Garden report

13 years ago

We're coming to the end of what has been a beautiful October, and a busy one in the garden. We've had a lot of sunny days, interrupted by enough rain to keep the garden well watered. The fall color, never a strong point here, has been the best I've ever seen it, due probably to the rains that started in August and have continued intermittently until now. Temperatures have naturally dropped and around the middle of the month we began lighting fires in the wood stove, the latest we've ever begun; but sunny days are still warm while the sun is high, and mornings are cool but not the dank chill with occasional frost that people in town down in the valley are experiencing. This is the time of year when we appreciate our sun-baked southern exposure.

A local nursery decided to get out of the business of providing hedging plants, and is selling off their stock at bargain basement prices. We've been loading up on cotoneasters, ligustrum, forsythia, Viburnum lantana, common lilacs, shrub honeysuckle, mock orange, abelia and deutzia and spirea, loading up the car at each visit will all the plants it will hold and then returning for more. My feelings are a combination of gratitude and anxiety: on the one hand I never have enough shrubs, and these are big, stout, overgrown (but I think they'll recover) plants; on the other hand they're mostly somewhat anonymous shrubs that need to be mixed with more distinctive plants if the garden is not to look like a suburban park. I experience considerable frustration when I think about all the less than optimal plants I put in the garden, because (theoretically) superior plants aren't available, or are too expensive, or are too much trouble to get hold of. On the other hand I have a couple of acres to garden in and I really need to stop whining. The shrubs ought to bulk up the garden considerably, and it needs it.

We haven't really gotten around to planting the roses yet, partly because I don't think they're ready, and partly because I'm not. I believe they could use another month before being moved while my husband is red hot eager to get them in their permanent positions. I did lift and divide two officinalis peonies, first time for this experiment.

Yesterday's minor (major) delight was stumbling over the myrtle that I planted last fall. The plant was tiny and dubiously hardy and it got stuck in miserable ground in the middle of the Bermuda grass, and last winter was the coldest in a quarter of a century; I just assumed it had died. It didn't die. There it was, and it had even grown a little. Ha! I may now reasonably assume that I can grow myrtles here, placing them in the warmer parts of the garden of course. They're native and evergreen and have aromatic foliage. In fact I bought them again this fall, three babies like this survivor, one subspecies Tarentina that's supposed to be a little hardier, and a form with white fruits. The babies are potted to grow, while the two varieties are in the ground in warm areas and we'll see how they do. What satisfaction. What happiness.

The last note is that looking around the big (sunny) garden yesterday I thought that it's beginning to look like a garden, and not just a weedy field with plants scattered here and there. The Italian cypresses help with their emphatic punctuation: we planted them a few years ago and they settled in happily at once. This is north of their native range, but they grow well in warmer parts of our province. The Italian pines also look happy, though they'll take longer to become robust and occupy, before they exceed, their space. The roses are growing; and the Damask roses down in the bottom bed where one of the slides happened last winter are suckering and, I hope, busily consolidating the ground, which is still alarmingly loose. A week or so ago my husband yielded to my pleas and cut the grass, which nicely defined the walks and contrasting plantings. It's coming along. There's not much in bloom now, but this is one of the prettiest times of the year in the garden.

I would like to hear about other people's gardens.

Melissa

Featured Answer

elemire

13 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Here not much is going on at the moment, apart the invasion of the birds back to the garden. Fall colors are somewhat muddy here this year, due to a lot of rain and not enough chill, so most trees defoliate slowly, with not much of a golden autumn moment. I am actually waiting for them to defoliate, since I want to replant quite a few things this autumn, especially hortensias and they are taking their bloody time.

For the rest is pretty much heavy and annoying work left to do here, so I am not exactly looking forward to it. I need to extend a few beds to more logical boundaries (which means to remove some lawn), also I need to sort out a bed at the back of the garden, which now is overgrown with all sorts of crap. I am seriously considering herbicide for there for it is a mess of annoying weeds, wild strawberries and some sort of grass that is just not possible to weed out. Oh and remove more grass, which spread from the lawn in 2 years when nothing got done with that bed...

