Finished pruning

Finished pruning and feeding the final 3 small roses by the picket fence.  Have been waiting for J&P to replace one of them that turned out to be pink and not red but the delivery is late--supposed to be mid-January.  Still plenty of cleaning up to do in the garden but nice to have this done.  There are many bulbs sprouting and a few about to bloom--love daffodils.

Winter pruning

After attending a rose care class at a local nursery pruning of the rose bushes has begun.  All but the three new ones in the front yard and pruned and fed.  The 3 hedge rows by the picket fence are waiting until Jackson & Perkins sends the replacement rose this month.  All three were supposed to be red and when two bloomed for Christmas it was obvious that one of them is a pink rose.  That one will be moved somewhere, possible along the driveway.  Only the new climbing rose in the garden and the rose next to it have been fed while the rose trees have been pruned.  The rest should be finished this weekend.  Still need to count exactly how many roses I now have.

Red Simplicity Hedge Roses

Last weekend Mr. Wonderful planted 3 hedge roses for me that I had ordered from Jackson & Perkins.  I was still recovering from an illness and only supervised from the seat of my "garden scoot".  These were placed in front of the little picket fence in the front yard.  After a week most of the yellow leaves are gone and they look fairly good.  There are even 1 or 2 buds appearing.

Lavender

Last month Mr. H dug out the huge old lavender that was taking over the garden and swallowing up the little fountain.  Today we planted three smaller lavender plants in that space.  Two are Hidcote and the third taller one is called "Sweet".  I've got to keep these trimmed back regularly so they keep to a more compact size.  Also fertilized the Iceberg rose trees and the Cottage Farms roses near them to see how do in the fall compared to the other roses that have not been fertilized.

Lawn

Used Scott's Weed & Feed on the front lawn today.  It's looking better than last year but could still need a bit of help.

Hummingbirds are back

Yesterday while weeding in the south corner of the backyard I discovered a hummingbird nest in the crape myrtle.  The hummer wouldn't come back while I was there so I will have to give up weeding that corner until we have determined the babies are out. 

 

The nest is too high for Mr. W to see in but we think babies might have hatched since she seemed to be carrying a small worm to the nest when I first saw her.

Lovely garden

Fertilized all the roses today and pulled some weeds along the way.  This is the second feeding of the season.  Enjoyed a garden party with friends and family yesterday.  It's taken several years but the garden has matured and I really love it.  It is so lovely to sit out there and read or just sit and listen to the fountain.