Fertilizer? Perennials? What are those? Sheila, have fun!

Marlorena, clearly in your garden things happen in the winter: daphnes are always wonderful. Concerning the size of plants, it's a question of scale: our garden is a few acres and has no mature trees except for the Italian cypresses, whose verticality is a huge asset. I want shrubs to get big. Even though they grow much faster than trees, still, with the poor soil and lack of irrigation shrubs are slow. The better speciment of my two plants of B. julianae is perhaps 1.5 meters tall after ten years. We've been working on the big garden for over a decade now, but it's going to be many more years before we have anything like a mature garden, that is, with decent-sized trees and large shrubs. Part of this may be the need to establish a soil microbiome that promotes the growth of the plants we're trying to grow. I'm not scientific about it--unfortunately!--but keep heavily amending big planting holes; piling on the organic matter, old hay, pruned matter, cut weeds and brush; and sensibly avoiding all -cides. I don't know how photinia behaves in England. I recently saw a speciment the size of a small mature tree locally and it was totally flourishing: no sign of deterioration there. Mine are too young to say. I hope some of your rain will make its way over here. We're still waiting.

Moira, your garden sounds like a place where things like to grow: I'm so envious. It's such a struggle here. All the same, I do have some of these same winter-flowering and scented shrubs. We went to the nursery yesterday and came home with a chimonanthus among other things, though it won't bloom this winter. Also we planted a winter honeysuckle and a hazelnut in the same corner of the garden, so it should have its share of winter interest. Your garden sounds marvelous.

Moira,I've never seen a post of yours before; I'm delighted to have another "European"on the forum. It's so interesting an helpful to learn about other people's climates, etc.

I am so , so glad that the weather has finally improved for you guys, Melissa. That is a relief. Hopefully next fall I'll be in shape again and you'll have bettter weather and I can get that Pink Mermaid,etc, to you.

No offense to you photinia fans out there, but on that I'm with Anna-Lyssa. IMO it's also being way over-used in my area; I end up looking with great approval at "photinia-free" plantings,lol!

Hi Bart, and thank you, that is so kind of you. It is a pleasure to be here. I don't post often as I only have a small number of OGR, most of which are established and easy to grow (Veilchenblau, RDV, Salet, Cornelia, Felicia, Charles de Mills...) but I will need your input about some roses I added earlier this year.

Melissa, zone 8 can be so different from one spot to another - I hope that 2018. will bring more rain and water to Italy. Your winter corner sounds great. Be patient with Chimonanthus - they are horribly slow to flower. It took mine some eight long years before it made only one tiny flower :) but it is fine now.

Moira, yes, I'm hoping for rain and snow too! It's been drizzling the last day with more rain forecast for tomorrow: good news! As for the Chimonanthus, yes, it was my impression that they're slow to get going. Fortunately there's always something to look at in the garden. I have plenty to see and do while I wait for it to bloom.

I'm also in zone 8, technically. Since I live on an island and am close to the water, my garden is actually a zone 9 garden.

Our weather is also mild and rainy right now, much like moira's. I am really getting into winter gardening this year! I'm planting many camellias, sarcococca, hellebores, auriculas, and primroses. I think primroses may be my second favorite flower, after roses. In my mild climate, they'll often bloom from December through August.

Another fun thing I'm doing is a Claus Dalby-inspired pot display on my front porch. I'm grouping all my terra cotta pots together and planting them with layered bulbs (tulips, daffodils, and crocus), snowdrops, primroses, pansies, and various other spring flowers...all in white.

As far as pruning goes, this is the year for tree work in my garden. I live on an acre with many old, large Douglas Firs that really need attention. Some are coming down, some are merely being limbed up. Other native trees are being removed because they're getting way too big for the amount of land I have....alders, big-leaf maples, wild cherries, madronas. Just one Big Leaf Maple could fill up a third of my acre. These were small trees that were here when we bought our house almost 20 years ago. We should have cleared them back then...lesson learned :)

One native tree I'm keeping is an absolutely beautiful native dogwood (Cornus Nuttallii). It's growing at the corner of the house, a little too close for comfort. But it's so healthy and floriferous I could never cut it down, So it will receive some artful pruning to keep it away from the roof of the house. I'm looking forward to that as tree pruning is one of my favorite garden chores....especially when I can hire someone to wield the pruning saw and I can just direct operations form the ground :)

Coming up in the next few weeks is the first official pruning for my newly planted rose garden. There are approx 200 roses of all types (about half are OGR's), so the job will not be straightforward....each rose will be pruned differently. They are still small at this point, so that will make it much easier.

