Roses &Stuff #8 (2015)
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years ago
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Comments (103)
strawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
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Roses & Stuff #3 (2015)
Comments (168)Looks really good, Jim. How do you make your home-made compost? I make mine in the shade, just dump stuff on the ground ... it's NOT stinky. I'm going to get all the leaves I can this fall from the neighbors. Chicago Botanical Gardens' roses are ridiculously healthy, they use leaf-compost. When I took that soil-chemistry test, it stated the highest content of leaves is made out of carbon. Carbon (brown stuff) is good for the compost pile, a bit of nitrogen (green stuff) is good to speed up the decomposition. My most-blooms were when I used EarthGro Organic humus & manure ($1.26 for a 40 lb. bag from Walmart) to winter-protect, and in the spring there's zillions of buds ... way better than chicken manure. Here's a review on Walmart website for EarthGro bagged Humus & manure: 5.0 stars 4/1/2012 by oklahomagirl1989 "I made a flowerbed last year and planted 2 tiny roses into it...the flowerbed consisted of nothing BUT Humus and Manure Mix from Wal Mart.....my Roses have exploded with blooms during last years brutally hot summer when everything else died.....and since then, they have at least quadruplet in size....I couldn't be more happier about this product, in fact, I recommend it to all of my customers, since I work in the Garden Center and I always get asked about which soil is the best. Right now we are sold out of it and I am a bit upset myself because I want to buy lots more of it.....I would recommend this product to ANYONE at ALL TIMES!!!!! Here are the buds on Sweet Promise in spring when I winter-protected with EarthGro humus & manure (sold at HomeDepot and Walmart). Yay to the power of humus !! More spring buds on Francis Blaise when I used bagged humus & manure to winter-protect. Well-rotted horse manure is good too, but it's a real pain to scoop that into my car. I didn't winter-protect last year, since my kid's 6th-grade gifted-program was stressful for me. Growing healthy roses is easier than feeding a picky kid. I put money in her lunch-account, but she refuses to buy lunch from school, so I pack her lunch everyday. How do you pack lunch for a kid who doesn't like cheese, and is allergic to peanuts? Any ideas? Thanks....See MoreRoses & Stuff #9 (2015)
Comments (92)Sam: Your lupine is WOW- lovely. I adore Lupine ever since my Mom had a bed in MI, it was heavenly beautiful with so many different colors. I tried to achieve the same effect with different colors German Iris (over $100 worth), but they died during a spring flood. We get more heavy rain in Chicagoland. Your Wedgewood rose is stunning, big with many petals. Our heavy clay retains water well, so our grass doesn't get brown unless we get weeks of no-rain. Went outside to check my garden after today's heavy rain. The dark-green leaves and those grafted-on-Dr. Huey can't handle the acidity of rain. I put ALKALINE pea-gravel on them, but that wasn't enough. I should had put dolomitic lime on the aggressive-dark-green-leaves like Crown Princess Magareta. One thing I did right: 4th of July I dug up Pink Peace (BS-fest grafted on Dr.Huey), I put 4-cups of garden-lime in the planting hole, plus compost. It was pale for a while, but now is clean with healthy leaves & buds. The acidic rain neutralized the lime in the planting hole. My other grafted-rose ($6.59 Lavender rose) with dark-green leaves .. that got BS and dropped most of the leaves after blooming. So I put pea-gravel, and I saw the new growth, pale, but has a bud. I WOULD RATHER have pale leaves & blooms, than zero leaves or with black spots. Roses can be pale in alkaline-clay due to high pH, but bloom very well, if their roots are aggressive like Dr. Huey to extract nutrients for blooming. I would like to a start a "sunshine club" where each of us pledge to 20 min. of sunshine a day, be it working in the garden, or going for a walk. Then we report the progress as to what we accomplish in that "sunshine time". So many diseases, cancer, MS, diabetes, belly-pouch are linked to lack of sunshine. It's nice to enjoy the sun: taking care for one's health & and gardening. It's so hard to catch the sun here, it would rain or snow for the entire day, then the sun pops out for 10 min, then goes away when I got ready to go outside....See MoreRoses & Stuff #11 (2015)
