write a book, The Sustainable Rose Garden.
Read the Midwest Book Review…
Roses, with their bright colors and sweet smell, have earned a special place among floral enthusiasts. “The Sustainable Rose Garden” is a collection of essays written by rosarians for fellow rose lovers. Speaking on the sustainability of roses and their surprising impact on the environment, there is much to ponder about how roses can be improved for their future. With nearly forty contributors, “The Sustainable Rose Garden” is a read that is very much recommended for the environmentally conscious rose lover.
Pat also shared her vision for the future of the American Rose Society, America’s oldest horticultural society. Pat’s vision is a society that is relevant in today’s world–a society that breaks down barriers and unites everyone who loves the rose. Pat is often described as a woman of “boundless energy,” and tonight we had a glimpse of that!
To listen to our chat, click on the Rose Chat icon below…
Things are never dull when Paul Zimmerman is in the Rose Chat house! And, this week was no exception. For tons of fun, rose garden advice, the latest in rose trends and rose trials AND for the roll out of something brand new in the world of roses — Easy-PZ — a new line of roses brought to us by Paul and Ben Hanna of Heirloom Roses.
If you know Paul, you know 2 things … these roses will be beautiful and these roses will be sustainable! You will see them first on the Heirloom Roses website.
Click on the Rose Chat icon below and let Paul tell you about Easy-PZ roses himself … and you don’t want to miss hearing what’s going on in his garden at the Funny Farm! 🙂
In the rose world when you mention repeat, you are often referring to how often or how quickly a rose repeats it’s bloom cycle. Some repeat quickly while others do their amazing display of blooms all at once.
Repeat now has another meaning for me. On the Rose Chat Podcast recently our guest was Jennifer Grove, Founder of Repeat Roses. You can listen to Jennifer tell her story by clicking the Rose Chat logo below…
Repeat Roses provides concierge pickup service to remove hotel and wedding event floral arrangements, and delivers joy to local residents at nursing homes, hospice care and family shelters. Their goal is to deliver joyful experiences that benefit the emotional health of their residents and patients.
This picture speaks of beauty on so many levels.
Many of you know that I am a former florist and I can tell you that it used to drive me and my associates crazy to know that our beautiful creations would most likely end up in the trash in a few hours.
I can also speak as a mother of the bride and a mother of the groom when I say what a great service they are providing. After a big event families want to do something with the flowers, but are too exhausted to organize what Repeat Roses has in place. They take care of containers, redesigns and delivery! They even return to the site to collect and compost all waste to keep tons of organics out of landfills!
How fulfilling for families and event planners — to have the flowers that just contributed so much to their beautiful event, have another life bringing joy to those in their community who most need their spirits lifted.
I applaud Jennifer for her innovative and sustainable solution to a florist’s nightmare! Please go to RepeatRoses.com to see just what they are doing. And, following along on Facebook to see what’s going on regularly! If you or someone you know is having a special event, maybe you can partner with them too!
During this season of Thanksgiving, I want to send out a big “THANK YOU” to you for joining me on this gardening journey. You mean the world to me!
Now it’s time for me to start waiting the winter out.
“Waiting the winter out” brings to mind something I learned from Mr. Rogers…. “let’s think of something to do while we’re waiting… ” Mr. Rogers was right, it IS always good to have something to do!
INSIDE GARDENING…
I have several pots of amaryllis and daffodils I will soon enjoy in the Potting Shed. And, will continue to “tend” the gerainiums and herbs that are over wintering there. The shed is a tiny space so the roses and herbs that we had outside this summer in large pots will spend their winter in Mr. G’s woodworking shop. They will be very happy there.
ROSE CHAT…
Chris and I will keep you in the “rose gardening know” with past and upcoming Rose Chat podcasts. There are 100+ recorded podcasts you can listen to here via your computer or on your mobile devices by using iTunes or the Stitcher App.
We will take a short break from live shows for Christmas, (All the archived show are still there for you!) and start back strong in 2015 with…
One of my favorite winter activities is planning and plotting what I will do to the garden next spring. And, pouring through catalogs to make my plant buying decisions! We have so many options … isn’t it great!
PICTURES…
Another thing that gets me through the long midwest winters is pouring through the pictures I take. Actually, I consider my iPhone one of my most valuable garden tools!
Here’s a gallery of some of my 2014 favorites…
Falling In Love
Gemini with Dick Clark in the background
The line up ….
Comte de Chambord and neighbors
Our Lady of Guadelupe and neighbors.