I used to never garden in the winter. This year, I bought myself a big, thick, down puffy coat and a rain poncho and I'm out there, no matter what. I actually like it now that I'm getting used to the cold. Also, I hired a helper who comes every Thursday and I need to be out there with him, so that's been helping to motivate me.

In my area, landscapers and gardeners are in very high demand. Their schedules for the summer are usually booked by the end of February! I am learning to take advantage of the slower winter months to get things done that I need to hire someone for.

It will be nice to hit the growing season this year up and running instead of having to force myself out of hibernation in March :))

so far the weather has been mild with a few nights below freezing. some roses are still blooming.Grandmas hat is putting on new growth. The newer roses have rested though compared to the ogrs. I managed to overwinter a tropical hibiscus by covering a tomato cage with canvas. Next I need to work on a support for a noisette and fbpt.

It's time for me to also think about pruning a few roses, actually a very few since most of them are too young or of a type that doesn't need it. The garden is looking its worst, hardly anything blooming right now, with unsightly circles of thorny branches about the smaller roses. No rain since last spring and the garden badly needs it. I've lately begun to wonder how much longer I'll have the strength to manage a garden at all, and then what? Hopefully most of the roses will carry on as long as they have water and leaf mulch. We're supposed to have a little bit of rain on Tuesday and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it actually happens. That would be a real mood lifter, although they're expecting only a few millimeters.

Keep your chin up, Ingrid. I hope you get rain. Rosylady, I used to live in Olympia (Washington) and your trees sound so familiar! Thanks to all who are posting.

I caught a cold right when the weather turned wet, so am spending some days on the sofa, computer in my lap. I want to take up the topic of photinia. We're all entitled to dislike plants to our hearts' content, so I'm not talking about that. I do believe that few commercially widely grown plants are unworthy of growing, but their overuse and misuse can make that hard to see. Back when I lived in Washington I got sick to death of mahonia and hypericum; here English laurel is a great offender, partly because people don't let it get big enough to be in scale. Let's face it, photinia looks plastic-y. Personally I like--love--stiff heavy green foliage: camelias, one of the large-leaved privets (not L. japonica) that grows around here, and photinia; and then there's the contrast between photinia's red new growth and the mature green leaves. One would think it would look best in a somewhat artificial setting, in a neatly groomed suburban garden, but I don't think so. My plants are dotted through wildish hedges of different varieties of mostly deciduous shrubs with which their solid shiny green contrasts nicely. As far as color goes my garden is fairly subdued, and in this context the photinia's red is as welcome as the flash of a cardinal. So the photinia makes its contribution of color and gleam and formality in my rough garden. It raises my spirits. A hedge of it would be a different matter entirely--just too much--so would a garden border of, say, photinia paired with shrub roses flowering in flaming red and add your own herbaceous plants.

P.S. Bart, I didn't really answer your comments, having redtop on my mind, perhaps, though your health was in my thoughts. Not a matter necessarily for public discussion, but I hope you have a wide clear path to getting well in your complicated state of health. I don't know about where you live, but this winter's humidity, sun, and chill feel much better to me than last year's high pressure systems and dreadful air pollution.

Also getting roses is good! thanks for thinking of them and me.

Yes,exactly, Melissa: "photinia looks plastic-y". I also dislike that kind-of tomato-soupy kind of red. As used in the landscape as you describe it, I could see it working, but here, it's hedges, hedges, and more hedges. I, too, love dark heavy green foliage (I have no problem with English laurel ,though I do prefer it when left to it's own devices; don't think I'm much of a fan of a "neatly trimmed" ANYTHING, when I come to think of it, lol...) but photinia isn't dark green enough to make up for those plastic-red plumes...

