Bloom Thyme Friday

Link | February 2, 2018February 2, 2018 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Today it is sunny and cold. I love the sun, BUT it allowed that Groundhog to see his shadow and I was not fond of that. His prediction is that there is 6 more weeks of winter. I am pleading with spring to defy the groundhog and come up with a better plan.

With all that said, Groundhog Day is kinda fun. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

This weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.

The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in central Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended.

Yea, it’s fun to hear all about it and see them get dressed up and all … I just hope winter doesn’t go on and on and on until we begin to feel like Bill Murray. #groundhogdaythemovie 😳😳😳

GOOD NEWS: I heard today on Instagram from my friends @maplehurstgardens, located in NJ, that The Groundhog predictions are mostly wrong. #thatswhatimtalkingabout

LET’S SPRING AHEAD

While we are thinking about spring, I am wondering what are your favorite spring blooms. Here are two of mine:

Daffodils

Dogwood Trees (we have 5)

At just the right time spring will come and we will have the pleasure of watching our garden being reborn. And….

HAPPY BLOOM THYME FRIDAY!

Bloom Thyme: Spring Chores Today

Link | April 24, 2016 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

The garden chores this week have been to continue PRUNING and to start FERTILIZING the roses, to continue to pick up leaves and debris and tour the garden centers looking for treasures to add to the garden! These tasks are made all the more fun when I’m surrounded by so many pretty early spring bloomers…

Dee-Lish Roses

I bought two of the award winning (and fragrant) Dee-Lish roses from Star Roses and Plants at Dammann’s Garden Center a couple of weeks ago and they started blooming in the potting shed while I was away. Remember when I left for Cali it was SUPER cold. Today it is 74 and sunny!

Dogwood Trees

Bloomerang Lilac

Sargent Crabapple Trees

…a feast for the pollinators!

Creeping Phlox and purple mini iris.

UPDATE ON CONTAINER ROSES

Last year I grew more roses in containers than ever before. They overwintered in the dark, only lightly warmed garage. They have been out of the garage for almost a month now and they are looking great! They were fertilized yesterday and I expect I will see great things soon. They are still located near the door of the garage — just in case we get bad weather. Our last frost date doesn’t come until May 10 so I am going to keep them close by for a couple more weeks. When we get past the frost date, they will go back to the deck and spend their summer wowing us!

Rose Bed in Front of Potting Shed

… they’re coming back!

Well, break time is over… Mr. G is power washing the front porch. I better go check on him and see if he needs a drink!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Bloom Thyme: This Week in the Garden

Link | April 3, 2016January 24, 2018 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

With spring coming so early, this week in the garden has seen some ups and downs … especially where weather is concerned. Highs in the 60s and lows in the 20s. BUT, my time in the garden is just like always — PURE PLEASURE. If it’s cold, I just put on more clothes. LOL

My Chanticleer Pear is blooming beautifully. The daffodils are putting on quite a show and most of the roses have been given their spring hair cut.

The garden centers continue to get in more and more beautiful plants. I am on the lookout for some new companions for the roses so I’m going quite often. 😉 You already knew that, right!?

HERE THEY COME!

My bare root roses arrived from David Austin. It just so happened that my roses were delivered on the same day as a great rose friend’s roses were delivered and we chatted back and forth all day about our excitement. So nice to share the fun!

The roses were promptly opened, unwrapped and given their Moo Poo Tea 24-hour soak. On a beautiful afternoon they were planted just in time for rain (and the hail) to fall on them. Not a bad start. Hail I could live with out but… not so out of the ordinary with an early spring.

Even the David Austin boxes are beautiful.

New roses I’ve planted so far…

6341_P_1 — Olivia Rose Austin: Picture from David Austin Website

Olivia Rose Austin (David Austin)

Michael Marriott said that this rose might actually be the most outstanding of all the David Austin roses. Now, that is saying a lot. I now have two of these lovelies and will be reporting back! I am almost giddy about this rose. These roses were a lovely Christmas gift from the kids in Cali and that makes them all the more special to me.

Gertrude_Jekyll_1_2 — Gertrude Jekyll: Picture from David Austin Website

Gertrude Jekyll (David Austin)

I have rarely been without a Gertrude Jekyll in my garden but my last one became a weak bloomer after about 12 years and I decided to take it out and start again. The bare root plant that David Austin sent is one of the most healthy plants I have ever seen! This rose is going to be one for the record book I am just sure. If you are concerned about planting a bareroot rose, my good friend the Redneck Rosarian just did a video about that … watch here.