I am seriously reconsidering a plan to grow some vegetables there, since despite my good intentions I just do not seem to get to it in time in the spring. Planting something more big and shrubby would definitely solve some of the maintenance issues. I am not too happy with the strawberry patch either, since slugs eat most of the berries (or at least nib on them), the plants spread all directions and the harvest is not that big considering how much space it takes.

Then there is an issue of the hedges. The one from Fagus sylvatica is doing alright in the shade, but it is a problem on most sunny corner, since in 3 years it did not grow at all. To remove it would make whole garden rim look stupid, but I am out of ideas how to make it grow to some normal size... Mulching and heavy fertilizing is a plan for next year, if that does not work, I will have to think about something else. Then there is a separation hedge from prunus laurocerasus, too big, too badly cut and generally disaster in the place where it is. Since it is somewhat shared planting with a neighbor, planted by the previous owner of our house, it is a bit of a tricky thing to remove, also removing it will be a pain too, especially since it can come back from leftover roots.

I also going to redo some of my most fried flower bed and leave mostly roses and other sun greedy companions there only. Which means a lot of contemplation what other roses should go there. If I remove that prunus hedge, that as well would make a part in front of my living room window much more sunny, which means mooar roses.

Generally I am rather pleased by what I did in the garden last year and if I can put in same amount of effort, the hardscaping probably will be finished in a year or two. Regarding roses though I am rather happy with a progress of some older ones and a few new ones. Overall though I am a bit disappointed by the lack of growth of Blush noisette, Leda, Reine Victoria, Mme. Hardy and Ferdinand Pichard. They all are first year plants and I am on heavy clay, but still, I expected to get at least some cane growth.

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Comments (12)

rosefolly
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have scattered roses in bloom all over the place. It is not the grand display of spring, but it is enough that you can bend your face and smell some wonderful perfumes. A lovely blue mist has settled near the ground beneath the roses, blue veronicas, low asters, and especially annual blue salvias which I planted with a generous hand for the first time this year. I'll do it again. I like the effect.

This is a busy work time for me. Last night we got the first real rain of the season, but fortunately I was at work all week. I pulled out the summer vegetable garden (tomatoes, pumpkins, beans), leaving the peppers and eggplants because they were still producing. I've been busy planting the winter vegetables -- carrots, broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, cabbages, fennel. Tom put in potatoes, too. I still have the alliums to plant -- onions, bunching onions, shallots, and garlic. Then I can get started on planting daffodils and roses in the corner of my back yard that I am newly developing. I have all the plants ready now, except for a couple I am attempting to root. I almost forgot. I planted 60 'Menton' tulips by the front door. No doubt the gophers will eat half of them, but the ones they miss will be beautiful early next spring.

Late this past summer I did a major overhaul of my terraced OB-OGR area. Several of those roses just hadn't made it. They really did seem to need more chill than I can provide. I took out the dead and struggling ones, keeping the few that seemed happy. The ones that are happy seem very happy, and don't seem to need frequent water, either. Around them I planted all sorts of California natives that can tolerate occasional water -- lots of salvias and penstemons and the like. I'm hoping that this will end up being a happy solution to an area I have yet to get just quite right.

