Hypnotize Does! George Burns Dances!

Whew!  Well, after a lot of quiet in the garden, Hypnotize decided to bring it with a huge, huge bloom.  I used lots and lots of patience with not clipping this one until full bloom, and it was worth it.  Take a look:

Cultivating roses, and patience.

This was the bud two days ago.  I kept staring at it, marveling at how big it was getting and how PINK it is.  I mean, that is some serious pink.  I didn't manipulate the color in this shot one bit; it's really that bright.  I held out until woke up this morning and saw:

You had me at Hello.  *tear*

What a stunner!  The bloom is a good four inches across, maybe a little bit more.  There are two more lovely buds developing, so I clipped this beauty and she's now on my dining room table.  Love!  

Yay!  Some yellow!

I also finally started seeing some yellow in my George Burns blooms, which is making me happy.  They'd been all white and red, and I was really starting to think I'd gotten a mislabeled Rock & Roll.  Not that that's a bad thing, mind, I just have a soft spot for Georgie here.  Maybe the little guy just needed some time to mature?  Here's what I got today!

I'm quite pleased, and looking forward to seeing how this rose matures.  Right now the plant is only about eighteen inches high, but I'm getting lots of new branches, which makes my heart happy.  He's got a bunch of new buds growing, as well.  George seems very happy in his container.  He has succumbed to a smidgen of black spot, and I've been fending off the *&%$ Japanese beetles every day, but otherwise we're all good.

Still lots of bright red, but that yellow is creeping in. . .

Yeah, I've got black spot and Japanese Beetles out the wazoo, and Neem Oil is my new best friend.  Black spot has always been a problem in my garden, starting with my very first rose, and since it spreads so easily most of my roses have at least some.  My apple tree, too.  I've been keeping it under control with lots of pulling the affected leaves, and now Bayer 3-in-1 with neem oil.  There was an immediate drop in the beetle population (I found only one this week, which I promptly sprayed!).  That's a big relief, because once the little blighters make themselves at home, they secrete pheremones to let all their friends know that the neighborhood has good eats.  Then the grubs get into your lawn and destroy that, too.  Not my favorite!  I looked into natural and chemical ways to get rid of them.  If you're an eco-friendly type, you can always go over your roses, pick them off one-by-one, and drop them into a bucket of soapy water to drown.  I did quite a lot of that, but kept getting more; hence the neem oil.  Spraying is a last resort, but I'm not afraid to get a little chemical if need be!

The black spot is more resistant, but I'm keeping after it and seeing progress.  I'm also imagining myself with Dr. Who on a pirate ship, spraying pirates in the hand with neem oil, but that's just because I'm a great big geek.

It's OK, spray a little Neem Oil on it. . .

The Scentimental is really suffering the black spot right now, so I'm keeping after it, keeping her airy and as dry as I can, and hoping for the best.  I think she'll recover just fine, in time.  The Oranges & Lemons had a really bad case a couple years back, and got so leggy that the Rockettes tried to recruit her, but is feeling much better now.

I added a butterfly bush to the garden this week, which is settling in nicely.  I got it for a song, since it is late in the season and the plant was looking less than stellar.  I also picked up a pretty 25-gallon pot on sale.  Add one to the other, and Bob's your uncle!  I trimmed the butterfly bush a little and it looks nice now.  I had butterflies within about 3 minutes.  Yay sales!  I've been enjoying the heck out of the end-of-season sales, and snapped up two big containers for a fraction of the original cost.  I got a lovely gift card to Homegoods for my birthday last month, and used that to get a banged-up, dark grey pot that I ballpark at around 30 gallons.  I've decided to repaint it with chalkboard paint, so my kids can draw on it.  The Hypnotize is getting big and strong enough that I think I'll move it up to this pot, so it'll have more room.  One of the little bands will get Hypnotize's pot, in turn.  Maybe Chihuly?

 I am thinking that for next year I'll get rid of just about everything in the containers but that and the roses; I really want to focus on them at this point.  Also, getting rid of all the small pots will give me more room for more roses. . .hee!  

Not that I'm obsessed or anything.