Spring 2017 in New Brunswick, NJ
Well, I'm still finishing up a lot of work in the garden, but I stopped to take a pic of the first bloom today. 'Miss Lowe's Variety' wins this year, and a couple of weeks earlier than last year's winner.
I have a new computer on its way, so I'll be sharing more pics soon.
:-)
~Christopher
Comments (79)
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
This morning before leaving for work, I prepped an extra 'Officinalis' to be gifted, then gave the grass a soak before today's heat kicked in. While walking around, I couldn't help but notice two more roses sharing their first blooms.
"Rose de Rescht" -- just one so far.
And the other was 'Alliance Franco-Russe', which is AKA "Fake Perle" in Australia. That first bud from last week opened.........
......with many more to follow. This own-root Tea got rather big in two years, didn't it? Click on the picture to see the whole plant better. The pot it's in is 15" across at the top.
"Nouveau Monde -- in commerce as" is peeking in from the left. That one needs a big haircut after the bloom.
I'll check again tomorrow -- I go in to work later, so I'll have more time.
:-)
~Christopher
- 7 years ago
Some more pics this morning...........
Napoleon reaches up past where the sun hitting the house hides it in this pic.
Grandmother's Hat -- I have this rose because of Jeri Jennings, and think of her whenever it blooms.
Perle d'Or -- I wanted to snap a pic of the whole plant, but the sun was hitting it too much while I was out there.
Another open bloom on Alliance Franco-Russe -- aka Fake Perle in Australia. This rose is getting rather big as it grows leaning upon the deck railing.
Clematis Edo Murasaki is fading to lavender-blue. The rose yet-to-bloom on the deck railing to the left is Georg Arends.
Clematis Diamantina continues opening its many tepals.
Two more clematis -- H. F. Young in the tree, and Countess of Lovelace growing up the deck railing via rose Nouveau Monde -- in commerce as.
To be continued...........
:-)
~Christopher Related Discussions
Tree-eater suggestions for NJ Church Cemetery project
Comments (22)I appreciate the comments and concerns about maintenance, and the following is NOT a rant, but rather my attempt at clarifying the specifics of this site. These are things I've thought and talked about with the caretaker. I first approached him about this back in early Summer. Being recognized as a historic site by the state of NJ, they do get quite a few hands working on keeping things up. Volunteers from Rutgers University have been coming by this Autumn to clean, prime, and repaint the fence. The small water feature was donated by a church member, and installed by the caretaker. All the plants you see in there already were donated -- and in many cases planted -- by church members. They get together for leaf raking and shredding in Autumn. Brian, the caretaker, has shared with me his desire to create something really beautiful, but he's limited by cost. He's been expanding beds, but doesn't have much more than divisions of church members' plants to fill them. Since he lives on-site, this is effectively his back yard, and I saw him out there almost daily during the growing season -- he also maintains a small veggie garden for the church which I didn't photograph. [The church is across the street from my job, and down the street from the Starbucks from where I collect used coffee grounds daily.] I told him that a few old roses could make good "anchor shrubs" around which he can continue to spread the companion plants he already has in abundance. This is not an empty stretch of land that some people "say" they'd like improved but don't do anything about it -- and this is why I took interest in it. When I was in Buffalo, I was approached by my "block club" about helping to put together a proposal for a city grant to buy plants for the empty space at the end of the street. We did get a few volunteers for helping to put it together, but I did much of the work by myself. As my free time started to shrink from classes and a busier work schedule, "maintenance" became me going down there once a week to pull weeds and pick up garbage. Once things were planted, the attitudes I kept hearing from non-participating neighbors about how "the college kids will ruin it" morphed into "no one will take care of it" -- and it was the latter which became true. So in essence, I lived on a block full of people complaining about how the neighborhood looked crappy and no one was doing anything about it, yet they themselves were reticent to make the first step -- or even keep things going after others got things started for them. I lived there for three years, and became well aware -- as they knew I am a "downstater" myself -- of that "blame everyone else" attitude for their deep-seated Rust Belt woes. What I at first thought would be an example of the "Stone Soup" story coming to life and igniting a desire for further improvement became an example of how throwing some money at something isn't enough to make a change -- you need people willing to keep it going. But this isn't what I find at this location. Instead, I find someone with the desire, energy, and know-how to make something beautiful here, but is limited by funds. Yes, there are plenty of roses I can't grow in my yard which I'd like to see in this garden, but this isn't going to be "my garden". I'd like to see them there because they'd be appropriate there, and the caretaker agrees. As for tree maintenance, as far as I can tell none is performed, other than raking leaves. I will speak to Brian in more detail about having roses up in them, but he has already expressed interest when I asked if he'd want that. In the meantime, I don't have any roses on-hand right now that will be planted there. I do have an order for Spring, but that's it. I also have my own "inventory" from which I can propagate, as well as whatever I can propagate from the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, and whatever I can get donated. If it turns out I have too much, any "leftovers" will go back to the HRF. So, in the end, this will be about me saying to Brian "Hey, I have this, and I think it'd work over there....want it? Oh, and what about putting this one over here...it'll get this big eventually, so you'll need that much space." He's really the designer. I'm just sharing my rose info with -- and trying to "make plants happen" for -- him. :-) ~Christopher...See MoreJust venting about drought in central NJ
Comments (20)Just commenting again. 2017 has been the polar opposite with frequent rains. Slugs are everywhere and although a few things have suffered in the abundant moisture I have LOVED it and appreciated the abundance of moisture. I will take this over all the drought years and everything in my garden and all surrounding parks and areas looks extra green (or maybe a "normal" green after so many drought years)....See MoreIt's July 2017 - How is your build progressing?