Look at all those strong canes! Gonna be fabulous!!

There’s more coming so stay tuned!

Isn’t this just so exciting!

🎉🌹🎉

What are you planting this spring?

Rose Buzz: Helping Roses Be Their Best Self

Link | March 11, 2016March 11, 2016 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Contrary to popular belief, roses are simple creatures with basic needs like…

SUN: You’ve heard it said over and over …. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Pick a spot with 6 – 8 hours of sun!

WATER: All living things need water. The best tip for watering I can give you is—water deeply. Shallow watering leads to shallow roots—which leads to plants that are more susceptible to dry conditions. Send those roots down deep!

NUTRITIOUS SOIL: This is the most important part! Good soil is the best gift you can give your plants. Roses don’t like like “wet feet,” (Neither do most other plants!), so drainage is key. For those of you in my region (midwest Zone 5) you are probably dealing with clay soil. Amend clay soils with compost and aged manure.

DEADHEADING: To keep your roses blooming throughout the season, remove spent blooms.

FERTILIZER: We ask a lot of roses … Be your best self and bloom all season long, so they appreciate a boost! For shrub roses the best time to fertilize is the spring. For hybrid teas and floribundas, they will appreciate some fertilizer in early spring and mid summer.

MULCH: 2-3″ of mulch helps retain moisture and provides a weed barrier. It is one of my fav parts in the process as it adds the finishing touch in the garden!

GOOD COMPANIONS: We all benefit from good companions. They truly help us be our best self and in the case of roses, many of those companions play host to the good bugs they need to fight the bad bugs lurking about!

YOU! Like in all good relationships, there is no substitute for time together. They like to show off for you and the more you visit the more you will recognize what is working and what is not! Maybe this is the year to take a selfie of you and your roses and post it on social media. That will surely prove how much you love them. 🙂

🐝 🐝 🐝

Some of my roses on a beautiful summer day…

It’s October 1 and I’m Thinking About Spring

October 1, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Yes, it’s October 1 and all I can do is think about spring. 🌷🌸🌹

So, I am going to take advantage of the fact that it is Thursday and do a #TBT post about spring and blooms and such. It will make me feel better about the coming roseless seasons.

My spring was ushered in with a trip to the Garden 2 Blog event and P. Allen’s Smith amazing rose garden and so many wonderful rose friends. Ahhhh….

And learning from the man himself…

Then there was the Biltmore International Rose Trials and more beautiful roses and wonderful rose friends!

Me and Mr. G surrounded by New Dawn and her beauty and fragrance!

Me and Chris VanCleave all dressed up for our official Rose Chat picture.

Remember the rugosas?

What about Open Garden Day for my Master Gardener friends and neighbors? That was so fun!

Well, this is a stretch since it wasn’t spring, but how can I leave out Mr. H and his momma coming and our special flower crown day in the garden.

This picture just steals my heart!

Okay, I have had my “moment” and gotten that out of my system, now let’s go to the orchard and get a caramel apple! 🍎

HAPPY FALL!

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

Next post will be about fall rose care … I promise!

😉

Rose Buzz: Fireworks

May 2, 2015May 3, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

I am going to be doing some traveling in May so I have been taking advantage of every moment of good weather to get the roses on their way to a spectacular growing season.

The existing roses have been trimmed, fertilized and prayed over! 🙂 The new bareroot roses have been soaked in moo poo tea and planted.

Of the new ones, there are 4 beautiful new roses from Star Roses and Plants that I am trying this year. I am very excited about these beauties and can’t wait to share them with you…

The Icecap™ Rose is a pure white landscape shrub resulting from the combined breeding efforts of Will Radler and Meilland international.
Look-A-Likes® Apple Dapple is a new addition to the popular Look-A-Likes® series.
The Pretty in Pink Eden® Rose is a climbing Romantica® Rose with all the great qualities of the Eden® rose.
The Peachy Keen™ Rose, an exceptionally disease-resistant landscape shrub, so impressive you’d swear it was a Knock Out® Rose!

A good moo poo start... — A good moo poo start…

Many of the Hybrid Teas and Floribundas had to be cut back to the ground 4 weeks ago but they are coming back strong!