Rosefolly
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Cath, we have a lot of the same plants, but evidently mice and boars don't gobble up all your crocuses. I am so glad that hellebores and narcissus are poisonous and get left alone! It all sounds lovely--lots of little plants that you can pay close attention to. You remind me that for some reason I've never planted snowdrops. There's a nandina with pale berries? I'll have to keep an eye out for it. And I need to start getting pickier about my hellebores. Most of my orientalis ones are seedlings from friends' gardens, some very pretty, but a few have flowers that could honestly be described as insignificant. H. foetidus and, I think it's H. viridiflora, are native locally; it's a clan that does well here. Suzy, You're right. I'm pretty well acquainted with my winter rhythms: every year I collapse around our Thanksgiving (it falls in the fourth week of November) and come back to life around the end of January/beginning of February. You could say that my illness and the bad weather will help tide me over the dreariest time of the year, since by the time both are past we should be arrived at the period when I regularly perk up anyway. Meanwhile I intend to stay warm and, perhaps, continue my review of Latin. 'Treasure Trove' is satisfactory once it gets going. Last year when it flowered it was a sheet, a wall, of pale apricot-tinted bloom, and the foliage and new growth are handsome. I don't know how hardy it is; its appearance suggests Tea not too far back in its ancestry. I wish we had more trees to grow massive climbers up. I definitely approve of your intention of growing lots of them on your new property. About garden design vs. plant collecting: Graham Thomas said that gardeners tended to be predominantly one or the other, along a continuum of course. For my part I think I'm equal parts collector and landscape gardener, and a lot of my garden planning is dedicated to finding the right plant that the garden needs for a particular situation, and finding the right situation for the plant I want to grow. You CAN have it both ways. YOU can have it both ways, if that's what you want. As you say, you already know what you need to do; it's just a matter of deciding what you truly desire. Henry Mitchell (my favorite garden writer and a wise man) said that gardeners generally start out just wanting a lot of flowers, and then over time start learning to plan along more architectural (for want of a better word) lines, just because they find they like the results better. I totally agree with him. Obviously I'm a collector, and I'll add that I'm allergic to masses of cloned plants; I'm for variety, once and always. But there's nothing in the garden that moves me more than a glimpse of the ignoble shed in one corner, with ill-tended grass and three happily grouped adolescent Italian cypresses: that combination of volume, form, height, and emptiness causes a thrill in my stomach every time my eyes light on it. Shade gardening is probably easier in Italy than it is in England, as we get so much more sun than you do. Roses actually like part shade here. The difficulty of the shade garden is that much of the soil is extremely thin, as it's an old slide area, and where it didn't slide it was because of underlying rock. The garden needs a lot of organic matter, and adding soil doesn't hurt either. These may not be problems on the property you're moving onto. Your plants are going to somewhat different than the ones I grow: perhaps box will do better for you than for me; perhaps bay laurel will be too tender for your garden while osmanthus or holly are a sure bet. But I agree about evergreen shrubs. To quote Henry Mitchell on the Hick's yew: "Like all yews, it confers a remarkable air of solidity, cheerfulness, [and] sobriety..."; and similar claims can be made for many other evergreens. Best wishes for your new garden! Thanks, Pam, and you are so right. Paula, continue ever hopeful. I hope my garden will come together one day and begin to approach what I have in mind; so much of the that mental image seems a remote dream. But I keep on planning and digging and planting. Visitors are welcome, by the way, if you get round to this part of the world. Suzy, I would be interested to see what you make of my activities. Melissa