Comments (176)Great to see so much progress for everyone. I can't believe how fast some of your houses are going up! We have most of the exterior painted with the exception of the still-under-construction porch columns. It's nice to finally see the final look of the house. Coffer ceiling and paneling in the great room is completed with the exception of a few pieces of curved trim. The Rotunda paneling is almost complete and the floor border is in place on the second floor. Railing is sitting nearby so maybe we'll see that installed soon? The tin ceiling was installed in the rotunda, but we're not sure we like the finish. They powder coated it, but we were expecting it to be a bit shinier. Might experiment with removing some of the powder coat or hitting it with a gloss coat. After losing our awesome tile guy to the INS tile installation is back on track all around the house. We're probably looking at tile completion in a couple weeks, pending counter tops. Front wrap around porch is completed and awaiting railing. Back porch/gazebo will get its bluestone in the next two weeks and railing at the same time as the front. I think we're still targeting an August completion and hopefully a September COO and move in. I can't wait to start a post about our three year ordeal so you can learn from our mistakes!...See MoreOwlnsr's 2017 Overseed
Comments (113)Scott’s Weed and Feed, applied on 6/4, My plan was to use Milorganite, but every store around here has been sold out. After two weekends of searching, I gave up. I was late with pre-em this year and had some broadleaf weeds cropping up. With the 6 month old baby, I don’t have much “lawn time” so I figured a W&F would maximize my time this year. Honestly, I feel like the lawn does better with the Scotts. The photos I posted earlier today were taken in the bright afternoon sunlight (harsh contrast), and they don’t really do it justice. It’s thunder storming right now, otherwise I’d go grab a few more shots to take advantage of the optimal, late afternoon lighting....See More- 7 years ago
Tamora was rather awkward for a while, so I cut it back hard this year. Now it's bushier, and blooms even look better.
Due to last Summer's crazy work schedule, Souvenir du Victor Landeau grew without my guidance. I couldn't bear to sacrifice these canes and their blooms, so they're rather more upright than I'd have preferred. I'm gradually getting them used to being ever more horizontally pegged, but I just may have to do some cutting-back after the first two flushes. Yes, he spans the width of this pic, including that high-up piece held in place by the green stake on the left, which presents its buds at eye-level for me.
Another victim of my neglect last Summer is Honorine de Brabant, which actually fell over by the end of the season. I got her upright again with those green stakes, but she seems to have had lots of Winter-damage to buds along her canes, leafing out and blooming only at the last third or so of their lengths. I didn't want to sacrifice what apparently is a meager first flush, so for now this is how she looks. After she's done, I'll cut canes and laterals back but preserve as much height and breadth as possible, and hopefully there will be filling-out again.
More blooms on DLFED 3, currently living in a 22" resin barrel and draping over its neighbors.
To be continued...........
:-)
~Christopher - 7 years ago
In the second-to-last pic on my previous post, you see one pale open bloom on one of DLFED 3's neighbors. That belongs to Celsiana. I ordered one for the cemetery last year, but noticed that two plants were in the container. I separated them, and potted the smaller one for possible future use elsewhere.
A new bloom on Mutabilis, its others from before today already pink or red. This is one of quite a few roses hit by mildew this year. My order of potassium bicarbonate arrived yesterday, but today is going to be too hot to spray them all down. I'll wait until temperatures drop this weekend.
Some wide shots of the main beds -- not much blooming here now, and there are some gaps which need to be filled. I think Lady Hillingdon and Mme Laurette Messimy finally bit the dust, and I had to remove Mme de Sevigne when I saw RRD emerging on a new basal. I saw it on the tip of a cane last year, and cut that back to the ground -- but I must have been too late. That broke my heart, since the rest of the plant looked symptom-free and loaded with buds. As much as I wanted to let it bloom first, I couldn't risk letting it infect the others.
I cut back The Prince rather hard this year, but he's determined to continue reaching for the skies. At least this time there's more growth near the base. Before I cut anything, he was over six feet tall but less than a foot wide. His neighbor to the left is Clotilde Soupert, which was also cut back rather hard. Last year, she was taller than Charles de Mills behind her, which hid his annual flush. This year I made sure to keep her short, but I'll let her grow out again after Charles is finished.