Gertrude Jekyll was cut back to about 3” from the ground and baby look at her now. She is ready to grow. And, if you know anything about this rose you know that when she’s happy you are happy. She is gorgeous! Classic old rose form and very likely the most fragrant of all the David Austins.

Gertrude Jekyll getting ready... — Gertrude Jekyll getting ready…

Here’s one that surprised me today…. The Queen of Bourbon rose appears to have a bud! This is the first “bud” in the garden so far. Exciting! Read more about her here.

Look closely. Yep, it’s a bud…

First bud on the Queen of Bourbon... — First bud on the Queen of Bourbon…

The frost came this week and those that were a bit taller like The Generous Gardener … had a bit of burn. I’ll just trim and she’ll be fine.

Late season frosts are not our friends... — Late season frosts are not our friends…

Next week the temps are going to soar into the mid 70s, so we could have an early bloom cycle!

ROSE FIREWORKS

Since I am that person who counts down the days until spring—starting the day after Christmas, I am looking for ROSE FIREWORKS when spring finally comes. My old garden roses and the rugosas are happy to oblige. They are very predictable “spring fireworks.”

Look at these Rugosas! Hardly a bit of winter die back. Lush, green and on their way.

Rugosa starting out strong... — Rugosas starting out strong…

Here’s a peek over the garden fence…

Yes, the garden is waking up and we expect FIREWORKS soon!

What’s going on in your neck of the woods.

Any FIREWORKS to report? 🐝

Bloom Thyme: It’s Coming Back!

April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

You’ve been with me as we counted down the days until spring. It is here and just when I thought that winter had taken away all the pretty things forever, they started coming back. This week was a week of big change in the garden … from dark and dreary to beautiful rebirth! Take a look…

Lovely little violets from Uncle Tony’s garden…

Test roses from Star Roses and Plants… so excited! I’ll keep you posted!

Star roses getting a dunk in Moo Poo tea before planting. 24 hours in moo poo tea will work wonders!

Rugosas are getting ready for their fireworks!! Only a few more weeks!

Rhododendrons always make me think of trips to Roan Mountain!

The first and very fragrant lilac! Many more to come!

Wishing you a lovely week and a…

Overwintering Plants

April 2, 2015April 2, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

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.

Coretta Scott King in the garden last summer…

Happy Spring!

Bloom Thyme Friday: Sweet Peas

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Around here the spring garden season kicks off with the planting of the sweet peas on St. Patrick’s Day! I know it sounds early but it works every time.

Sweet Peas are well named as they are one of the sweetest little flowers in the garden and I love to tuck them into bokays! They are a wonderful rose companion!

The Victorians, who also went crazy over bokays, used them too. With Tussie Mussies in hand, the Victorians used the subtle messages of flowers and herbs to convey not-so-subtle meanings. Sweet peas were used to convey departure, delicate pleasure and many thanks.

As I write this I have in mind the many such “subtle” moments in the movie, The Age of Innocence, one of my favorite movies. If you’ve seen it, you know just what I mean… the costumes … the society … the flowers.

MANY THANKS TO HENRY!

The Victorians and I have Henry Eckford to thank for the lovely sweet peas we know today. He is credited with developing over 100 varieties of this dainty beauty.

PLANTING SWEET PEAS

Before I plant my sweet peas I soak them over night to soften the hard shell.

Like all plants, sweet peas prefer well-drained, fertile soil. I plant them about 1” deep and about 2” apart. Water them in and provide a trellis and you are done! They will do the rest!

We have the sweet peas trailing on some wire fencing that we added over the picket fence…

Note the name on the plant tag… Eckfords Finest. Burpee has put together some of his “finest” varieties and you can find them on their website here.

VARIETIES I’M PLANTING

This year I have found several varieties at various garden centers as well as big box stores…

High Scent: Couldn’t pass this one up! Package says it is the most fragrant of all the sweet peas!
Mammoth Mix: These bloom early. Bonus!
Galaxy Mix: Large flowers!
Eckfords Finest: Just have to have this one!

ONE MORE THING ABOUT SWEET PEAS!

As sweet as the sweet pea is to look at and many of them have the sweetest fragrance … DO NOT EAT THEM.

TIME TO GET THE GARDEN PARTY STARTED!

Spring is truly just around the corner. Are you ready? What is your first task in the garden?