I feel funny about putting personal stuff up on an Internet forum; I'm glad you understand that feeling. However my present health situation was just beginning to feel too much like The Elephant In The Room for me even on this forum, so I told about it. I also really, really, really do appreciate very much kind thoughts and intentions. When others on the forum ask for/need them from me, I really do try to give them, and I trust that the same will be given back to me; that's just how karma works. That is why I told about it.

I hope that soon I will feel well enough to visit my land and garden. I have not been there since 22 December.

In between our consecutive cold fronts, I have transplanted several roses from crowded beds to new spots, with the help of my college son home for the holidays. Just moved three Old Blush from a too shady location to a new full sun location. It's way away from the house so they will have to survive on rainfall from now on. I have faith that the old survivors will be fine and be able to show all their glory there. Next on the list for transplanting: Souvenir de la Malmaison, Vincent Godsif, and Lafter Now that's an unpleasant project - oh the bloodletting Lafter will try to require of us. I am actually considering buying a fresh baby SDLM since the pruning required to move it will cause awkward growth. I am conflicted.

I've also been planting fruit trees: 2 persimmon, 2 pears, 3 wild plums, a new fig, a dwarf mulberry.

I am also trying to finish my new tea bed so that I can plant soon (adding organic matter, mulch, etc). I had two blooms off my baby Jesse Hildreth that somehow made it through our deep freeze. Two ladybugs smuggled themselves into the warmth of my house between JH's petals.

We had a wild windy cold front come through last night, and expect another one with icy precipitation Tuesday. Shaping up to be a very winterish winter in Texas.

Needmoremulch, it's winterish here, too; I've noticed before that weather in Italy and in the eastern U.S. often seem to take similar courses. In spite of quite a few nights of freezes in the upper twenties, in spite of snowfalls and the ice storm, the Teas are still trying to bloom. 'Etoile de Lyon' and 'Noella Nabonnand' are making particularly noteworthy attempts.

Bart, I would mind it terribly if I had to go weeks without seeing my garden! That's my work! and my play. So I hope you can get out there soon. And again, good luck in your progress toward better health. At least this winter is a big improvement over last year, here in any case. That makes a difference in my mood, and perhaps affects health as well.

Who knows, maybe one day you can get up here and see for yourself what you think of photinia as used in my garden. Right now the place is very battered, and my own mood not the best, but I can hope for improvements in both as the weeks pass. Each day is longer than the one before; the season of darkness will be at an end before too long.

Happily it did rain, and more than expected, but after that the warm winds began. I decided it was imperative to mulch as much as possible with the leaves that had fallen off the trees in the back of the house before the ground dried out. It sounds so easy, but after each wheelbarrow full of gathering and spreading I was totally exhausted. Still, I waited until I recovered and then did another load. Same with the pruning, did one or two roses and went inside to recover, but am happy to say I got it all done. It may sound silly, but the results of these small efforts gave me a happy feeling of accomplishment.

Yesterday the garden crew came to remove the horrible-looking butterfly bush and took out the concrete that had buckled up from its roots. Unfortunately one of the crew began raking up the leaf mulch that I had so laboriously put down. My husband saw and stopped them before they'd swept it all away, but it was so frustrating to have to do redo some of it. All that's left is to put Cole's Settlement in the spot of the defunct butterfly bush, and wait for three band roses to grow enough to plant. Unfortunately they're taking their sweet time about it.

I am finishing taking cuttings for burritos, and pruning as I go, last night was lovely, almost 50 degrees,and too good to go in!

note the electric fence labeled in the photo...otherwise, I would have NO garden, they are very populous here despite great horned owls, eagles and coyotes!

The mountain is Mt. Baker,

cheers

claire

Claire how do you do the burrito method?

Hi Alana

i follow Kim’s directions, except I keep the cuttings in a cardboard box in the cool end of my kitchen (they stay 60-65 degrees. ) It takes about a month. I really, really try and leave them alone, but sometimes I peek earlier. Anyway, once they are callused, they go in 50-50 mix perlite and soilless potting medium, out into a cold frame on the north side of my house (under the roof overhang) and they stay there until they are in good growth, probably April, with roots coming out the bottom of the band pot, and with good top growth. I think it works for me here because it is so cool, very moist (Washington State,rains all the time <g>) and we have a really, really long spring in which they can grow roots.

cheerio

claire

I couldn't find Kim's directions. I thought I had them saved to try, but could not find them. I tried searching and couldn't find them eithet.