Sophie's Perpetual is starting to bloom -- and this year is finally looking like it will put on some good size. She grew great the first year (2013), but then just maintained her size and bloomed sporadically. Now she's already twice the size she was last year at this time.
I nabbed a bunch of Bermuda Mystery Roses from Rose Petals Nursery's sale last year, but they were badly neglected through much of the season. All were repotted this year, and are showing recovery. This is Vincent Godsiff.
To be continued...................
:-)
~Christopher
- 7 years ago
The roses that ate the deck railing! Reine des Violettes is peeking through by the stairs, and Nouveau Monde -- in commerce as is up on the deck . You'll see what I meant earlier about this rose needing a haircut after the bloom. And all that growth comes from one thick cane at the base, with laterals upon laterals sprouting from it.
Rose du Roi -- original is going to have a banner year. It's in the center of the pic below. This one was teasing me with stiffly-upright canes which branched at the tips, only to flop over from the weight of its blooms. So I cut it back to about half its height two years after planting, leaving bare stems. That got it branching out lower, which balanced its weight. I pruned it again this year, taking it down by 1/3. Now it has a nice shape.
Behind it and to the left is Paul Neyron, and Bermuda Spice is behind it and to the right.
A bud about to open on Rose du Roi -- original.
Miss Lowe's Variety was the first to open a bloom this year. To paraphrase the movie Jaws, "You're gonna need a bigger pot" since this one toppled over a couple times on windy days -- hence the cracked lip.
To be continued............
:-)
~Christopher
- 7 years ago
This will be the last batch of pics for today -- have to get ready for work in a bit.
Souvenir du Dr. Jamain seems to be stalled in growth -- maybe this spot is a bit dry. I put soaker hoses in a few areas I think were in rain shadows last year, including a length running here. Perhaps this year the doctor will start ascending further along the railing.
The other rose climbing here is Duchesse d'Angouleme, aka Wax Rose. There's another DdA out there, but it's an AKA for an Agatha rose. This one is a Hybrid China. And this is an area where the sawfly larvae seem to be safe from their predators, apparently........
Marie Pavie was first to bloom for a few years, but this year is arriving a tad later. I blame that late snow after the early warm-up.
Blue Mist is oddly short on petals right now, but I think it did this last year whenever it was about 90F. Next flush should be a little better.
Vineyard Song -- one of the few I planted directly into the native soil as a band rather than potting up first. As with others planted that way, it lagged behind by about a year or so, but is finally getting going.
In my not-as-shady-as-I-originally-thought border, Lindee is the first rose to bloom. There are only three roses there -- four, if you count Buff Beauty on the railing. I want to add more Polyanthas, but the ones I want don't seem to be commonly available. Maybe I'll make delayed-shipping orders and just keep adding them one by one as they are available, rather than getting shipments of one or two roses at a time from multiple nurseries.
And that's it for today. If it's not raining all day Monday, I'll take some more pics then.
:-)
~Christopher
- 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
Yesterday morning I quickly snapped some more pics before heading to work. They're not the best quality, but I wanted to share bloom progress.
"Grandmother's Hat" followed by 'Napoleon'. Between them is what's left of 'Rival de Paestum' after damage from that surprise cold blast after an early warm-up, which may have killed 'Ducher' entirely. That one was on the other side of 'Napoleon'.
Next is 'Perle d'Or'.
"Rose de Rescht".
'Botzaris' in the center, with 'Tamora' off to the left. Second pic is the first open bloom on 'Botzaris'.
To be continued.......
:-)
~Christopher - 7 years ago
'Tamora -- whole-plant followed by blooms.
'Golden Celebration' has its largest blooms at the first flush, which is just beginning.
This is 'Rose du Roi -- original' which I got from Vintage Gardens back in 2013. To get it branching out nicely, one must cut it back quite a bit in early Spring. Otherwise, canes get top-heavy and fall over. Second pic is bloom-detail -- very different from some of the "...of commerce" forms which are more HP-ish.
This is one of the roses given to me by Dennis (aka Belmont on here) for the cemetery. He (or was it the late Rev. Douglas Seidel?) identified this foundling as 'La Plus Belle des Ponctuees', which is a spotted Gallica. This is the first time its blooming for me, and I do see the spots, but neither of us is sure of the ID. This sucker was too large for anything but one of my 22" resin barrels, and because of where I had it last year, it grew spilling over the side, reaching for the light. Two suckers grew, both were too big to plant at the cemetery, so I'm holding them for another use elsewhere.
Another of Dennis' foundlings which he identified as 'La Diaphane', which he said he found often. It's a once-blooming pink moss -- something I'd find hard to match to a name if I found one, so kudos to Dennis. This is one of the extras I had, which I'm holding for another use elsewhere.
And a lone bloom on 'Chateau de Clos Vougeot'.
To be continued..........
:-)
~Christopher
- 7 years ago
The last of yesterday's rushed shots..........