Comments (69)Lovely roses everyone!! Wise Portis has such a wonderful color!! Double Knockout looks great!! Straw - I just throw the frozen tomatoes into a bit pot with a bit of water on the bottom, so the tomatoes don't scorch. Then I boil them forever. The skins float up, so I take them off (my mom takes the frozen tomatoes and holds them under warm water, and the skins just slide off. But I think the skin probably gets extra vitamins into the sauce, since most vitamins are in the skin. Then when it's boiling nicely and the skins are gone, I add a couple of tsps of sugar and a lot of oregano. When it's a nice consistency for spreading on pizza, I use it or freeze it. It's pretty easy, and tastes delicious!! Winterizing pots - I wrote this up awhile ago, since I've had so many requests as to my methods. Here it is. :) _________________________________ I overwinter my 50 roses in large pots in my garage with the 2 cars. LOL Three car garage. Here's what I do: - I keep deadheading until it's time for them to go into the garage. - I keep feeding them and watering well until it's time for them to go into the garage. -Then when the temperature gets to be about -6C I cut all the leaves off at the point they join the heavier stem. I don't cut any height off of the plant. - At this point I water them really, really well and move them by dolly into the garage. - I cover them with thick blankets, layers of flannel sheets or sleeping bags. - My garage is insulated. - Then I leave them alone in the dark. Doesn't matter if the garage door is opened and closed. - Around January, I look and see if they're dried out a bit. - If they are, then I water each rose 1/2 cup. - I repeat this every month. - As the weather starts warming up, I take off some blankets - so they don't start making new growth in the heat. - Any new growth should be broken off as you would thorns - just push them to the side, and they'll fall off. - If you have only a few pots - you can start taking them outside during the day when it gets about 5 C outside. Bring them inside until the night temperature doesn't drop below 5C. - Remember to water really well once you take them outside. - If you have a lot - then either wait until night tempreatures are 5C before you take them outside - or cover them with blankets at night. Hope this helps, Carol...See MoreRoses & Stuff #13 (2015)
Comments (70)Carol: you have snow? Wow!! I admire your growing roses in a cold zone. Thanks to the river nearby, we are blessed with warm weather until today, Oct. 3 where it gets to the 50's, but it will be up to 70's again in a few days. Today is the 1st time that I didn't go out to work in the garden, nor walk with my kid, I went shopping instead. I really like shopping early at 8 am in the morning, much less people, so I can get the best stuff. If there's only 2 or 3 items left, it's good stuff. Like 2 Nutella jar left .. my kid eats graham cracker and Nutella for her lunch at school, plus a turkey sandwich EVERYDAY. Kids are funny, they don't like variety, they like the same old thing. I asked my daughter what she wants for dinner, she said, "don't make anything new." She doesn't like it when I try new recipe. We once went with my nephew to Old Country Buffet when he was 8 years old. There were at least 6 different main-dish, plus 3 different soups, plus so many stuff in the salad-bar. He ate nothing but macaroni and cheese. My sister was mad, she said, "I could make you mac and cheese for 50 cents at home, why do I need to pay $10 just for that here?" Sam & Jim: you two crack me up ... that's funny !! I pray for Heather & your wife Sue .. having a virus doesn't feel good. Which reminds me to make brewer's yeast & honey & milk for my kid. Epicor is an extract from Brewer's yeast which is clinically proven to boost immune system & lessen one's chance of catching colds with its high B vitamins. Those Epicor pills are sold $30 per bottle on Amazon, while $10 of Brewer's Yeast last me for 4 months. If I mix it with milk, plus buckwheat honey, it's really yummy. http://www.livestrong.com/article/287160-what-are-the-dangers-of-epicor/ " EpiCor's beginnings go back to the Diamond V Mills company in Iowa, which for decades has made a special yeast culture animal-feed additive that helped increase production in dairy cows. Over time, an insurance company noted that certain employees — the ones exposed to the yeast product — rarely reported illnesses. The company tested its fermented yeast in the lab and found the product had more antioxidants than blueberries." Pink Peace, one of the 2 roses in my garden which is grafted on Dr. Huey .. really likes pea gravel: more petals & larger. Pic. Taken Sept. 30, when the temp. was over 75 & warm night....See MoreUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
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8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agomsdorkgirl
8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years ago
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