Google “rooting Rose cuttings, burrito method” see attached screenshots...tons of info., Kim’s pushing the rose envelope are best!

cheerio

claire

Thanks!

Could this be attempted in January? We have a long, chilly, mild winter; the roses that go dormant are dormant; the evergreen roses are green.

I don't know. This will be my first attempt. But I am thinking to wait until the last of Feburary or March because after two weeks they are supposed to go outside. Or maybe mid-march, because we generally have wacky spring weather anyways and I wouldn't want that to mess them up.

Melissa

i think January would be perfect, we have a long, cool to cold, but basically mild winter here in the Pacific Northwest as well.

I have taken cuttings in November, 5 weeks in the burrito, stuck them in bands in a frame, they callused, but not much root activity yet, however cuttings remain plump and green with slightly swelling growth buds. Then took some in the beginning of December, approx. 4 weeks in the burrito, good callusing, some root growth whilst still in burritos, now stuck in frame, looking the same as Nov. cuttings. I have taken my main batch in the last two weeks, they are all burritoed up, time will tell. My understanding is that top growth occurs in the spring and summer, slacks off in fall, and roots grow in late fall, winter, and early spring. So, winter hardwood cuttings take advantage of that natural desire to grow roots perhaps. Don’t forget the Dip&Grow either. I am wetting the newspaper 2 days ahead, wringing it out, rolling up on the counter in my cold mud room, and it seems just about the right dampness when I put the cuttings in...too wet is IME fatal.

you will soon have more roses!

cheers

claire

Thanks!

We are having a beautiful day today - sunny and a high of 64. So far this morning, I have transplanted SDLM and Mme Antoine Mari to sunnier locations (MAM went in the new tea bed, so she is the official groundbreaking rose for that project - woohoo!). I also transplanted a G Nabonnand. His location was fine, but I wanted his spot for SDLM, so he and a duplicate from ARE are now flanking the sidewalk to my front door because of his general thornlessness. I planted them 5 ft out so hopefully that's enough room even if he gets to be 10 ft on all sides. I also planted a Lady Banks White in a spot where she can scramble up a tree, and after I have a drink and a snack, I am headed out to plant a Lady Banks Yellow in the back, also to go up a tree. I feel quite accomplished this morning. I amy try to put in two more teas, and a few camellias. I have to stop at 2:30 to do some "Mom" things. It is supposed to be like this all week, so I am hoping to really get a lot done. What a lift for the gardening spirit.

Wow, what a productive day you've had. That must be a greet feeling. I felt a little trepidation, however, when you mentioned MAM going into a sunnier spot. In my hot garden the flowers did badly even when it was in the high 70's or 80's because of the intense heat radiation here. We're also very dry, so if you can supply more humidity and rain that should make a big difference. I'd be very interested to see blooms, and your garden as a whole for that matter, later on.

She was growing awkwardly, reaching for the sun and competing with a tree. I've seen her locally in full sun, where she is a perfectly rounded, leaves down-to-the-ground shrub. In the summer, her beauty is definitely more of a landcape rose, rather than a rose with beautiful individual flowers, though they still beat a Knockout any day of the week. :)

She flowers quickly and fades quickly in the summer. Her fall and spring blooms can be heartbreakingly beautiful, though.

Also planted today: Madame Joseph Schwartz, Le Vesuve, and Maman Cochet. I am sore, but I could have done that all day, and probably will tomorrow. There may or may not be a giant pile of laundry that needs attending to, that I am steadfastly ignoring.

It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful garden: all those beautiful big roses. I hope your Lady Banks trees are large and sturdy.

Spring was in the air today here, and for a few days coming up, so I've been busy transplanting some perennials, lifting and dividing, and I still have a few more to do in this department. I've also planted several roses in the past week or so, and now I try to keep my dog off the areas, as he will just dig them all up if I'm not vigilant..