First bloom on 'Devoniensis'. Where I had this pot last year apparently wasn't ideal, and so it's being nursed back right now. I was tempted to remove this bud and let it focus on growing, but I wanted to see just one for Spring.
These are some pics of the neighbors' raised deck in the back. I planted 'Reine des Violettes' against the railing by the stairs, and "Nouveau Monde -- in commerce as" against the center of the railing further up.
I wanted to take more pics today, but it's been raining on and off.
Today I'll be taking a trip to a nursery about which I've heard great things but where I've never been -- Gasko's Family Farm & Greenhouse. Based on their website prices, I have a feeling I'll be kicking myself for ordering so many perennials online rather than checking there first.
:-)
~Christopher 
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAquaEyes 7a NJ thanked ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9- 6 years ago
I had requested to be "cut back" to just five days a week at work, and last week that request was met. I finished with "only" 51 hours when I left Sunday. But I got scheduled for a shift today, so this week will be back to 60 hours.
ANYWAY.........
This morning I snapped a few pics. we had a long rainy day yesterday, which left some roses leaning from water weight. This morning it was still wet, and I went around shaking lingering water off those droopy canes, and took a few more pics.
"Pickering Four Seasons" is frankly too short to droop -- he maxes out at about 12" tall. He's growing just fine, but I don't think he'll ever get big. So he sits at the very exposed corner of my front yard garden, next to 'Marie Pavie', and with Ceratostigma plumbaginoides at their feet. This groundcover is something I recommend trying with roses, since its max height is still too short to overwhelm all but Miniature Roses. It starts blooming in late Summer and continues until hard frost. Flowers are electric-blue, and foliage eventually turns "burning bush red" before dropping. There's a small window when blue blooms and red foliage happen together. Mine came as one small pot, but it's been spreading slowly over three years -- even popping up between the wood edge and cement sidewalk.
I made my way to the back -- I remembered some roses were really heavy with rain yesterday, and I was hoping to not see all of the first blooms smashed to the ground. They weren't. In fact, the raindrops made for some pretty moments -- and in a few cases, my old iPhone managed to capture some. This is 'Reine des Violettes' on the neighbors' deck railing.
I was walking up to check on my pot pets spending their Summer on the neighbors' deck.
First, I should explain my "theme" with the pots. The Rite Aid in my town frequently carries these 15" heavy-duty plastic pots in brown, terracotta-orange, and red. They're over-priced at $20, but are frequently marked down 50% to $10 -- and that's a little cheaper than they are elsewhere. So I make sure to stop in every so often and see if I can snatch any. I use these pots for my tender pot-pets, which I bring into my enclosed back porch. Red pots are for predominantly red/pink roses. Whites, yellows, and "sunset" colors go in the brown pots. The terracotta-orange pots I reserve for edibles -- right now, my five dwarf blueberry bushes are each in one of these. Then there are the resin barrels, which contain hardy roses which I leave out unprotected for Winter.
So when I had so many things intended for the cemetery last year, I had no space for many of my potted Teas and Chinas. I asked my neighbors (with whom I share the yard) if they would mind having a few on their deck. They happily agreed, saying they loved having roses around them. So, I went with a theme for their deck -- just brown pots, so it didn't look cluttered. 'Alliance Franco-Russe' was the first of that group to bloom, but today I noticed others showing their faces. And....is it crazy that I don't need to look at the labels anymore? I snap pics, upload to Facebook, and type in their names later when I'm back in the house.
'Alexander Hill Gray' is opening his first bloom......
.....and so is 'Etoile de Lyon'.....
.....and 'Perle des Jardins'. Look, it's not balling! Here, this rose and 'Clotilde Soupert' experience balling only when both cold and damp, such as happens in Autumn. While we're a tad lower than average in temperatures, it's not actually cold while we're getting this wet.....so all's good.
Also on the deck is "Thomasville Old Gold", which is looking rather crappy now. It held on to a lot of last year's foliage, and seemed to be fine with that, so I left it. It even set buds. But then horrible mildew and blackspot happened, finally taking off last year's leaves, and it went naked -- with flower buds. But now it's leafing out again. Next Spring, no matter how good the leaves look, they're coming off.
The last rose on the neighbors' deck is 'Gruss an Coburg' -- very different habit, but its blooms are about the same color as those on "Thomasville Old Gold", so I stuck it there. I wanted to collect a few Pernetianas and see how they did, but they're too small to set up a "Pernetiana Corner" now. So this is where GaC lives for the Summer. Oh, and to me, its blooms smell like apple pie.
To be continued.....
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Here's another mystery -- I ordered 'Duchesse de Rohan' from Rogue Valley Roses last year, but got something which bloomed a purple-leaning red, and looked less like a real Damask Perpetual and more like a Hybrid Perpetual, perhaps along the Trianon lines. I potted the band into a 2gal container last year, and it sent canes straight up, but they then leaned over from their weight. Along with my other Damask Perpetuals, Hybrid Perpetuals, and Perpetual Mosses, it spent Winter outside unprotected, and had only minor tip damage -- in the neighborhood of an inch, max.
