Oh my

Please let me be the first to say BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!2!!!!!!!!!!@!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jodi: I can't believe how fast the spring has come and how fast everything is growing. Where does time go, and when does it slow down? Wait, it slows down in winter, I forgot.

I think you have an eye for color and coordination. Is that all your ideas? If so BRAVO, and if it is not and just your job to maintain it, BRAVO!
If it is your job to do both, then EXCELLENT BRAVO!!

Those pictures are just so professional looking and the flowers well cared for.
Lord knows how many pests you have in the garden, but I see no damage at all. Oh it is just so lovely.

Is that BLUE clematis I see? Where did you get those? They don't look purple. I never see them here. Are they wilt proof? Mom loves the color too! Sheesh, if they only had blue roses to compliment them.

Jude the Obscure looks like a very fragrant one. Are they all cold hardy and disease resistant,some old fashioned or antique I think they call them?
Mom and I are here together with you and she says they are all so pretty.If she could only smell the fragrance. We have a yellow Knock Out rose, and it is doing great. I will take a picture for you.

Weeds and grasses? I never noticed them. Speaking of weeds, I need to get back to work.
I am so glad I took a moment out of my day to walk with you again. It was work the time and thank you so much again!

Mike:-))))))))

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Thank you, Mike and Mom! Your words are appreciated very much!

Honestly, I don't think too much about color when planting... it just worked out nicely, I think. I'm more concerned with height and size, to be honest. I always seem to be in such a hurry to get everything planted that I really don't have time to coordinate, but I much prefer a wilder look, anyway... like that's the way things just grew!

The Knock Out series can't be beat for ease of growing. I highly recommend roses from this series for those gardeners just beginning to grow roses. They require very little care... a little shaping or removal of dead wood in early spring, some fertilizer, and enough moisture and sunlight will keep them happy and blooming all summer. All they require for winter is a good layer of mulch, and I let the leaves that fall and other debris stay on the garden until spring, just as a little added insulation.

I have a couple of the Sunny Yellow Knock Outs growing among the other roses and perennials, and I love the double reds and the pinks! The yellow fades a bit as the blooms age, but they're still very nice. Mike, yours looks lovely! And there isn't a weed in sight!

Our gardens are loaded with weeds at the moment! We did have a girl helping part time, but she quit. I guess weed pulling wasn't as glamorous as she thought it might be. I don't know why, but there seems to be a lot lacking these days when it comes to work ethic. Everyone wants to get paid, but very few are prepared, or equipped, to earn that pay.

Jude the Obscure is an English rose, from David Austin. It's a lovely and very full bloom, fragrant, with a very subtle color. I love the English roses, though they seem not to be as hardy as some other types. We have several Austin roses, though we mulch them a little heavier, and try to plant them where they are afforded a bit more protection. So far, though, it has survived our brutal winters like a champ.

It's funny... when researching roses for cold hardiness, different sources seem to assign different zones to each one. We're zone 5, and growing own-root roses affords us a little more cold hardiness than growing grafted varieties, but we still have to dig to find out which sources are being truthful and which aren't. We're able to grow a few roses that are listed as only being hardy to zone 6, but those are the ones that we give a little protection to, and the ones we are prepared to lose in the event of an exceedingly cold winter, different from the norm.

I don't have the time or energy to baby any plants, rose or otherwise, so if a plant can't tolerate our climate and environment, it can't be here as part of the landscape. We've lost a few roses along the way, but it's a good learning experience. We replace the lost varieties with different ones, always keeping to our goal of growing own-root, very hardy roses that are preferably scented and continual blooming.

Some of the Old Garden roses aren't continual bloomers, but they put on a heck of a nice full flush in spring or summer. It's sometimes a sacrifice we're willing to make, just because the rose variety will be very heavily scented, or because it has a unique color or shape, or some other wonderful quality.

The Clematis is almost a blue, leaning toward purple. I think it's a common variety, having large flowers. It probably looks more blue due to my camera, and the fact that it's in the shade in the photo. It's not really that blue. I think it might be Jackmanii, or another of the more commonly sold types.

To successfully grow Clematis, it helps a lot to plant companion plants that will shade the roots of the vine. Clematis love to have their "heads" in the sun, but they like their "feet" kept cool. If no shade or thick mulch is offered to help cool the roots, Clematis will often wilt or sulk. Ours are planted on the west side of a tall fence, and they all have other perennials growing to help keep the root/soil temperature cool. Once established, they bloom very reliably. There are several other types I'd love to grow, and now that we have the new fencing up for the rose gardens, I have more space to add a few!