The roses I've planted so far this winter would be:

'Mrs. Oakley Fisher'... 'Pearl Drift'.. 'Mme. Delaroche-Lambert'.. 'Gloire des Mousseux'.. 'Conditorum'.. 'Souvenir de Pierre Vibert'... 'Lilac Bouquet'..

I have an Austin coming in May and one other, I'm not sure yet..

and these, which I got from Fabien-Ducher in France. I know next to nothing about them..but I hope to keep them longer than my usual modus operandi...

Last week I finally got out to my garden again!!! What a joy! And I say this in spite of the fact that me poor hip was giving me more grief than ever...but after being away from it for about 3 weeks, I just tried to ignore the pain. I got some planting done; let's see..potted roses: Carlin's Rhythm,2 Bienvenues,Campanela and Anna Coi. Moved roses: Rosengarten Zweibrucken, Florence Ducher, and Clbg Violette Parfumée. This latter was unhappily squeezed between my giant General Stéfanik,Pink Perpetue and a Joasine Hanet ; it's root system was such that it might have been best to pot it up for a year,but I decided to plant it out anyway. Fact is I'm hoping to get my hip replaced next fall, which will curtail my gardening abilities for a while, and I already have way too many potted roses that will be wanting to go out,and this one I knew exactly where I wanted it to go, so I risked it. Instead, when I dug up poor stunted Clbg Gruss an Aachen (also crowded by giants ) it was obvious that this one must go into a pot for at least a year. Clbg VP DID manage some relatively speaking repectable top growth, and it's root system was such that it would've required a 5 gallon pot (it just didn't have a decent feeder-root system). But Clbg Gruss AA has only one cane left, and it's root system will not be by any means crowded in a 3 or even 2 gallon pot. I also put out a baby wild cherry tree that i'd dug up some time before, and 2 ceanothus repens,plus sowed some trifoglio repens seeds, in the hope that they will be a start on my plan for a "living mulch" in much of my garden. But I don't know how much more planting I'll be able to do this year; it's already late for planting here,and I have not even started pruning! which in my type of climate should be DONE by Valentine's Day...Melissa, are you still planting stuff out?

Bart, so glad you got out to your garden: that's air for the soul to breathe. I'm impressed at how much work you got done with your hip bothering you. I hope you'll be making more trips soon.

I try to get my planting done by the end of the calendar year, but this year continued through about the middle of January, as I had done so little earlier then got encouraged by the rain and snow coming. Now I'm done for the winter. It still feels too dry.

That's earlier to wrap up pruning than I'm used to: I continue through most of March, saving the warm climate roses, especially the big climbers, for last. This year has destroyed any schedule I had, though, especially the effects of the ice storm.

Your garden sounds interesting, different from mine. Are you looking forward to spring? I am!!

I think the gloomy tone of my answer owes a lot to gray weather today.

Marlorena, I'm practically salivating at the sight of those roses. Please give them a good long chance to show what they can do; they look just so exquisite. I'm so envious that you have access to European roses that I never will. That leaves the onus on you, pictures and more pictures that we must see.

bart, I'm agog at everything you've accomplished. Totally impressed by your toughness and ability to work through that much pain. We planted one rose and halfway through digging the hole Cecil was in bed and asleep. At the bottom there were gopher tunnels going several feet each way that I attempted to fill with a slurry of dirt and water, and I hope I succeeded. By that time I was exhausted and after Cecil got up he finished planting the rose. Success! We joke about that kind of stuff now because it is the new reality, but we got the job done and that's what matters. Thankfully we only have three bands left and even though they're very small bands I've decided to plant them in the ground, because putting them into a gallon size and caring for them and then getting them into the ground is more than I care to contemplate. It's survival of the fittest in our garden now, but thankfully almost everything is in the ground and shouldn't need more care than I can manage.

bart, please take care of yourself and don't overdo. It seems that you already have a very substantial rose garden. Don't make that hip of yours too angry!

Ingrid, how's your husband doing? Have you posted about him recently?

