The Gardening Would Have Happened Anyway


'Twilight Zone'
Are you gardening more now because of COVID-19?  

Me, about the same quantity, but quality has improved.  Being more thoughtful about what in the garden needs doing is easier:  not in a rush to go to go here or there, not shopping for plants.  I'm focused on the plants that are already here.  It's also easier to think because it is much quieter now--less traffic in the neighborhood and no planes roaring overhead.
'Tamora'
More birdsong, less chainsaw roar.  The air is so much cleaner, my lungs are happier.   
'Pink Gruss an Aachen'
 While I think, I walk the garden.  There are more flowers to enjoy.
'Drop Dead Red', 'Julia Child' roses. 'Brass Band' is the orange/yellow rose in the background.  'Pink Sugar' Arctotis in the foreground.
 'Bishop's Castle'
 Acer palmatum
 One of the new roses planted this year, 'Queen of Elegance'.  
Update:  I'm now wondering if this rose was mislabeled, and is really 'State of Grace'.  
My initial impression is:  excellent!  Growth is vigorous.  Several clusters of flowers for a first flush from a newly planted rose. 
 The flowers display an interesting color progression.  Buds show crimson:
 Then they change to dark pink, then open to medium pink.
The flower develops a tannish center, and progresses from dusty rose pink to a pale pink.  The fragrance is strong, spicy.  Typically here, the first couple of years roses have modest fragrance as they settle in and establish.  That this one's scent is already strong is, again, excellent. 
 Iris 'Thornbird'

Iris 'Paprika Fonos'

A rose named 'Drop Dead Red' was an impulse buy three or four years ago and never did well.   This fall and winter I hammered it with collected rainwater and fertilizer.  Improve or get shoveled, I advised it.  Improve it did.  Vastly.  Back during the long drought I stopped using fertilizer, because encoraging a lot of new growth was unwise.    This rainy fall and spring the roses finally got fertilizer, and good resulted.   
 'Molineux'
  This looks like two different pictures, it's not.  That is a wall. 
 'Laguna'
 'Belindas Dream'
 'Princess Alexandra of Kent'.  This one also improved markedly this year. 
 The only Iris x hollandica bulbs I found for sale this fall was a package of mixed purple/yellow/white.  I really wanted just purple, but bought the mixed package anyway.  At first only the purple ones flowered.  Unexpectedly a second wave of white and yellow followed.  Cool!
 'Eyes for You' in its third year also improved significantly this spring. 
 Another 'Drop Dead Red'.  This one has no fragrance I can discern, but crimson velvet...oh!
Hellebores continue.  What a completely undemanding plant!  Love them.
 One thing I've thought about lately is how small details really make a garden more interesting.  I suppose those details develop over time, as a garden becomes more lived in, and every space is more considered.  This empty strip planted with extra succulents some weeks back makes this path a little bit better. 
 'The Prince'
 Seedling Clematis that appeared some years ago.
 Looking through flowers at more flowers.
 Climbing rose 'Fourth of July'
 Iris 'Heavenly Vision'
The news reports turmoil, inaction, mis-action, heroic action.  We continue at home, and the flowers bloom.  

Comments

  1. Hello dear Hoover Boo,
    How beautiful your garden looks at the moment!!! I wish it was mine. (fun).
    So many flowers to enjoy. Walking in the garden let us forget what is going on in the
    world. No visits to the gardencentre to crowdy. But the garden brings peacefull feelings.
    Have a wonderful day ore sweet dreams.

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    1. We are so fortunate to have gardens. And especially roses!

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  2. Your roses are always wonderful but they're looking spectacular now, HB. 'Queen of Elegance' is like a transformer action hero. The Irises, and well everything, looks great! I'm glad to see that the photo posting problem was rectified. I wasn't affected - maybe because I've never updated the format of my blog?

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    1. Thanks, Kris!

      I wonder if they were switching some servers at some massive data center somewhere and just lost certain photos.