I repotted it this year into a 20" resin barrel, and set it up on some of the cinder blocks left here which I made into a low wall to hide my potting tools behind. Those "floppy canes" actually look nice now, more like "cascading down". And as a result, it set buds all along their lengths -- self-pegging. I thought perhaps it could be 'Duchesse d'Ossuna', which RVR carries and is near it alphabetically, but I'm not sure now. This rose's bloom is colored something like 'Mme Isaac Pereire' but leaning more into purple. Very strong scent -- what you'd expect from a Hybrid Perpetual of this coloring, rather like that of 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' but stronger. Canes are nearly prickle-free, save for some bristles near the base. In fact, aside from the blooms, it rather resembles the "not Reine des Violettes" I got from Heirloom Roses a few years ago. And I think I recall someone posting about a "mystery rose" from RVR which looked rather like this one. I'll have to check that thread again.
Here it is.......sorry first pic came out blurry, but you get the idea of its untrained habit.
Bloom color here isn't accurate, but it is more-so with the pic of buds which follows.
Thoughts?
To be continued...........
:-)
~Christopher
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Being as I worked only one shift today, I got home early enough to take some more pics before it got dark. It was cloudy, but bright -- which usually means I can get something from my iPhone camera. In this case, I managed to capture the spots on the first bloom on 'Marbree' this year.
Don't be swayed by descriptions saying it's only "mildly scented". I think that's relative compared to other Damasks. On its own, it's something I'd rate as at least 2 out of 4, maybe 3 out of 4. I think it would be more powerful if it had more petals, but the scent it carries is fat and round, unlike the wispy yet pervasive "wafting" scent found among fragrant Polyanthas and Hybrid Musks. Someone not accustomed to smelling OGRs would definitely say "wow, that smells great!"
Here's 'Officinalis' -- well, the one I kept for myself. Dennis brought me several suckers, and they all took. One went to the cemetery, two went to gardening friends at work, one was planted within the walled herb garden at my job, and the largest I kept for myself. Why? Because I didn't want to give a gift which required digging a huge hole to plant. This one sits in a 15" pot. The others I managed to get into 2gal containers.
Do you consider this Gallica to be "strongly scented"? If so, it's of the same strength (to my nose) as 'Marbree' mentioned previously. Again, I think it's a relative thing -- for a Gallica, 'Officinalis' is "strongly scented". For a Damask, 'Marbree' has only a "mild scent". Side by side, they're equally strong.
I was really hoping this pic would come out right -- but it didn't. No purple tints. No shading. Just a blob of bubble gum pink.
Anyway, this is 'Capitaine John Ingram', another rose which came as a sucker from Dennis. There was only one, but it was huge, and so it had to be planted in a 22" barrel. I kept thinking of how to bring it to the cemetery -- bare-root it? Maybe I can let it make another smaller sucker and pot that up. Digging big holes in the heavy clay here is not something I enjoy. So I'll enjoy it here for a while. Very fragrant, both blooms and moss. I assumed it's once-blooming, but I've read that some people get repeat-bloom if promptly dead-headed, cut back a bit, and fed. We'll see.
'Rose du Roi -- original' was doing such a great job staying upright -- until it got soaked with rain. Now it's leaning, but at least it's not flopping. Its overall shape is like an inverted traffic cone -- narrow base, spreading outward and upward in straight lines rather than arches.
Here's "Rose de Rescht" in the center, with some of 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' draping over and around from the back left, and 'Abraham Darby' looming in from the back right. The stiffly-upright left-leaning bush to the left and behind "Rose de Rescht" is 'Yolande d'Aragon', which always starts blooming a couple of weeks later than the rest.
You'll notice some pots in today's pictures -- I got some perennials from my trip to Gasko's Family Farm and Nursery yesterday. They had great prices ($2.99 each or 4 for $10, 1gal containers), moderate selection, and large quantities of perennials. But when I went inside, my jaw dropped -- this will be my source for bedding annuals, herbs, and veggies this year. HUGE selection, GREAT prices ($8.99 mix-n-match flats of 48), and they grow their plants on-site. I'm kicking myself for not going earlier -- there won't be bare spots in my garden this year. But I'm waiting until I order my last round of perennials before I get the annuals.
The pic below is just to the right of the previous pic. This time, 'Abraham Darby' is in the center, and along the bottom edge is 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte'. 'Reine des Violettes' is on the railing by the stairs, and "Nouveau Monde -- in commerce as" is eating the railing at the raised portion behind the tree. You'll see a terracotta-orange pot in the bottom-right corner -- that's one of my five blueberry bushes. I decided to let them fruit this year, being as they put on a lot of growth. But they're still small. From all five, I'll maybe get four cups of blueberries this year. I didn't mind getting them very small -- growing roses from bands has turned me into a patient man. And they came about the same size as band-sized roses. I should probably take some pics of them soon.
