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.

 

 

Today I planted seeds.  I haven't had much luck in the past but decided to try some Shirley poppies in my mother's honor.  They are planted near the new Dick Clark rose tree, and in front of the large Veteran's Honor rose.  I'm also trying some Munstead English Lavender seeds in a shallow planter.  I also planted a few red geraniums with white bacopa in some large pots.  I hope these do well in both shady and sunny spots.

Dick Clark

I took a chance on a Weeks rose last weekend and bought and planted a Dick Clark rose tree.  It has leafed out well and really looks good with several branches where roses should appear.  It's a grandiflora so should have more flowers than a tea rose.  The color should be cream and cherry, similar to the Double Delight it replaced.  Most of the roses in the garden are from Jackson and Perkins.  The one Weeks rose I had did not do well and always seemed to be eaten by bugs even when other roses around it were not.  I'll be watching this one carefully.

Pruning

Spent this morning finishing pruning the roses which I started last week.  Glad to have that done along with some weeding.  Bought some small daffodils last weekend and put them in pots so there is something in bloom.  Spotted 2 hummingbrids just a few minutes ago and need to buy something potted and in bloom for them.  There's some lavendar but it should be cut back.

Had Mr. H take out the dying tree rose a few weeks ago so need to find a replacement.  Think I'll look for something with more blooms rather than a tea rose.

Crape Myrtle tree

Last week we planted a Tuscarora Crape Myrtle tree.  I had been wanting a crape myrtle for a few years but was planning to purchase next year as I thought a tree would cost about $50.  I was surprised to find several healthy looking but small trees at Lowe's for about $17.00 and decided to purchase.  The smaller size was probably a good thing for us since we wouldn't have to dig as large a hole. 

We skirted the piping for the sprinklers to settle it into the ground.  For this reason it's a little closer to the giant lavender than I wanted it.  We placed it in the southeast corner of the yard which is the hottest and sunniest spot.  This tree is supposed to do well in heat and with low water after established.   So far it looks well.

Rainbow's End

Planted two Rainbow's End miniature roses; one at the border of the patio and the other in a pot. Curious to see how they do close to each other but one in a pot.

The three Cottage Farms climbing roses are holding their own. It seems like they are growing slowly but one of them has a bud this morning. The Cottage Farms shrub roses are in three different stages of growth. I came home from a few days away and the one called First Prize had finally burst with leaves. Arizona has some pink shriveled leaves but I'm not sure if that's insect or disease caused. Need to do some research.

Marguerites

I moved a small pinkish red marguerite to the front yard near the hose bib to see if it would grow there (nothing seems to). It wasn't doing very well in a pot so why not give it a chance somewhere else. After about 3 weeks it isn't exactly thriving but it's hanging on. Three other new marguerites from Lowe's were planted in front of the picket fence in the front yard. They should be able to handle the full sun.

Climbing roses

Planted 3 climbing roses, Eden pink), Red Eden and White Eden. These are Cottage Farms ordered from QVC,Item #M23673. They looked good out of the box so I planted them against the wooden portion of the fence, pink, white and red from east to west. The other roses on the east side were fertilized and I'll finish the rest tomorrow or next week.

Seeds

I haven't done much with seeds in the garden. The only attempt a few years ago resulted in the seeds being scattered across the garden due to wind and rain. The tall purple flowers still pop up when the warm weather comes but they are not in the back of the garden where I intended.

Today I planted trailing lobelia in hopes of hanging this planter later. I am also trying to grow purple coneflower which I will transplant around the garden if they come up in pots. I also tried a few of the coneflower seeds in the garden near the Veteran's Honor rose. The garden is one big experiment.

I was considering digging up the two Meyer dwarf lemon trees after speaking with the guy at the garden store. When I went out last week to cut off all the branches prior to digging it up I could see that one of the trees had blossoms. So we got the spray to get rid of the miner that's been plaguing these and we'll see how they do after today's treatment. Need to fertilize them too.

English Primrose

Yesterday I cleaned up the border along the patio and planted red, white and blue English Primroses. This is my first try with primroses but they were inexpensive at $1.29 at HD so I bought 8. The day before I had purchased tiny Tete-a-Tete daffodils in bloom from Armstrong. I placed these among the primroses and elsewhere in the garden. Other bulbs are beginning to peek from the ground which sure helps when the roses are pruned back and leafless.

I was frustrated with Armstrong. After attending their rose pruning class a year ago I went back to replenish the recommended mix to use on my pruned roses. I have the SolPoMag but needed to replace the Alfalfa Meal and Iron--they were out of iron and couldn't tell me when they will get more in. I tried two other stores with no luck. Is there a shortage?

Winter care

This morning I began pruning the roses. I did perhaps half in the backyard roses will finish all of them in the next two weekends. Also time to do some other garden work for winter. The weather is beautiful this weekend and should be through next weekend as well.

Spotted a big grasshopper but couldn't get at it to eliminate it. I read that poisons won't kill them so I have to use a shovel. Icky but they'll eat everything.

Potting Bench

The weather was beautiful over Thanksgiving weekend so I sanded and painted the potting bench. I want to protect it from the heat and sun and a little rain this winter. It's good to get that project out of the way.

There are still a few roses in bloom but the garden is becoming a bit ragged this late in the year. I always like pruning the roses to give the garden a new start.

Wind storm

We had a bad wind storm yesterday. In the early morning Mr. W and I went out to rescue our 3 iceberg rose trees before one of the trunks snapped. We cut off most of the branches to eliminate the sail effect and used velcro tape to rewrapp the trunks to the stakes. We saw that the Double Delight rose tree was not being blown around even though it is in the center of the garden and not protected by a wall. It has a metal stake instead of wood so Mr. W went out and bought metal stakes for the other rose trees.

After the storm the garden looks OK, no real damage is evident.