Pelargoniums & Rose Pruning Final!

My Martha Washington Geraniums(or Regal Pelargoniums) are beginning to bloom. This is Aztec and it does really well for me in the ground. It stays nice and bushy, blooms its head off and isn't fussy. I have some others that are really leggy and leafless at their bottoms and some that just up and die.    I love this variety.  We're planning our Los Angeles Geranium Society show & sale for this coming Mother's Day weekend, May 9 & 10, 2015 at The LA Co Arboretum in Arcadia.  Find that info at geraniumsociety.org or at our Facebook page facebook.com/LosAngelesGeraniumSociety Please come see many Pelargoniums/Geraniums in the show and many for sale!  

I FINALLY finished with my rose pruning jobs!  The very last was 7 climbers at a job in Pasadena. 

That makes my final total 2376 rose bushes pruned this 2015 season!  

Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring and I'm sure that gardeners acres the country, especially in cold climates are rejoicing! I had today off and spent 4 hours in my garden cutting back vines, planting new plants, fertilizing my Bearded Iris and Roses and watering. The first blooms of my roses are just trickling in because I pruned in Feb. but I should be right on schedule for this years Spring rose shows beginning next month.

Here is the classic reliable Victoria Falls Bearded Iris blooming today next to my Calendulas. What's blooming in your garden?

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New Plants

It's not officially Spring here in SoCal but it seems like it. It actually FEELS like Summer because we're having a horrible heatwave, high 80s yesterday, 90s today and for 3 more days :-(. But plants are busting out all over and that means gardeners can't resist!

Yesterday at The Huntington I bought this pretty spring blooming Gladiolus Lemon Moon.

and a Tulbaghia that I'd never seen before called T. natalensis.

And last night at the SoCal Hort meeting my friend Nancy brought me an Oxypetalum caeruleum tweedii. It's so cute with those blue flowers.

So, I have all these plants "on deck" waiting to be planted. Maybe I can plant next week when it cools down.

I was supposed to finish rose pruning this week. But when I went to that job yesterday, they had tarps all over exactly where I was to work and were pruning the huge Eucalyptus trees. So, I hope to have final numbers in two weeks.

Happy gardening!

Butterfly Amaryllis

This week I didn't prune any roses. Yay!  I just have one more visit with some climbing roses to do next Thursday. Then I'll have my final total! 

So, what have I been doing?  The rain that we've been getting this year has brought up a TON of weeds!  So, after I work in other people's yards, I come home and weed for a bit in my yard.  It's slow going.  And today it was SO hot, 84º that it just gave me a headache!  I know it's still winter and severe in the east.  But here, it's practically Spring!  

Here is a wonderful Amaryllis called Butterfly that is blooming for me now.  I had wanted one of these for many(like 20) years.  They were always too expensive for me.  Last year my friend John Schoustra of Greenwood Garden sold me a crammed pot of bulbs. It was still a little spendy, but I was ready.  I split it into two different pots being a little afraid to set them out in my garden. Maybe I will plant one after it's done blooming.  

Happy gardening!