This is the other side of the path, which used to be lined with bricks to separate it from the garden beds. The bricks are still there, just buried. I got tired of lifting them, throwing down more organic matter, and resetting them again to compensate for settling and decay of mulch and coffee grounds. So instead, I got rolls of that heavy-duty brown rubber edger, set it between the double-row of bricks, then filled-in with mulch around it. I used black for the path, and brown for the rest of the garden. Normally, I don't "do" dyed mulch, but when it was on-sale 5 bags for $10, I got it. If I had the time, a delivery would have made more sense, but I had to do it bit by bit this Spring as my crazy work schedule started up again.
OK, notice a gap on either side of the lilies? That's where 'Mme de Sevigne' was, before I ripped her out after finding RRD on a new basal. There was no way to cut it out. I saw signs last year at the tip of one cane, and cut that to the ground. But I guess I didn't catch it in time.
Here's what is there -- on the fence, you'll see clematis and roses. Right now, 'Bleu Magenta' in the back left is not blooming, 'Bubble Bath' in the center is just starting to bloom, and so is 'Purple Skyliner' on the right -- but it's hard to see. At the front, by the upright piece of log, is 'Botzaris' with some blooms. At the bottom center of the pic is 'Mme Dore', which has some buds ready to open in a few days. 'Monsieur Boncenne' is to its right, by the black-mulch path. In the back left, you'll see some dark red buds. That's 'Pierre Notting' the Hybrid Perpetual -- not 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting' the Tea.
Below is another shot of about the same area, except that in the lower left you can see a not-yet-blooming 'Blanc de Vibert', with a starting-to-bloom 'Golden Celebration' behind it. In the center of this pic is 'Tamora'. And again, those red buds belong to 'Pierre Notting'.
Ugh....this pic looked better on my iPhone. Well, anyway, this is clematis 'Blue Light' which is nestled within rose 'Bubble Bath' on the fence.
The clematis here is 'Red Star', which apparently isn't easily found. Mine -- and all my other clematis -- came from Brushwood Nursery in 2014, but I've noticed that they've removed some from their inventory. You can just make out the first open blooms on 'Bubble Bath' along the right edge.
To be continued..........
:-)
~Christopher
- 6 years ago
Last year, I was too busy to keep up with gently guiding 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' into a more horizontal habit. So, he's a great big octopus this year.
Here's a wide shot of the area we just passed. Somehow, I need to climb up and cut back some branches on the pine tree, and trim the arbor vitae. Everybody is starting to lean toward the light, and there's a bit of a rain shadow.
I got a good amount of grass seed to grow this Spring, despite finding holes dug there every morning, which I have to put back together and soak with the hose. At first, I assumed it was squirrels. Then one night I saw two huge raccoons back there, which I assume were digging for grubs.
This is "Sophie's Perpetual", which came as a band from Vintage Gardens in 2013. And this is the most new growth it has put on in Spring since that first year. Otherwise, it maintained what it put forth its first year, and just bloomed on that. Maybe it had root competition. Maybe that spot was really dry before I put down mulch this year. Maybe it was just a slow starter. But it's finally starting to do something.
Going back to the neighbors' deck again -- and, hey, there's one of the blueberry bushes against the railing with 'Reine des Violettes'. If you enlarge the pic, you just may be able to see the blueberries forming on the bush. The five I got were 'Northblue', 'Northland', 'Northsky', 'Sunshine Blue', and 'Top Hat'. They're all dwarf or semi-dwarf, so perfect for pots. And they're hardy enough to be left out for Winter.
One of these days, I should stain that deck....a nice woad blue.
In my tiny front yard, 'Nigrette' has "lightened up" from her darker mood when it was cooler. The pic shows her more fiery than in real life, but it's about accurate for the depth of color right now. In other words, when it's warm, she's burgundy. She also shed her first round of leaves which, I take it, were built to handle light frosts but not blackspot. She did this last year, too. Second round of leaves is "built for Summer" and tend to stay clean (for me) without spraying.
'Homere' is the rose in the pot to her right. Also, take a look at all the buds on 'Baltimore Belle' growing into the half-dead Japanese maple. You'll see more of that in the next few shots.
Lots of gaps to fill yet -- I also lost four roses in this bed after that late freeze following an early warm-up. Oddly, 'Comtesse du Cayla' along the right edge just above the bottom had very little damage, but 'Moonsprite', 'Lemon Spice', 'Mirandy', and 'Eugenie Lamesch' bit the dust.
We're continuing up the tree with 'Baltimore Belle'. This is just the dead side of the tree, where I let the rose get bushy. Into the living part of the tree, very long canes were threaded through the branches before the tree leafed-out. Now they're (mostly) held in place. You'll see.
To be continued............
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Continuing with 'Baltimore Belle' in the half-dead Japanese maple -- look for the bright green rose leaves among the red-tinted maple leaves. The height of the dead branches in the first pic is about nine feet from the ground. The highest point of the tree is probably twelve feet from the ground. The longest canes on 'Baltimore Belle' approach twenty-five feet long, but they weave horizontally rather than going straight up.