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  3. Every year I think your roses can't get any better, and then... Stunning. Particularly exciting that the first blooms on your new one are noticeably scented.

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    1. Rain is magic! The drought years were very tough on the roses. I hope we hold off another drought for a while.

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  4. It is such fun to see all those flowers in your garden. Your rose collection is fascinating. I have never seen so many roses in one garden that isn't a botanical garden. Seeing what would be annuals for us as large as shrubs is amazing. Iris are some of my favorites. I don't care which type of irises, I like them all.
    I haven't worked more in the garden but I have worked with a more critical eye I think. We lost a tree in a big storm a couple of weeks ago. Now I am trying to decide what to do. The late heavy frost has taken its toll on some things. It will take some time to see if the hostas recover. Hydrangeas etc have been set back. I have dug out some things that I would have put off until later. Since I am retired I usually work in the garden every day for a short while. I am thinking about more color ie flowers in the garden this year. Carry on...

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    1. Roses are pretty easy here, more easy than most other climates. Little blackspot because our summers are not humid, no winter freeze damage, so they grow big.

      I like Iris too. The Siberian Iris are fabulous, but I think they need some winter chill.

      Late frosts sound bad. You have much more challenging weather than here, but must have developed more gardening skill in the process.

      I love bright color in the garden. It's like sugar for the eyes, but not as unhealthy as sugar!

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  5. A wonderful post featuring your roses and other spring beauties.

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    1. Thank you, and thank you for having a look at them.

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  6. That's so great that the roses are having a good year, all performing like a chorus line. And yes, I'm doing more puttering, adding stuff for spring/summer I wouldn't if I were anticipating summer travel. I've had hair-pulling issues with photobucket, who hosts my photos, which was free when I started with them way back, then they added a fee, then decided to watermark my photos....I've come very close to closing down the blog a few times because of these tech annoyances. So glad you got yours sorted!

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    1. I used Photobucket when it was free. Then they started charging so I went elsewhere.

      Unfortunately the poor roses are all toasting today. The hope for a long, long stretch of May-Gray/June-Gloom is keeping me going. I think I'll go out and mist the garden one more time.

      Best wishes, hope you and yours continue to be well. I'd miss your blog if it went away.

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  7. Oh my goodness...so many beautiful roses...and irises...and other lovelies! I've been gardening about the same, the noise is just as loud as other years (building and development going on nearby), but I'm definitely on a different thought-track--not as carefree and relaxed. But gardening is still the best therapy, and our growing season is just moving into full swing, so that will help. Thanks for sharing the beauty of your garden!

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    1. Thank you, happy you liked the pictures. Building noise, I sympathize. The sound of power equipment is painful to endure. But just as you say, gardening is still the best therapy. Enjoy.

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  8. I love 'Drop Dead Red'. I had never heard of it before before seeing it here. What do you fertilize with? I got half of mine done before a good rain yesterday. I am behind!

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    1. I used to use alfalfa meal, which was great, but it became difficult to get. There's a local product call Gropower which is very good. Occasionally Plant-tone or Rose-tone. All through the drought, 4 or 5 years, didn't fertilize at all.

      'DDR' is a Weeks rose. Carruth, 2010. I'm really surprised and happy how spectacular it has been this spring. Next to 'Julia Child', they make a great pair.

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    2. We sell EB Stone fertilizers at the nursery where I work and I generally use the one specially for roses. We do have the alfafa meal and I've used it for transplanting roses.

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    3. EB Stone, I've used that, it's good.

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  9. Yes, I am gardening more, as normally March through May are very busy months at work. I finished spring clean up way early, and I am much more on top of weeding. Your roses are fabulous!

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    1. Gardening more is good--hope your job isn't overwhelming when you get back to it.

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  10. Just gorgeous roses! But my fave has to be that blood-red salvia. What is it? Started from seed? I also looks fairly tall - is it?

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    1. Salvia is 'Love and Wishes', a hybrid of some sort, and is a plummy color. It is a fabulous plant.

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