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Cath, I think 'Ice Follies' does well everywhere: it grew here for years until overwhelmed by a prostrate ceanothus, and was one of my major survivors in Washington too. As my taste has developed I've become less impressed with its looks, though. The trumpets I find a bit surprising, though I don't know why; the feral daffodils one runs across here are mostly of that same type. 'Ice Wings' is another Triandrus hybrid, I notice it has received the RHS's Award of Garden Merit. I'm getting fond of Triandrus daffodils. Bart, good luck! Who knows, your cedar may perform wonderfully. I can only report about trees growing in local conditions, and those can be summed up in one word: clay. Ingrid, Gardening is certainly a tempering experience. No sane person would want to deal with the conditions you're fighting now, but they're forcing you to keep on thinking and planning. I wonder what the native California flora might have to offer you? principles of desert gardening as developed in the Middle East, northern Africa, Spain? Here we're still waiting for fall to arrive. It was downright hot yesterday, and sticky, with the sun finally visible after nine days of clouds and rain. Temperatures are supposed to drop this coming week, the sky to clear entirely, and I should think the humidity level will drop as well, and thank goodness. I'm still getting chigger bites and have allergy symptoms. We finished filling in the 70-80 holes we had dug, stuffing them with hay and the dirt that had been removed. It was a heavy job. Last week's rain watered everything nicely, and when it gets a bit cooler we'll be able to begin planting the rooted roses, with my attention particularly focused on those grown from suckers I collected last winter. These are once-blooming European OGRs, mostly Gallicas and Damasks. We have some warm climate roses to get in the ground too, but their holes still need to be prepared, and it's going to be a slow business. And there are a lot more chores. The (mostly) OGR varieties I propagated from suckers are the following: 'Agar' 'La Ville de Bruxelles' 'Petite Orleannaise' 'Duchesse de Berry' 'Nouvelle Pivoine' 'Incomparable' R. gallica 'Splendens' 'Gloire de France' 'Miranda' 'Belle de Crecy' 'Kazanlik' 'Winchester Cathedral' 'Mme. Zoetmans' 'Celsiana' Celestial' 'Nuits de Young' 'Nestor' (?) 'Elisa Rovella' 'Leda' R. foetida 'Persian Yellow' 'Austrian Copper' Of the Petrovic order from two years ago we may have lost as many as a quarter of the total (I think that tends high: I haven't checked the whole line yet), which still leaves us with sixty-odd new varieties. I'm still back-filling holes to bury the grafts deeper, digging out the occasional cursed rootstock sucker, and cleaning around the plants. They'll need to be nursed along for at least a couple of years yet, but they're on their way. Our losses were mostly in two low areas of the bed, which we found out were low when we got the wettest winter imaginable after planting the roses. In these areas we've been building up the planting sites and trenching around them, always amending generously with old hay. The grass and clover this fall are wonderful. Melissa
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I can't tell everyone enough how lucky I am. I found out thru the mayors telephone updates just now that out of the 11,000 people in our town area about 9,000 had lost power. I couldn't write down the numbers fast enough to remember them but the still without power number is very high. We have a large very great Hospital in our town which was in the part of town without power. They only got power back to the hospital and surrounding areas this morning. That length of time for the hospital to not have power restored is unheard of here. Of course it has emergeny generators so patients are never in danger. Since I am one of the lucky ones, I watch the news and see what is going on in the area. It is unbelievable in NJ. The flooding from the storms most of the rivers have not yet even reached the highest creasting. NJ already looks like a giant lake! In our county the south shore has many low lying areas that totally flooded from the storm surge. Watching many homeowners that lost all there possessions inside the house like pictures and memories. Then there are the people that have trees down on top of the house. Really, really bad.
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thonotorose
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The door to the rainy season slammed shut and we have had no rain here for over six weeks. So I drag the hose around every other day. Soon it won't be quite as hot and the garden will not dehydrate as fast. Perhaps rain will come with the cold fronts though the almanac says we are in for a dry winter.