The next two pics zoom in to the top of the tree, as I stood underneath.
And for this pic, I stood on the neighbors' lawn so as to capture the whole tree. Just below the highest horizontally-running wire are some buds on 'Baltimore Belle'. It'll be easier to see when they open, but I just couldn't wait to give you the preview.
To be continued............
:-)
~Christopher
- 6 years ago
This is back along the south-facing side of the neighbors' house, where "Grandmother's Hat" and 'Napoleon' try to out-pink each other. GH got rather rain-heavy and started leaning forward. 'Napoleon' did a little as well, but his blooms aren't as heavy as GH's.
There's a Santolina near the base of GH, along with other perennials along the strip. I added more this year, mostly things that bloom from the end of Summer through Autumn.
This is "Dutch Fork China", which to me is simply a semi-double version of either 'Louis Philippe' or 'Cramoisi Superieur', depending on which name you use to describe the one with blooms which look like "Elisabeth's China" with the red-fade-to-pink petal edges at the center.
This rose was larger in Spring, but exploded with new growth on one long cane, and that caused it to flop over to the left. I cut that cane back by half, it it stood upright again. I'm finding that there's little point to carefully pruning red Chinas of this family, being as they'll put forth growth with gusto where you wouldn't expect it -- or aim to encourage it by pruning. So I just keep lightly trimming them when they get out of hand through the growing season.
'Perle d'Or' again. Every day I wait for one of the candelabras to get started, but instead I see just the random trios beginning the show.
To be continued.........
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years ago
The last pics from today were taken back in the front of my house. Here's my wimpy 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain'. This came as a band from Vintage Gardens in 2013. This grew well the first year, then just maintained. Again, I'm thinking there may be a rain shadow there. I ran lengths of soaker hoses all along the edge of the front porch, running back along the not-as-shady-as-I-originally-thought border, and another coiled through the bed in front of my house. That should get things going here.
The rose on the side by the gutter drain is 'Buff Beauty'. On the other side of 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' is 'Duchesse d'Angouleme', aka 'Wax Rose'. I wanted all three to climb along this railing and weave together.
That glowing hosta is 'Stained Glass'. I saw it in one of my perennial books, and was determined to have one. Being one of the sports going back through 'Guacamole' et al, it's also a fragrant hosta, all of which descend from Hosta plantaginea, the only fragrant species. That one has big white blooms in late Summer, and its hybrid offspring also bloom later.The other bright green/blue variegated one further along the house is another from that sport-family.
Another pic of "Pickering Four Seasons".
And finishing today with two pics of 'Marie Pavie' -- first below shows a bloom just opening......
.....and the last shows a bloom which opened fully yesterday. Both still put forth fragrance, which wafts easily to my front porch when I sit there.
That's all for now........still waiting for more of a big show.
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years ago
I just got home from another crazy long week. The show is starting to get going. I managed to snap just four pics of the main area in the back before getting in the car to start what became a 14-hour day.
This has been an unusual first flush. We had an early warm-up, followed by one final snowstorm. That resulted in everything waking up a bit earlier than usual, but the cold-hardy OGRs had the "sense" to still linger behind, and so they weren't set back further by that cold blast. The roses with more China blood, however, did get set back, and so they're catching up but still a little behind normal. Then there's Rosa moschata, which typically doesn't bloom until mid- to late-July, but already has buds set. And in the front yard, 'Baltimore Belle' has started blooming -- also a bit earlier than previous years.
I managed to get the next three days off, so I'll try taking more pics -- if the rain doesn't keep me inside.
:-)
~Christopher 
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoAquaEyes 7a NJ thanked comtessedelacouche (10b S.Australia: hotdryMedclimate)- 6 years ago
My "holiday weekend" is a few days behind that of most other Americans -- for me, it's Mon-Tue-Wed. Monday was rather cool and wet, so not much was done in the garden. Come to think of it, we're having a rather unusually cool Spring -- almost English. That means the flush is more drawn-out, and the old once-blooming Europeans aren't being cut short by a flash of 90+F temperatures. We usually get a hot flash in the end of May, just as things are getting going, followed by a return to cooler weather. This year it came a few weeks earlier -- before things got started -- so the cooler weather is coinciding with the bloom rather than coming after the heat ended the first flush.
Some pics from today.....and as Comtessedelacouche pointed out, I really need to get some kind of better camera. But I keep finding myself spending money on the garden -- you'll see yesterday's project in the second post.
'Baltimore Belle' has started blooming a little earlier each year, but this year it's weeks ahead of last year. I keep seeing new sprays of buds being formed, which I think is due to the cooler-than-usual weather we've been having. So this year the bloom may go on for over a month -- last year it was three weeks. BB opened its first bloom a week ago.