Thanks for your kind thoughts, Ingrid. Actually I ,too, think I'd better learn how to slow down a bit. I even wonder if my tendency to over-do might have played a role in my onco problems as well: you know, just too much stress: our big move to a new house, my darling DS becoming "officially" an adult (a most joyous thing, but still a Big Deal for a mother),a deeply distressing problem with one of my sisters,and then the sheer physical strain of coping with the cronic pain of my hip . I really should've decided to get the operation done sooner, but the situation fooled us all: myself, my DH (a brilliant physical therapist) AND the orthopedic doctor; even the surgeon who we saw back in November to get on the waiting list was quite amazed at the amount of flexibility I actually have; looking at the pictures he said he never would have imagined it possible. That's probably due to my physical activity, but there's 2 sides to every coin: if, on the one side, it's helped me maintain an inordinate amount of flexibility in the hip, this fact also masked the reality for far too long,causing me to go into "denial mode", trying too hard to ignore pain, etc. I've got to change. Being pretty obsessive-compulsive, I've always been inclined to the "boogie-till-you-puke" school of thought,so it's very, very hard for me to stop when I'm tired. The situation is not helped at all by the fact that I don't have a house or any shelter out at my land, and it's a 20 minute drive from my home, so it's hard to take a rest. You are right: I already DO have a substantial rose garden; it really is time to slow down with adding new ones; it's unsustainable. It's time to think of new projects. Install a railing on the steep steps, make good paths,make a little comfortable seating area in a shady spot to tempt me to rest and enjoy. Also, work on my "living mulch" concept, plant more trees and non-rose shrubs, etc. Above all, work on my rose-supports and sculrture ideas...

Gad -zooks, gophers! What an unpleasant surprise. I wonder if those sonar-repellant things they sell to get rid of moles could help?

I'm SO behind in everything, Melissa! I still have about 3 potted roses I'd like to put out, even though it is getting awful late in the season. The only season that I dislike here is summer; what I am looking forward to is being healthy again,with the help of Heaven's grace.

bart, I think your mind recognizes the problem and your heart completely ignores it. Just read over your post - plant more trees and shrubs, railing, paths, seating area, rose supports, sculpture ideas, living mulch. I rest my case. Now only to get you to rest....

Melissa, thank you for your concern. Yes, I have posted about him in a thread or two that was about other subjects so you might have missed it. The Mayo Clinic results confirmed that he has autoimmune encephalitis of the CASPR2 type, which they've only known about for two or three years and of which there are only about 100 confirmed cases in the world, according to one report. The IV drugs he was given at the hospital over five days have worked very well, although he doesn't have the strength or energy he formerly had, and there are good and not so good days. The IV drugs have to be readministered every 3-6 months for him to stay well.

Ingrid, thanks for your response. I wish you and your husband well! he has always sounded like such a good guy, the kind the world can never have too many of.

Bart, Ingrid may have a point there. I'm so behind I'm not even thinking about finishing for the winter. Too dragged down from last year. I was wondering to what extent you engage in that valuable activity work-nonwork? This is strolling around the garden, snipping here, pulling a weed there, doing nothing very focused or effortful, maintaining just enough effort to stave off boredom. I can't just look in a garden: I have to get my hands on it. My sister once said she went into horticulture because it gave her an excuse for spending a lot of time outside in the company of plants: that made a lot of sense.

Melissa, I am grateful to you for inquiring about Ingrid's Cecil on this thread; I didn't catch her up-date on any other thread either. I guess it's good that there is now a definite diagnosis of the problem,and that it CAN be kept under control. And, Ingrid, in time he may bounce back better and better. After all, this problem probably didn't just pop up overnight, so maybe now that he is getting treatment for it his entire condition will improve over time.

Of course you are both so right about me understanding with my head but not my heart. I do wish so much that my garden wasn't so far from home, and I really DO have to change my orientation. However in this moment it is also necessary for me to think of the future in an optimistic way, distract my thoughts by dreaming of new projects, etc...and ways to "trick" myself into slowing down! Daisy, your pictures are beautiful but I confess that the thought of spring coming makes me feel intimidated and sad.What I have to hope for is that in spring they will be able to operate on me and remove a lobe of my right lung. Then comes summer, the ugliest time of the year...well, that's just for me, I guess. Others will enjoy!

