Surprises in the Garden!

Usually when I'm thinking about additions to the garden, I'm thinking about plants.  This year, I've ended up with a lot more - much of which I wasn't expecting!

My favorite surprise addition is a stepladder-style shelf I found and have repurposed.  I had no plans in this direction at all, but it's in great shape and seems sturdy, so I lugged it home!  I'm deciding whether to paint it or just seal it as is; in the meantime, check it out:

Hooray for free and unexpected!  I'm thinking I'll establish a part-shade herb and flower garden and use the lower shelves for storing pots and such.  Either way, it's a welcome addition and certainly in my price range!

Another dandy addition is my LED, solar, color-changing dragonfly mobile, from Plow and Hearth.  The kids gave it to me for Christmas, and I can't help but love it.

Super cute, and I love watching the colors turn at night.

I also finally put up my TARDIS bird house - yes, I am in fact a huge Dr. Who geek, and proud of it!  I can't wait to see if the chickadees take to it as well as they have the other birdhouses.  It replaces a cute little country cottage birdhouse that didn't survive the late summer humidity and winter rains.

Today saw the completion of rose pruning.  I'm worried about my Gingersnap rose and my Dick Clark rose, but they've still got green on them.  Everyone else seems to be okay.  My new Moonstone rose got potted today, so now I have two more to go: Neil Diamond, and when it arrives, Miss Congeniality.  I also have some dahlias to plant - first time with those!  Credit for inspiration go to my brother and his wife, who have grown them beautifully in their Center City Philadelphia home.

Before the end of April, I'll be adding a swiveling hanging basket, which I'll plant with a hummingbird-attractant red-belled. . .something.  Still deciding.  I've also got a mini greenhouse to build. . .and find a good place for!  Yikes!

Getting Sweaty and Mulching the Multitudes

Holy geez, I'm sweaty!

There is so much more to do in the garden now that spring is here!  My ladies are all budded up and ready to reach for the sun.  It's such an exciting time!

I am still in the process of moving all the roses back out into the open air and sunshine from their winter hiding place.  If I'm going to get any more done, I'll need to tap my husband for his superior muscles!  Those pots get crazy heavy.  As each one gets moved back it gets a little bit of aeration if needed, and then a healthy layer of fresh mulch.

I'm trying out the Miracle Gro Water Storing Crystals I found at Home Depot with the new roses.  More on that as experience warrants.  I also picked up some parsley and tucked that in the dirt.  Rumor has it, it helps drive away beetles and improves the scent of your roses.

Speaking of new roses, All-American Magic went in the dirt today!  It should look something like this in a couple of months:

Or at least I can hope so!  I got the plant from Regan Nursery and was really pleased with how big and healthy it was.  It's a marvelous, sunny, 70 degree day out today, so I really couldn't ask for better.

Much to my surprise, while I was working I discovered that my JFK, which I was quite sure had given up the ghost, is spouting. . .something.  I am really not sure if it's reverted to root stock or if the rose is still fighting for life.  Here I was about to shovel prune it!  I will hold off and see what blooms.  I do miss having a white rose.

There's a bit more potting to do, but I need more soil before I can do it!  I went through three bags as quick as a wink.

Happy Planting!

And so it Begins. . .

Happy Spring, O Faithful Readers!

The new roses have started to arrive, and that means it's GARDENING SEASON!  Huzzah!

Happily, most my babies appear to have made it through another rough winter intact.  I think moving them all to the location in my backyard with walls on three sides was the key.  I've begun the process of returning them to their three-season positions.  That's a work in progress, especially since a few tags and markers seem to have gone missing!

I found some adorable mini-campanula at Home Depot and added them in with the "Dark Dragon" roses, which, as it turns out, are just a re-named Purple Tiger.  Caveat Emptor and all that, but the hooligans that sold them to me did refund my money.  Good thing I at least like Purple Tiger, though I hadn't intended to add any more to the garden!

I have started pruning a bit, doing just a little at a time.  I've been getting over a nasty sinus infection, so that's about all I can handle.  I've also been doing the usual winter clean-up.  You should see the pile of sunflower seed husks left by the birds over the winter!  Wow!

You may remember I had an Osiria that I was pretty sure had died, but saw a lone branch trying to re-grow.  I let it keep growing out of curiosity, and am now positive it's a sucker from the Dr. Huey rootstock.  My thinking at this point is that I'll shovel prune it and move my Butterfly Bush into the large pot so it can get bigger this year, freeing up a pot for a first-year rosebush.  I'm a bit sad, as you can't get Osiria anymore, but I've got a Love and two Dark Nights for different reverse coloration, so I'm essentially good.

I'm adding a hanging basket on a long wrought-iron branch this year, and planting it with something red and bell-shaped and hummingbird attractant.  My mom gave me a portable greenhouse for Christmas, and my kids an LED, glow-in-the-dark dragonfly mobile, so those will be fun and welcome additions!

Got any plans for your garden?  Share them below!

January Preparations

The planning bug is biting me again and I'm looking through all the gorgeous rose catalogs.  Right now there's a thin, fine snow coming down outside, but in my head I'm thinking about all things green and growing!

I have new additions coming this spring, and I'm super-excited as always to see how they fare.  I'm not sure yet just where I'll put them - my tiny yard is rapidly running out of room - but I'm sure I'll find space.

I have given up on my poor JFK resuscitating, which means I'll give him a shovel pruning soon; I'm also planning to cut my Pink Knockout way back.  That thing's a monster!  Everyone else - hopefully they'll make it through the winter, since it's so much less severe than last year's.  We've had some very cold days, down even to single digits, but not a huge amount of snow.  Not yet, anyway.

After last year's insane weather, I dragooned my dear husband into helping me move all the rose pots to the most sheltered space in our backyard.  I think it'll keep some of the wind and cold off them.  If anything really yucky does get predicted, I'll cover them up accordingly.  So far, it hasn't seemed truly necessary.

These are the incoming roses for this spring:

Dark Dragon Rose:

All American Magic:

Neil Diamond:

And, Moonstone:

See you again soon!