Believe it or not, we grow everything in the gardens organically. I've used no sprays, no chemicals, no insecticides or herbicides. We rely very heavily on the good predators in the gardens, such as toads, tree frogs, snakes, birds, spiders, and we have cultivated a rather nice population of praying mantises. We've been really lucky not to have any infestations of aphids or other pests. The only bad bugs that we occasionally battle are the Asian Beetles, which can strip a garden bare if you let them! For those, we might be forced to use a chemical, but we haven't had to so far.

I just came in a little while ago. I filled and emptied my large wheelbarrow twice with weeds, and that's about all my body will allow for one afternoon. I'm tired, sweaty, and my back is sore! I feel dehydrated, so I'm sipping some cold water. I might go back out and try to get one more wheelbarrow filled with weeds for the day... it depends on how revived this cold water make me feel! :-)

The pictures would look a lot more professional if there weren't any visible weeds in them! But, I'm only one person... and good help is hard to find!

I'm glad you enjoyed the rose tour... there will be a lot more as the different roses bloom. New Dawn is loaded with buds as I write this... only one is partially open. It should look amazing when the whole plant is in full flush! There's a miniature climber full of buds, also... they should open into loads of small pink blossoms! And my favorite, Autumn Damask, is soon to bloom, too! The Lilies, Daylilies, Gaillardia, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Monarda, and other perennials have yet to bloom...

This is why I love it all so much... it's a constantly changing palate of color and shape and texture and scent... a feast for the senses! It's often overwhelming... I just love taking the camera outside, and wandering the yard in search of the latest blooms!

Well... there's more to come... stay tuned! :-)

Ah, such a vast collection! Jodi, no wonder you're so busy! ;-)
I'd be exhausted with all the potting, re-potting, rooting, transporting, purchasing, selling, et cetera!
Wanted to note that I love the name of 'Jude the Obscure' just by itself! ;-)

Despite the wet weather, the flower bed is starting to bloom...
only a few solitary Rose Campions.

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Josh

I love that variety of Lavender, Josh, but it won't grow here. It's French, I believe. It requires a zone or two warmer to survive and thrive. We have to settle for the more common looking English type. It's still very pretty and fragrant, but it doesn't have that adorable tufted look to it!

Your gardens are really coming along nicely... pretty blooms! California Poppies, Lamb's Ear, many Ornamental Grass types, and is that Hesperus I see?

Yes, our gardens are getting so vast that I can't keep up the weed pulling without help, and I can't find decent help. It's a very big job, but I do enjoy it!

We had a rather large local Gardening Club here yesterday, and we walked through the various garden areas having a question-answer session. It was quite nice! I met a lot of very interesting and nice gardeners from the local area, handed out a lot of business cards, and made tentative future plans for more visits. It was a fun afternoon!

Surprisingly, I had most of the answers to the questions asked... and I got to discuss the concept of a larger particled container medium. I even learned a few things about some of the native plants and weeds from a few enthusiasts. It was nice!

Today looks like rain, so I might get to rest up. I'm exhausted from all the excitement! It's not often I get to lead a group through the gardens and talk with them about my favorite things! :-)

Nice pictures, Josh... thanks! :-)

Hello!
Spanish Lavender, so it makes sense that it would like a warmer zone....
Right next to the Poppies are Hesper-aloe (False Yucca), is that the Hesperus?

Jodi, that's awesome that you had a club come through!

Josh

Ah, Spanish... I knew it was from some part of Europe, one that doesn't have the same zone I do! :-)

I think the Hesperus is the same thing I've been calling wild phlox all along... I just never knew what its true name was. It's actually Hesperus matronalis, commonly called Dame's Rocket. It's a native to many areas of the country.

Yes, Josh, those look like the same purple flowers I have growing everywhere. It's Dame's Rocket. I learn something new all the time! :-)

I wish I could grow that red-flowering yucca type plant. We tried one, but it didn't survive our winter. I think those are native to Texas, perhaps? I'm not sure. Definitely somewhere south of me, though!

I love the natural look you have going on, there. Sort of a xeri-scape thing. I don't think it would work for us, though... not with all the roses. We're trying for a cottage garden sort of style... where the perennials are allowed to reseed and spread to where ever they want, as long as they choke out the weeds! ;-)

Good morning!

Yes, indeed, it's a semi xeric sort of flower bed, mostly drought-tolerant perennials.
This year, a Chaste Tree was added, but it is still small (less than three feet). I do
like the cottage garden look. But we are at the mercy of our climate/weather, as you are,
and so concessions must be made.

From what I can recall, I don't have any Hesperus growing...although I could be wrong.
I certainly haven't planted any. Sage, Rockrose, wallflowers...I'll get a list of candidates.

Hesperaloe is indeed native to parts of Texas!
I have four or five of them now, and one is definitely too close to the path.

Josh