Hansa and Roseraie de la Hay
Early June evening…
Roses and peonies…
Rainy day…
Poseidon and company…
Amber Carpet Roses around the fish pond.
Etoille de Violette in the background…
Mr. H’s first visit to the garden! You knew he would be in this gallery, didn’t you?!?
SOCIAL MEDIA…
Many of you are growing in areas where things are blooming right now and I sure appreciate your shares via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks!
This morning I woke up to 16 degrees and today was a day I had set again to do more winterizing in the garden. So, I donned my dad’s hunting coat and one of his old flannel shirts (and my thermals) grabbed my pruners and headed out to prune some of those extra long rose canes and to add some mulch to those that I know to be a little more tender. Most of my roses can take most any weather that winter dishes out. (You can read more about that here.)
All it took was to just “be” in my garden for more than a few minutes stolen here and there and I was transformed. The birds were singing, the frost added an enchanting sparkle and God showed up. Just as he always does when I am in the garden. I cast all my cares on him … and he takes them as his own and I am different for it. The greatest peace I have ever known is in the quiet peacefulness of mornings in my garden. It doesn’t matter the chore, it simply is all that for me. And, if you throw in some potting shed time … well you have the fixings of a perfect day. I hope that you have someplace in your life where you are at peace and God shows up. We know he is always with us and he doesn’t just “show up,” but in the stillness of a special place we “know it’ more.
Many people ask … “What do you do with all those roses in the fall?” Really not much … I tend to keep it simple. There are other chores that get a lot more of our attention in the fall than the roses. Like leaves! We have a lot of trees and so there are a lot of leaves. Mr. G has that process well in hand — with power tools like his leaf blower and tractor.
As far as the rose companions are concerned, I don’t cut back my perennials and annuals until the spring–I love the winter interest they provide especially when the snow falls on the different plant shapes. And, those seed pods are very yummy to our birds who hang around.
Now for “all those roses.” Many of my roses are known to be winter hardy because I know that it is very likely that we will have a harsh winter and I would advise you make decisions on the roses you buy based on your weather conditions throughout the year not just your spring and summer.
I will clean up the beds of diseased leaves and debris and add mulch were needed.
I will take those in pots into the garage to protect from the winter. They don’t require much, just a drink of water every few weeks.
I will provide a heavy layer of much for a few of the particularly tender roses or sentimental favorites that I would hate to lose, by adding 4-5″ of extra mulch.
I will tie up the long canes of the climbers. I can look out and see that Peggy Martin and Francis E. Lester has grown some long arching canes since I tied them up a few weeks ago.
I will also cut back any of the roses that are extra tall to about waist high to keep them from flapping in the winter winds.
For the rest of the roses, they are on their own. Most can take it, but I know that if we have a winter like we had last year, I will lose a few and it is to be expected. But, you know what that means, once I get over the emotion of the loss, I will celebrate the extra space for the new introductions.
Rugosas are some of the toughest roses I grow. They will be back next spring give us their own brand of fireworks and fragrance in the garden. Oh I just can’t wait. If you want to read more about FIREWORKS and FRAGRANCE in the garden, read on here.
Roseraie de la HayBlanc de Double CorbertRoseraie de la Hay and Hansa
Have a wonderful week and enjoy the garden down time!
The weather has been soooo cold and this morning when I took a garden walk I feared all the buds I have been watching would be lost. What a surprise I received …. blooms everywhere. I scrambled to get my rescue bucket and get them cut before the temps dip down tonight.
I hear the temps will be on the rise next week. Wouldn’t it be nice if all those buds out there bloomed. I would love to be like my deep south friends with my own roses on the Thanksgiving table …. probably a pipe dream!
But these pretties made it to the rescue bucket…
Poseidon Bud
Apricot Drift
Pink Supreme Carpet
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Lady Salisbury
Moje Hammersburg
Petit Pink
Anna’s Promise
Boscobel
Music Box
Ingenious Mr. Fairchild
Doris Day
Pink Drift
Dick Clark
Dick Clark
Carefree Wonder
Apricot Drift
Cherry Pie
Black Forest
Cecile Brunner
Cecil Brunner
Cecile Brunner — can you tell I am uber excited about this one!
They are still trying to get inside. Proven Winner’s supertunias!