Just lovely, Daisy! Thank you for posting. I love to see what's going on in other gardens.

We have a gentle drizzly rain today after a week of sun. I've been planting out camellias, azaleas, and potting up seedling and roses. My children think I'm nuts puttering about in the rain. We don't get the gentle, drizzly kind very often. Some of the roses are going up from 1 g to 3 g, or 3 g to 5 g to grow on and plant out in the garden later. Some of them are going into large permanent containers.

Bart, you'll never have a better excuse to goof off than your future convalescence. What form of idleness have you never permitted yourself? A filmfest? A knitting orgy? Reading through a shelf of books? You'll have time!

I'm not fond of summer either, and yours sounds worse, but I've noticed recently an irrational vein to my dread of spring: no bulbs, on account of the porcupine. But the earliest spring flowers aren't touched by the porcupine, so why am I worrying? A lot of this is mood; the garden will bloom again.

Needmoremulch, it sounds pleasant. I'd love a spell of that sort of weather.

First of all, thanks to whoever it is that "liked" my last post; I felt kind of bad for sounding so gloomy at the end, "raining on Daisy's parade", as it were. But this is truly a difficult moment for me,and the hope of being physically sound once again seems quite far off (should I add an "if it ever comes???"gosh I'm so scared...). It's just that I've been forced to be relatively in-active for so long-haven't been able to even take a walk for enjoyment,( because of the hip), and now this far worse problem...

The worse thing about summer for me is, once again, the fact that my garden is so far away. I can't just make an early-morning foray, then retreat to shelter for the long, long,blistering day,and once evening comes,go out once more to potter around. Because there are indeed moments of beauty even in summer: I think of the magic of a June night when fireflies fill my garden,or the colour of the roses in the late evening light ...but if I want to experience that, I have to drive out there when it's still so hot out... it's all or nothing. Like you, Melissa, I derive such great comfort from planting stuff, from ...well, GARDENING. Of course I love my flowers when they are in bloom, but I love working the soil at least just as much, the romantic beauty of the autumn light,the clarity of the winter light,the "mud-luscious" soil in winter,the sky! the autumn and winter sunsets!...during the fall and winter everything is so fertile, and I adore that feeling; even the weeds are sweet little tender things. There are no bugs to bite me,moving around vigorously is a necessary joy in order to keep warm. In a good year, there are plenty of wet days when I can't go out there so I don't "go into overdrive"so much,and the fine days are all the more appreciated. As beautiful as spring is, it does signify the beginning of the end to these glories,and then there's always the dread-unfortuneately ever more common-of spring being truncated far too soon by the arrival of the heat.

One thing that will be good to do is to limit the new roses I plan to add to the garden. Watering the new plants during the summer is probably the singular most stressful thing that I do; much, much more so than breaking rocky ground with the pick even (those of you who have running water for your gardens, rejoice and be grateful!!!) In spite of the health problems I've already planted out "too many" new things, though it's not as bad as last year, but this up-coming year (fall of 2018) hopefully I'll be getting my hip replaced so I won't be able to over-reach myself, lol.

Dear bart, don't you dare worry about feeling down and letting us all know about it. Health problems ARE a concern and it is good that you can put it all down here and share with us.

Do you have any outside space at your home at all? If you do, don't buy another rose, but get one of those plastic, adult, paddling pools. I have a vision in my head, of you, in the heat of the summer, sitting in a pool with a glass of wine in one hand and stroking the petals of a lily in a pot with the other. LOL!!

I wish I could draw. It would make a delicious picture.

Daisy

Melissa, I always love reading about your gardening adventures.

Claire, you and Roseseek inspired me to try the burrito method on a few cuttings. We will see what happens in a few weeks!

Marlorena, I can’t wait to see your garden this spring. It’s such an artistic inspiration.

Daisy your garden is magical. Seriously. I love every photo of it.

In my garden this month the ants are aerating and loosening the soil for me, the worms are fertilizing, the rain has done the watering, so I went to work pruning, defoliating and training roses for this next year. And cutting back perennials. And weeding. And starting seeds. Glad that’s done.

I’m learning to cordon train sweetpeas. That’s a lot of work, but soothing and fun so far. I probably won’t ever have the free time to do it again though, this year is different for my time than most. Maybe if I ever retire.