This is the first year 'Marie Pavie' is flushing at the same time as 'Baltimore Belle'. Previously, MP was finishing just as BB got started, then MP's second flush came just as BB's was ending. The dark pink to the left of MP is "Pickering Four Seasons", and the green at their feet and spilling onto the walkway is Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, whose electric-blue blooms begin in late Summer and continue to hard frost. Those fuzzy leaves belong to Stachys byzantina 'Helen von Stein', which also goes by the cultivar name 'Big Ears'. That came as one band-sized plant from Bluestone Perennials in 2014, and has since been divided and replanted several times. I think I'll have to do it again, and perhaps this time put the other pieces elsewhere. The poor little roses 'Baby Faurax' to the right of MP, and "Huilito" at the base of the tree, are being swamped.
'Blue Mist' rises above its neighboring companion perennials. The gaps you see in this bed were once occupied by some other roses which were killed by the late freeze following the early warm-up. I have replacements on-deck.
'Buff Beauty' is planted around-the-corner from 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' against my tiny raised front porch railing, and they are beginning to grow into each other. I was hoping for better overlap in bloom time, but perhaps that will come as they grow larger.
Along the not-as-shady-as-I-originally-thought border against my house, 'Sweet Chariot' is opening its first blooms. The big leaf to the right belongs to one of the musk strawberries (Fragaria moschata) spreading in that bed. I'm seeing some fruit developing in one area, so this year I'll finally get to taste one.
Nearby is "Lindee", which has become less compact in this border than it was while growing-out in the sun before being planted. It's beginning to look like a miniature Hybrid Musk, which works fine here.
Bad pic, but shared to let everyone know that 'Comtesse du Cayla' made it through Winter and that late freeze just fine. It's still small, but what it grew by the end of last year had very little damage by Spring. Where it's planted it gets morning sun and bright dappled shade from about noon forward -- this seems to keep its blooms from frying in Summer, and also kept it from waking up too early in Spring.
Just a couple feet away from 'Comtesse du Cayla' is 'Duchesse d'Angouleme', aka 'Wax Rose'. CdC leans in one direction toward the sun, while DdA is tied to my front porch railing, climbing rather widely.
To be continued......
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
My landlord has been absent for this Spring, save for one trip to pick up the riding lawn mower about a month ago. He used to come by with a weed-wacker to cut what was passing for "lawn" in front of the neighbors' house, and our hellstrips. He hasn't come by to do that yet this year, and I learned why -- he went in for another back surgery. I have a manual reel mower, but it wasn't cutting through the weeds in front of the neighbors' house very well -- and I simply couldn't take it anymore. So yesterday I did this.
I dug away the weedy grass where it spilled over onto the sidewalk, and smothered the rest with layers of cardboard and newspaper. The edging is made of recycled rubber, and is "L-shaped" to allow for a lawn mower's wheels to run against it, leaving just enough space before the grass starts that a weed-wacker isn't necessary for edging when the neighbors' neighbors mow the grass on their side. The edging comes in 4-foot sections which can be linked together, and are staked into the ground. I kept it going against the brick edging in the bed against the house just to make it more uniform, and to allow for closer mowing there as well. I'll probably end up removing the bricks and adding a higher barrier against the new edging, but that I'll leave for another day.
This is "Dutch Fork China", and this is about as close as I could get with my iPhone camera without totally destroying the color.
Its neighbor is 'Perle d'Or', which is holding its color better right now, being as the weather has been cool and overcast with intermittent rain. Am I in the PNW? It feels like it this year.
'Georg Arends' is beginning to bloom -- and suffer fungal issues. The Callery pear tree I cut back hard in 2013 has regrown a lot, and this spot is no longer as bright and sunny as it once was. I'll have to trim back branches again, but I'll wait until the leaves have dropped so I can see what I'm doing better.
To be continued........
:-)
~Christopher
- 6 years ago
'Purple Skyliner' has become a fence-eating monster, despite being cut back and thinned hard in early Spring. Its clouds of buds are opening -- the first few were more of a light mauve-pink, but they're getting darker as the flush progresses.
'Mme Dore' took well to being cut back a bit harder this year -- though still small, its new growth since the prune has brought it to a larger size now than it was last year.
Her neighbor 'Botzaris' is sprawling in from the left. And that's 'Yolande d'Aragon' photo-bombing from the right on the other side of the path.
'Abraham Darby' in his usual pink-mood for the first flush.
First open bloom on 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte'. This one looks rather awkward this year, being as its taller cane in the back had severe Winter damage near the base, so I cut it back. That left its forward-leaning cane, and new growth sprouting behind it. So, basically, it looks like it's backwards, with its short side behind its tall side. After the first flush, I'll cut the front cane back a bit so the back can catch up, and balance will be restored.
Last pic for now -- little 'Tip-Top', aka 'Babydoll'. It's an odd little rose -- Tea-like buds on a pygmy 'Eugene Lamesch'-like plant. I planted directly in the soil as a band, hence its slow start. But this year's new growth looks promising -- its roots must have found the good stuff.
:-)
~Christopher - 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
John (PNW zone 8)