Rescue Bucket
The Bokay
In other news I have lost my Barnels. And, I love my Barnels. Hope they don’t end up lost for 15 years like these guys were…
I found these last fall and it had been at least 15 years since I’d seen them. But, hey they are Craftsman, so there is a lifetime guarantee but I couldn’t part with them. 🙂
Lucky for me my good friend Wendy Tilley has her new website up and running and she has plenty of Barnels …. check out TheRoseGardener.com
Now it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. Tons of fun stuff coming!
What do you think??? Is it going to be a mild winter OR is the Polar Vortex gonna visit again.
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking at the INDIANA/ILLINOIS Rose Society district meeting. Also on the program that day was Richard Anthony of For Love of Roses. Richard shared with us a presentation of his beautiful roses but, more than that, he brought many roses for us to see in person. Believe me, he has some beauties! And, I just had to share a few of those beauties with you.
If you are not familiar with Richard, let me introduce you…
Richard J. Anthony is a national level exhibitor with 106 Queens of Show (Yes, 106!!!) to his credit after 13 years of exhibiting roses. He has 4 National Queens and 9 District Queens as of the fall of 2014 rose season.
Richard and his partner, Brenna Bosch, work very hard to bring the best of the best miniature and miniflora roses which includes Richard’s own rose hybridizing efforts as well as several new roses from other hybridizers.
For some growing tips from Richard himself, read on.
Whether you are just interested in growing these lovely roses or are ready to throw your hat in the ring and try your hand at exhibiting, here are some of the top performers…
TOP 5 BEST SELLING MINIATURES
BEES KNEES
Bees Knees by Keith Zary
An exceptionally fine rose and a prolific bloomer; it is not uncommon to have 40 to 50 blooms on a mature own root bush. READ MORE…
This rose is the best miniature red rose available today. Blooms will last on the bush and for exhibition purposes longer than most. READ MORE…
TATTOOED DAUGHTER
Tattooed Daughter (Photo Credit: Bryan Sherman)
A beautiful orange miniature rose with darker orange stripes that was named by Bob Martin after his daughter. This rose will definitely win miniature open bloom with regularity and also best miniature spray due to its unique coloration. READ MORE…
DR. GARY RANKIN
Dr. Gary Rankin
Named after a gentleman, scholar, birder and good friend, this miniature rose is as close to perfect as you are going to find in a miniature rose. READ MORE…
EMMA GRACE
Emma Grace by Whit Wells
A rose that takes two or three years to mature but is well worth the wait as the sprawling characteristics eventually disappear and disease resistance improves considerably. READ MORE…
TOP 5 BEST SELLING MINIFLORAS
MEMPHIS MUSIC
Memphis Music by Whit Wells
A striking dark red sport of Memphis Magic that has bright yellow flecks throughout each petal. The rose definitely exhibits as evidenced by several queens of show. READ MORE…
ABBY’S ANGEL
Abby’s Angel by Whit Wells
One of the most beautiful colored roses you can grow. It has great form, substance and well defined centers. READ MORE…
BALDO VILLEGAS
Baldo Villegas by Whit Wells
Named after one of the nicest and most helpful rosarians. The rose is a beautiful red blend. It is a star in the garden due to the beautiful red and white coloration. READ MORE…
DR. JOHN DICKMAN
Dr. John Dickman
A work horse on the show table and in the garden as well as the dark purple color draws everyone’s attention to it. There is not much you can’t do with this rose from an exhibitors’ perspective. READ MORE…
FOOLISH PLEASURE
Foolish Pleasure by David Clemons
This rose is a great garden rose and throws near perfect quality exhibition blooms that win Queen of Show and work well in all Challenge Classes. READ MORE…
With so many pretty ones, I’m not sure how I am going to make my selection for next year! But, it will be fun pouring through my options! For a complete list, read on.
IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK…
Leaves are falling like crazy and November is fast approaching but there are many roses in my garden that don’t seem to be affected by those facts at all. I can certainly understand why … while I was working in the garden Saturday, the temp skyrocketed to 80 degrees. This week has not been nearly that warm and today I don’t think we are going to get to 50 and the night time temps are dipping to the mid 30s. Burrrrr!
I seriously don’t remember having so many buds and blooms at this time of year before, and bringing in vases of roses at the end of October is FUN! As far as I’m concerned, winter can take it sweet time. Speaking of sweet, look at what’s blooming this week…
Click on any of the pictures below to activate the gallery feature…
Red Drift
Smoothie
Peach Drift
Phlox blooming like it was spring.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Moje Hammersburg Rugosa
Quiteness
HenriI Clematis
Apricot Drift
Evening shot from my swing — hru my screen porch window