We are entering our best seasons here. I have planted a few petunias and pansy's and am on my yearly hunt for that cobalt blue lobelia, Crystal Palace(?) Many more of these sets will go in over the next few weeks.

For the first time ever, I have some petunias that have reseeded from last fall and are popping up in many places.

The two new beds are doing well. Devoniensis, Clytemnestra and an unknown pink are soon to be joined by Rev D'or.

The other bed has Crepuscule at the far end and Marie Pavie at the door. Between the two is a surprising Heritage that died (I thought) several years ago and then reappeared as an own-root. Because of its tenacity and scent, it went into the good manure and can live there as long as it will.

That bed's focal point is the luminous Miss Atwood. Wonderful, mutable blooms and one of my best repeaters. She already stretches into the path but can stay until next summer.

Many of the roses are building up to the late fall flush. I have forgiven Carnation and Abe Darby, yet again. And Marcheal Neil has leapt! Twenty plus feet to the west and to the east. If he ever starts blooming, he will be something to see.

This is also the time for the heavy work. I am determined to move Madame Alfred this winter. That will take brick work to build a planter type area at the corner of the driveway near the ditch.

And what am I to do with the monstrous Cl Maman Cochet? Still in a giant pot, I am glad to say, but I would much rather it was the Marie Van Houtte I paid for. Perhaps it will do well at the front where it can hang over the edge of the ditch?

The bed for the hybrid musks will have to wait a little longer, I fear.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Melissa, it sounds as though your garden is starting to come together, which is no mean feat considering its size. What serendipity to have found an inexpensive source of shrubs.

I definitely agree that cypresses can really define a garden. We were fortunate enough to have a whole row of them next to the studio already and I planted one at each side of the driveway where it meets the concrete parking area. I'm amazed at how very quickly they've grown to a respectable size. The butterfly bushes I planted a few years ago also have a presence now and these vertical elements, along with the trees that were already in place, form the framework of the garden.

I'm fortunate that I do have blooms in the garden still, even though most of the roses are far from mature. Except for three roses that are arriving next spring, my garden is now fully planted with roses that I really like and that I believe are suited to my environment. I went through an unholy number of roses before reaching this point, but it took me a few years to fully understand how unique my environment was. Perhaps I'm also just a slow learner. At any rate, this fall has finally seen the completion of the major components of my garden, with only slight adjustments here and there which will help to keep life interesting in the years to come.

My most exciting experience lately has been learning that the small Bourbons are quite happy in my garden, and this has expanded my rose list quite a bit. I've really enjoyed watching them grow and bloom and discovering that they're content here.

Ingrid
melissa_thefarm
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a pleasure to read so many accounts of thoughtful and determined gardening. Ingrid, I think we are all slow to learn in the true sense, that is, learn from the complex and never fully deciphered reality around us, instead of from books (computer, others' instructions, etc.), whose information has already been selected and interpreted. In our gardens we become the great experts, and that's part of the fascination of gardening.
I feel a prick of envy hearing about thonotorose's roses--of course I don't have to deal with either blackspot or hurricanes, as I need to keep in mind. My Teas and China roses are once again launching enthusiastically into new growth at the end of October, no doubt to be cut down by frost in a month's time. Why they couldn't get started early enough to mature their growth before the arrival of winter I don't know: this year we've been getting rain since August: they have no early fall drought to excuse them. Anyway, thonotorose, your roses sound wonderful: I love your varieties. You're a brave woman to be thinking of moving 'Mme. Alfred Carrière'.
Paula, I get that blue haze effect with caryopteris, but it's a taller plant, of course. Those blues are lovely with roses. Lucky you, to have room for a vegetable garden, but they require a lot of work.
elemire, It sounds like you're going to have a great garden in a few years. Your roses may just be putting roots down, working their way into the clay. I just moved a sucker of my 'Leda' into a new spot, and am hoping we didn't massacre its roots so badly that it dies: it was deeply rooted.
Melissa
ogrose_tx
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Enlarging the bed off my patio, am making in an octagon shape. Have been saving cardboard, newspaper, and one of my sons has promised to come over on Thanksgiving weekend to haul landscape soil and mulch which will have been delivered to my driveway. Don't know how it will look as the rest of the beds are curvy, but am looking forward to trying this! First have to remove and divide day lilies and such, that will be a weekend pretty quick.

Am planning on a Tuscan look with thyme, herbs and muted colored roses as well as a tea olive nearby, plants that can take our heat.
elemire
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Melissa I hope so, it is very difficult bed to grow anything, heavy clay and full sun, also I have a feeling that there were some bushes before that got removed just before the house became available for sale (I come across some loose roots there occasionally). It is just somewhat frustrating that a white moss I have on more loose sand/clay mix is 4 x 1.5 m canes by now, when where I really want things to grow high it is a fizzle. Oh well, some day...

