January is the month where I am mainly busy with rose pruning in the garden. Since my roses have grown significantly over the last five years and I have planted more and more of them, it has become quite a bit of a task that feels overwhelming to me at times. Therefore I intended to use the holiday week at the end of last year to get a head start, but the weather was just nasty, cold with a lot of rain, so hardly anything happened. On the photo below you see the beginning of the pruning. The first rose I tackled was 'Our Lady of Guadalupe', which looked like her twin in the foreground before I pruned and deleaved it.
Consequently I have to get all my rose pruning done this month as usual. I seem to be more behind than ever, but I will just focus on the rose in front of me and not think of the rest and see how far I come. It always feels so satisfying when I finished one rose and I am filled with anticipation of the new fresh spring growth and beautiful blooms to come.
Besides that I am working on another garden project. My husband and I cleared the bed between the two giant Strelitzia nicolai. That was not too difficult, since most of the plants have been in containers and just had to be moved. To the very right was a hydrangea 'Endless Summer' planted into the ground, which died for some unknown reason and had to be discarded.
Then the gardener installed sprinklers in that section and dug big holes for us.
My husband and I planted an unidentified hydrangea to the very right, which looks like nothing at the moment to replace the dead one and...
...put in a repeat blooming hydrangea 'Penny Mac' in the hole to the very left to replace a Geranium maderense, that is a binial and had died as well.
Not much visual change is achieved by now, but I hope when we have planted two more camellias and most likely a gardenia in the middle of the bed it will be more appealing. By the way, we are basically repeating the planting scheme that was there before. Now that we have irrigation in place I assume that the plants will grow much better and I am definitively relieved that I have to water one area less by hand. If you want to see the bed how it looked in January 2011 after we tried to do a "quick fix" until we could get to re-do it properly, please click here.
Unfortunately I haven't made much progress in the White Garden Bed. But at least I found the silver gazing ball that was still hidden in a moving box. I am pleased to say that the amaryllis belladonna bulbs 'Fred Meyer Whites', common name N---- Lady's, that I planted in April 2012 have filled in nicely. Even though the lamb's ears in the foreground are not looking at their best right now, I am happy that I am finally getting the layered look that I always wanted to achieve.
It is amazing to me, how clearly the gazing ball reflects large parts of the backyard. Each time when the sun hits it in the morning it lights up and is a real eye catcher. I just love it!
The orchids and even their emerging flower stalks came through the cold spell just fine, but I got it done to break off the tips of two flower stalks when I removed the bed linens one morning. I was really mad at myself and thought the orchids would probably have done better, if I wouldn't have covered them. Oh well, at least I tried!
When the gardener dug the hole, we were in for an unpleasant surprise. Plenty of pipes! Luckily he didn't cut through any of them with the spade while digging. I still decided to go ahead and follow through with my original idea to plant a rose here. I think, the roots will not be strong enough to damage the pipes and I hope they can grow around them so that the rose can root in firmly and be happy.
Now what rose should I plant? My choice fell on 'White Meidland', which has been waiting to get planted in my pot ghetto for quite a while already. This rose is supposed to be somewhat shade tolerant, so I hope it will thrive in the chosen area. I think, it will look great with 'The Prince', the deep crimson colored rose to its left and the blue flowering geranium 'Rozanne' in the foreground. 'White Meidiland' doesn't impress right now, but I think it could be a winner.
After I deleaved it, it looks even more puny, but I think it will take off once it is in the ground.
Again, not much visual change right now after the rose is planted, you almost have to get a magnifying glass to find it, but at least the hole is filled. I hope in a few months this part of the bed will look much nicer.
That summed up the garden activities that have taken place here lately. It is not too much, I know, but I am happy about every step that I am able to make to maintain and develop our little green paradise even further.
See you in the garden!
Christina
Consequently I have to get all my rose pruning done this month as usual. I seem to be more behind than ever, but I will just focus on the rose in front of me and not think of the rest and see how far I come. It always feels so satisfying when I finished one rose and I am filled with anticipation of the new fresh spring growth and beautiful blooms to come.
Besides that I am working on another garden project. My husband and I cleared the bed between the two giant Strelitzia nicolai. That was not too difficult, since most of the plants have been in containers and just had to be moved. To the very right was a hydrangea 'Endless Summer' planted into the ground, which died for some unknown reason and had to be discarded.
Then the gardener installed sprinklers in that section and dug big holes for us.
Not much visual change is achieved by now, but I hope when we have planted two more camellias and most likely a gardenia in the middle of the bed it will be more appealing. By the way, we are basically repeating the planting scheme that was there before. Now that we have irrigation in place I assume that the plants will grow much better and I am definitively relieved that I have to water one area less by hand. If you want to see the bed how it looked in January 2011 after we tried to do a "quick fix" until we could get to re-do it properly, please click here.
Unfortunately I haven't made much progress in the White Garden Bed. But at least I found the silver gazing ball that was still hidden in a moving box. I am pleased to say that the amaryllis belladonna bulbs 'Fred Meyer Whites', common name N---- Lady's, that I planted in April 2012 have filled in nicely. Even though the lamb's ears in the foreground are not looking at their best right now, I am happy that I am finally getting the layered look that I always wanted to achieve.
We had unusually cold temperatures lately and I covered my Cymbidium orchids and other tender tropical plants with bed linens trying to help them survive a possible frost.
The orchids and even their emerging flower stalks came through the cold spell just fine, but I got it done to break off the tips of two flower stalks when I removed the bed linens one morning. I was really mad at myself and thought the orchids would probably have done better, if I wouldn't have covered them. Oh well, at least I tried!
In the bed by our front door there was a gap between the cycad and the small decorative wall, which always bugged me. So I decided that it was finally time to change that. It is a little bit of a shady place for a rose, but I decided to plant one anyway and see how it does, because I don't have too many spaces left were I can plant a rose, but many more roses in my pot ghetto. If it doesn't work I can always move it. Even though I have to admit, I hate doing that.
When the gardener dug the hole, we were in for an unpleasant surprise. Plenty of pipes! Luckily he didn't cut through any of them with the spade while digging. I still decided to go ahead and follow through with my original idea to plant a rose here. I think, the roots will not be strong enough to damage the pipes and I hope they can grow around them so that the rose can root in firmly and be happy.
Now what rose should I plant? My choice fell on 'White Meidland', which has been waiting to get planted in my pot ghetto for quite a while already. This rose is supposed to be somewhat shade tolerant, so I hope it will thrive in the chosen area. I think, it will look great with 'The Prince', the deep crimson colored rose to its left and the blue flowering geranium 'Rozanne' in the foreground. 'White Meidiland' doesn't impress right now, but I think it could be a winner.
After I deleaved it, it looks even more puny, but I think it will take off once it is in the ground.
Again, not much visual change right now after the rose is planted, you almost have to get a magnifying glass to find it, but at least the hole is filled. I hope in a few months this part of the bed will look much nicer.
That summed up the garden activities that have taken place here lately. It is not too much, I know, but I am happy about every step that I am able to make to maintain and develop our little green paradise even further.
See you in the garden!
Christina
