Friday, February 28, 2014

Gingko


This might not seem like a big deal. But my Gingko tree is leafing out! I was really worried about it because last Fall the leaves didn't turn beautiful golden but just dead brown. It's only 3 years old and was the first thing I planted in the ground at our then new house. I was ready to be heartbroken but am SO HAPPY that it is not dead! Still I'm not sure why it did that brown thing. Maybe not enough water during our hot Autumn?

On another note we're having a huge rainstorm here in SoCal. We've been in a terrible drought and they say we haven't had this much rain in two years! The whole area is getting a nice bath and my garden is loving it.

I only pruned 53 rose bushes this week and am still not finished.
 This brings my season total to 2228!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

More Miniature Gardens

I don't know why I've always loved miniature things.  But I do.   A few years ago I was introduced to miniature gardens.  I think I posted about my first one here.  These are #3 and  #4.  I must have missed #2. 

Last week I noticed that one of my dwarf Ginkgo trees had a horizontal branch perfect for a little swing.  So my Rick helped me make one!  I know that tag looks out of place.  But I really don't want to forget what variety Gingko it is because I have 3 different dwarf Gingkos.  They are hard to find. I mail ordered 3 of the three about 6 years ago and they were spendy.    I added some Thyme, a Hen & Chicks, a variegated dwarf Liriope and some rocks.  We'll see how it looks when the Gingko puts on it's leaves which it should be doing soon!  














Saturday, February 15, 2014

Lettuce & Roses

February always goes by like a flash here in SoCal!   I got all my own roses pruned and planted some new roses. I've got 2 more coming in the mail from S & W Greenhouses hopefully this week!  Usually the weather is nice and cool, making it easy for gardening outdoors!  We had some of that nice weather last week. This week it's been back up into the 80's.  Yuck!  So many of my friends and ALL the local television news people LOVE this warm winter weather.  Not me.  I've had enough!

Anyway, here is my crop of lettuce that took several attempts at seedings because of the warm autumn we had!  Grr!!!   I've got patchy spots.  But I LOVE that dark red leaf lettuce!  It's so pretty when the sun shines through it and makes gorgeous salads!  I could seed more lettuce.  But March is coming quickly and that's the time here to start summer vegetables.  What are you growing now and what will you plant for summer?



If you've been following along you know that I've been keeping a running tally of rosebushes pruned(at jobs and my own).  
Rosebushes pruned so far: 2147! 
I still have several more jobs to do and will have a final tally at the end of the month.  Happy gardening! 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

First Sweet Pea!


Here is my first Sweet Pea blooming already! Maybe because we had a hot January. Those words don't go together! We had 80's and some 90's. Because I work outdoors I'm always concerned/whining about the weather. Until today we had about a week and a half of what-it's-supposed-to-be 60's. And now we're back up to 80 this week. :-(. If it gets too warm it'll fry my Sweet Peas and ruin my Daffodils that are coming up. One plants Sweet Pea seeds in SoCal in Sept-Oct. We had a warm Autumn too and it took me 3 tries to get the seeds to germinate. I planted them in a different spot this time. They say you're supposed to alternate Peas & Tomatoes because tomatoes take nutrients from the soil and peas give it back. I don't know how. But I've planted my Sweet Peas where my tomatoes were. We'll see what happens. Sweet Peas smell so good and always remind me of my Grandmother who grew them too. I hope you planted them!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Camellia


I saw this amazing Camellia flower on Thursday at a nearby job. It was unique from the rest on the bush as they usually form a perfect overlapping rosette. Different and beautiful!

If you've been following along you know that I'm still pruning roses at my jobs. I finished my own roses this week. Yay! I've still got through the rest of this month with pruning jobs.
 My total so far is 1991 bushes pruned.     I'll pass 2000 this coming week.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Rose Auction

If you are a rose lover, then you should belong to a local rose society.  That's where you learn more and meet like minded people.  If you belong to a local rose society and enjoy that, belonging to The American Rose Society would be beneficial too.  One of my local clubs, Pacific Rose Society had a fabulous rose auction yesterday.  They've had one every year since I joined in 1989! This one was huge and took a bit longer than expected but was fun.  I wanted to share with you the few roses I was able to buy(that didn't go for crazy prices).  All are single or semi double blooms. I have gotten more into singles lately. I love those starry stamens.  And if you can get them undamaged to a show, they need hardly any grooming :-)


Paul Ecke Jr is a wonderful single shrub rose from 2004 that I never bought before but have seen around.




Eyeconic Melon Lemonade is another Jim Sproul hulthemia cross shrub rose from 2013.  For more info on Jim's roses and process, click on the link to his blog Rose Hybridizing on the left side of my blog.




Fired Up is new for this year and I love those stripes.



And the last is an old floribunda rose from 1958 propagated from The Huntington Library & Gardens' collection.



I worked a few hours today pruning my own roses and did 41.  I've been so sore and tired when I get home from pruning jobs that I don't want to do my own.  I have about 50 left.   
Add that to my running total is 1806!