By the way, since you plant quite a bit of trees... I figured that planting trees on heavy clay adding some hormone powder to the planting hole makes some difference to how well they root (I have it quite clear with the fagus hedge, same condition, same source, planted same day, just half with and half without powder).
sherryocala
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
A garden report, eh? Let's see. It seems all my obsessing over the front garden has truly paid off. All but Mons Tillier is doing really well, still blooming strong. MT had a real problem with healthy young canes going black, so I took him out - a giant 6x6 bush in 2 years. When I was digging out the stump, I saw that the amended soil didn't even go down a foot deep, and this after I struggled digging out the crappy native limey sand. Either I didn't dig as deeply as I thought or the bad stuff is migrating up. MT's roots were well down into that awful gray stuff, and I have to believe it was causing some sort of deficiency that was detrimental to cane health. So again I dug out the native sand, this time to about 3' by 5x5. "Stay away from my baby's toesies!!", I say! Now Mme Lombard has a nice place to live.

I had wanted to place a Sky Pencil Japanese Holly on each side of the circle, thinking they would give real classy structure to the garden, but they need soil that is quite acidic so sadly I had to pass on that purchase, but with the roses now gaining some of their renowned height maybe I won't need the two spikes of green which might have gotten lost anyway. Maybe the garden will show me if it needs some other "architecture". Also, I'm beginning to take a more experimental attitude toward my Hermosas. I'm thinking with they're being part Bourbon maybe they need more trimming and "forcing" than teas and chinas, so that's the path I'm on with them. They've always been scrawny plants, so maybe this practice will make them bushier. Their gorgeous bold pink blossoms guarantee their place in the garden.

I'm now on my second go-round with Duchesse de Brabant, considering the two beautiful plants I now have from my own cuttings, but one of them needs a home. Alexander Hill Gray is replacing Rosette Delizy who had a similar problem to Mons Tillier. And speaking of giant Maman Cochet climbers, I gave away my Climbing White Maman Cochet to a home with much more real estate. That leaves Reve d'Or and Cl Maman Cochet on that side. RdO, I think, is manageable due to her lax canes (though unmanaged at this point), but I had "SP" thoughts about MC. Her canes have bumped into my kitchen windows, made a u-turn and grown about 6 more feet the other way. So you tell me, is this sane? She is sooooo huge as to be ridiculous. Even my attempt to force her UP INTO THE AIR is proving naive since what goes UP must come DOWN.

I, too, have another bed to finish, but I'm not jumping on it with the zeal of previous efforts. I'd give it up were it not such an ugly mess now AND in the front. I learned something about Mrs B R Cant. She was a gangly, sprawling, thick-caned, poorly foliated mess in her summer shade position. Regretting her, I started lopping and wound up with a good 5x4 shape - with about 3 leaves left. Well, two weeks later in her autumn sun position she's sprouting growth all over the place, and I think she'll be a pretty bush that may not mind the shade for a few months in the heat, and next year I'll do her summer pruning when I'm supposed to in August. Louis Philippe has become huge! Ingrid is right about the small Bourbons. Two of mine are sizable now, so I'm truly excited anticipating the maturity of the other three. They are wonderful roses bushes.

Last item to report is that I must be more diligent in checking my irrigation system which from time to time pops off micro heads at the instigation of the squirrels. That adds to my water bill and denies roses the water they need. I will say that my water bill is not exorbitant, and the roses are loving the constantly damp soil in their beds. Without my micro system I would have far fewer or NO roses. However, for all the roses I've removed lately I still have more than 90. How I'd love to have less than 90 - just on general principles. I think I would feel less tired and be less behind in my chores. Or maybe I could do away with the office job...guess not.