Now it seems the rain is done for the most part around here until fall, so I’m inspecting and updating the drip irrigation where it needs it. The front yard needs to be almost completely redone, as it was older. I wish I could find a bug to do that for me.

I hope the spring brings renewed health for everyone, as well as lovely new growth for your gardens. :-)

Over the last two days I planted the three remaining bands all by myself, partially using a shovel and partially a trowel. According to Cecil, who keeps count, he's fallen down 14 times now so I don't want him to do anything where he can't stand on both feet. I hope they'll grow but at this point that's not nearly as important as it used to be.

bart, I admire your courage in saying that you're scared, because now I can say it too. Life as we knew it is gone, and there is every possibility that this disease process can morph into something even worse. , I hope you'll have the procedures you need as soon as possible. The waiting part is often the hardest,

Ingrid and Bart, my heart goes out to both of you right now. I don’t have the right words to say, but know that you’re on my mind and in my heart. Please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones. Lisa

Bart, my friend who had a third of a lung removed just over 4 weeks ago, is visiting me tomorrow. She's planning on walking from her house. It's 15 minutes away, and half of that is uphill. She's in her late 60's. She says her progress is slower than she'd hoped for, but it seems pretty good to me. I hope your operation goes well, and you recover quickly. I totally understand the fear, and your worry about all the things you haven't done, and all the things you won't be able to do for quite a while. The fetching water is a feat in itself for someone young and fit. Goodness knows how you've done it.

Daisy, I love every photo I've ever seen of your garden. Please indulge us by posting lots more. Those winds sound scary. In a previous house in the country, that was on top of a ridge, there was a wind like that one night. My thought was if I'd had rope (and a way of doing it!), I'd have thrown it over the house to try to keep the roof on. As I didn't, and anyway couldn't, I went to bed with a bottle of wine!

Ingrid, the suddenness with which Cecil go sick must be very frightening. I hope Lisa is right, and the drugs will help him improve, and not just stop things from getting worse. My thoughts are with you both.

I wish we could help Ingrid and Bart.

Lisa, Trish and Sheila, just being allowed to talk about this here is a great help. Thank you all for being here, listening and caring.

Excellent words on the meaning of gardening, bart. I hope all goes well with you, as I think it will. We can all be thankful for modern surgery and standards of care.

I'm so impressed that you carry water to your garden. Wow. We run hoses down, and DH does the work, so you can see I'm relatively a wimp. I understand about the heat. Last summer DD and I were thinking about going swimming half an hour away, but we couldn't face the trip in our un-airconditioned car. When we did have to be out and about, we carried half liter water bottles full of ice and rubbed them over our arms and faces so we wouldn't get heat stroke. It was a hot summer. I hope this year is better.

Best of luck to you and Cecil, Ingrid. Your tales of your husband have always made me feel better about the world in general. Congratulations getting your roses planted!

These kind thoughts and good wishes mean so much to me; I thank you all for these, and also for the hopeful, optimistic comments. Being a "second-time offender" with onco stuff might be making it even more frightening than it would be otherwise, and I'm only 59 years old! Worse yet, this time around it's a vital organ that's been hit,and there's lymph-node involvement.

I love life so much, and want to live a very long and healthy life. Even at my age, I miss the fact that I wasn't granted the gift of knowing my parents as old people. My best friend is caring for her 90+ year-old-dad, and I realize full well that it is no party,but at the same time I think (no, I know) he gives her much joy...well, I don't know how to say it, I just think that I would love to be around, in relatively good health, for as long as possible for my DS and my DH.

Ingrid, you are so right " just being allowed to talk about this here is a great help." I, too, fervantly hope that now that your DH is getting treatment his health will gradually start to improve. Titian, I am encouraged to hear about your friend,and I wish her the best. The idea of having a big piece of one's lung removed is terrifying, yet the human body is such a miracle...after all, here I am, I've apparently been boogie-ing around,doing "extreme gardening" on a very sharp slope for years with emphysema, and I never even realized I had it...Sheila, I think the very fact that you wish you could help us DOES help us.You are sweet.