Ready for Rose Pruning

Today I began rose pruning for my clients. I usually do over 2000 bushes between the last week of December and the first few weeks of February. Today I pruned 11 bushes. I ADORE my Felco #2 pruners and won't use anything else. My friend Sharon sent me a bunch of replacement blades last year. So I busted out one tonight, cleaned my pruners and replaced the old worn blade. This is only my 3rd pair of Felcos since about 1990!

How many bushes do you think I'll prune this season? I have to do my own 200 something between jobs. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas

Whatever you celebrate, enjoy the flowers. This looked like candy canes to me and is blooming now in my garden. It's a Zonal Pelargonium(Geranium) called Freckles.  I love those stripes!

Merry Christmas!

Design Inside

As I was cleaning up and planting in my yard yesterday I found something interesting. Salvia farinacea "Victoria Blue" is an easy common summer perennial that many treat as an annual. Cheap that I am, I try to save them by cutting them back. You can tell on a Salvia when new growth appears at the base of the plant that it's ok to whack it. I had already cut back many of the Blue Salvias because the tops looked crappy. But on this one I left a stubby trunk. It bothered me so I cut it shorter and saw this purple design inside. It looks like a butterfly or a shamrock. I honestly don't know if it's supposed to be there or is some disease. Most Salvias make many stems instead of a big trunk. So I had never seen this before. Have you?

Autumn Color

I bought this plant last Spring for it's pretty variegated foliage. That white in the leaves really pops in the garden. It's called Hemizygia. Say HEM-e-ZEE-gee-uh. I planted it under our big Cedar tree as it likes part shade. I had seen it's lovely pink blooms at a friends house afterwards. Native to Australia(all the good plants are!) it blooms late Autumn through Spring. As I was watering this afternoon I saw it beginning to bloom. It's about time! Yay! Grows to about 3' tall. Prune after bloom.