Sherry
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sherry, your comment about the number of roses you have really resonated with me. At my highest number I had about 94, which decreased quite a bit when I began deaccessioning but has now increased again with my last 14 plants to 86. I now know without a doubt that this is my upper limit and also feel that I have all the roses I've lusted after (now that my beloved Cl. Lady Hillingdon is arriving next spring). As time goes on some of the roses I have now may turn out to be underwhelming and they will be gone, and it would have to be a truly outstanding rose that would take its place. My final goal is really to have about 70 superb roses that meet all my criteria and will not be too much to take care of when I dodder off into old age. Knowing your limits is a really important component to satisfaction with your garden and I think we've both become aware of that. Wanting to cram every rose you fancy into your garden is that wild honeymoon stage, but it just can't last because exhaustion sets in. I've recently moved on to the next stage, when you're happily settled in with the wise choices that have made the cut and can now watch them grow and flourish and make your garden a thing of exquisite beauty. There will be bumps along the way but that's to be expected. It's the overall experience that counts.

Ingrid
jeannie2009
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
And so it goes. Sure glad to find this thread its given me a chance to sit back and think of what has happened this year and plan for the next season. And so to share!
Due to shale/granite outcroppings the only way that we have been able to garden is to create raised flower beds. We will need to build 3-4 more next year and then it will be finished.
One of the beds was a mistake colorwise I think. To the left Lady Hillingdon, middle= purple clematis, on the right we have Crepsule. Well the clematis is about 12" and so the similar color of the rose bushes gives it a blah look. But boy are those two roses gorgeous. They are my experiment to see if they do well here during the winter. If they do...oh my going to be buying some more...
Another bed was a mistake sizewise. Now remember we only made this bed early spring 2010. It measures 5 feet deep by 22.5 feet long. Across the back of the bed which backs up to the greenhouse are Mutabilis, Madame Alfred Carrier and Zephie. In front of these are Wong Fong and Treasure Trove. Mutabilis is showing lovely shape and size wize is doing well. Her siblings big Mac and Zephy are taking over the place. Wong and Treasure will be moving next spring. MAC and Zephie's canes are intertwining. I hope that they bloom at the same time that would be pretty.
Usually in this climate mildew is not a problem. This October some of my roses which get partial shade have some. Approximately 8 years ago I had an outbreak in a different garden during the fall. If memory serves the weather that year was similar to this year and I do know that both gardens were quite young. So I'm hoping that the mildew outbreak is weather related similar to the prior outbreak and won't need any intervention on my part. Lazy gardener syndrome....
So today I'll be off weeding some more....the fall crop is huge.
Jeannie
organic_tosca
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Melissa, as you know, my "garden" is miniscule. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the way it's looking now - my few roses are all finally getting themselves together, although Mlle. Jeanne Philippe is way ahead of the pack when it comes to blooming and growing. Not sure how far this rose is planning to go, but the trip should be interesting. I've also added to my succulent collection with a charmer from Annie's Annuals (Graptosedum 'Bronze') and an awesome aloe that was given to me - don't know the name. I always love reading about your garden - I don't know how you do it, with all that heavy work, but I feel a real love for it after seeing those pictures that you had on the Italian garden website.

Thonotarose - Yes, 'Crystal Palace' is the right name for that Lobelia. I have low pots of it spaced between my rose containers, and it is still looking great, although the surrounding trees are losing all their leaves. I love the intense blue of it, although I'm also thinking of the lighter "blue haze" look that others have mentioned - next year!
melissa_thefarm
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sherry, how beautiful your roses sound! Just the names make my heart lift. I'm glad they're doing well.
Jeannie, I'm in full agreement with the lazy gardener syndrome. I had a bit of fungal disease now and then in Olympia, only on certain varieties, but I never thought it warranted spraying, and the roses did fine. Good luck with your young garden!
Laura, It's my husband who does all the heavy work; I couldn't manage without him. Thanks for the kind words: I know there are thousands of things that could be better in my garden, but I love it passionately. Enjoy your garden! A balcony garden can be frustrating, but it's still a garden, and therefore a lovely and rewarding thing.
Melissa

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