I Beg Your Pardon

by Kelly

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime. ~Joe South

These were the song lyrics I was singing in my head when I cut off all the flowers on my David Austin roses. 

The previous week’s storms had really done a number on my roses.  Between the high winds and torrential rain, all of the roses that were in bloom were reduced to stubs...a carpet of rose petal confetti was all that was left.  And then, on the buds that were about to open, it seemed as if the petals had been glued together so the blooms couldn’t fully expand.  And those that did manage to open were really sad looking.  ‘Bedraggled’ as my mom would say.

With another round of storms and heavy rains in the forecast, I decided to cut any of the remaining buds and blooms and bring them inside. Which in hindsight was a pretty good idea if I do say so myself.  Felt like I was totally winning at life with that decision.

As I was playing around and photographing my roses, I got to thinking how silly it was to be annoyed with the rain. First of all, I have zero control of the weather, so really…what good does it do.

Then secondly, as someone who lives in a state that has been suffering from some degree of drought for the past several years, the rain is actually a really good thing.  Barring the damage from flood waters of course, farmers are reporting that their ponds are full for the first time in years.  Rivers and lakes that have been below normal levels are now overflowing.

Obviously, floods have devastating effects and I am not minimizing or romanticizing the damage or the suffering that those affected are having to endure.  What I am suggesting, however, is that what is minor annoyance or frustration for me might be beneficial to someone else.  That it’s not always about me.

I am embarrassed at how often I have to be reminded of this.

As I sit here typing this post, the second round of storms have passed through my areas.  The strong winds that often come in behind these storms is starting to dry things out a bit.  And my roses are strong and green and covered in tiny little buds.

 Life goes on. And I think Lynn Anderson sang it best…

So smile for a while and let's be jolly, love shouldn't be so melancholy,

Come along and share the good times while we can.

Until next time,

Kelly

Becoming a Rose Person

by Kelly

I've never considered myself to be a 'rose person' exactly.  Don't get me wrong...I have always liked roses.  But I have never really been one to cultivate them or have a designated rose garden.  That is until this year when I became acquainted with David Austin roses.

In case you're curious, I totally blame my daughter for this newly-found obsession with David Austin roses (or DA roses for short...what all the cool kids call them).  It was because of her floral design job that I became acquainted with them in the first place.  And I instantly feel in love with these 'garden-style' or English roses for their layers and layers of lovely petals and soft scent.

I purchased three, bare-root rose bushes from DavidAustinRoses.com in the early spring and planted them according to the package directions.  Having never purchased plants from the internet, I was little worried about how they would do in my garden.  But within a few weeks, tiny buds started to shoot forth from the thorny stalks.

Everyday when I would get home from work, I would walk out to my little rose garden and check on my plants.  Then finally, about six weeks later, I had my first buds!

It was so exciting...I literally started to cry when I saw my first rose in bloom.  This variety is called 'Crown Princess Margareta'.

The next rose to bloom was this variety called 'A Shropshire Lad'.

And then finally, the last type to bloom was called 'Abraham Darby'.

Don't you just love these names? They seem perfectly suited for their graceful, elegant nature.  I love how the big blooms sort of droop from the weight of the petals. And as the blooms continue to open, the color gets a bit more muted and faded.

But lest you think these fussy sounding roses need lots of TLC and constant attention, I will tell you that they have performed incredibly well in my Oklahoma garden.  From mid-May to late-September, they survived the worst of the summer heat (with regular water of course), and I only had to spray for bugs one time.

Tough and beautiful!  Just so many things to love about these David Austin roses.

Over the years, I've had my share of gardening failures, so being able to grow DA roses has been such a surprise and source of complete joy and delight in my life.   And I'm already looking forward to next year!

Until next time,

Kelly
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A Scent for the Soul

by Kelly

As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul. ~Anonymous

A few years ago, I put two small lavender plants in a raised bed in my backyard.  It's one of the sunniest areas in my whole yard and also has very good drainage - two main requirements for growing lavender.  The first year, my lavender didn't do too much..a few little flowing stalks here and there.  But the past two years it has grown considerably, to the point that I am able to harvest large bunches of these heavenly scented purple spires.

After just a few minutes of trimming the stalks, my entire office was filled with the soft, powdery freshness from this bundle of lavender.  And my hands....the natural oils of lavender had provided me with the most delicate of perfumes.  It was so lovely.

Lavender (and lavender oil) has been used for centuries in a variety of uses.  Ancient civilizations added the flowers to their bathwater to help wash and purify their skin - they word 'lavender' comes from the Latin root 'lavare' which means 'to wash'.  Lavender has also been used for medicinal purposes due to its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.

In addition to its medicinal purposes, lavender oil is touted to relieve a variety of neurological issues including insomnia and anxiety.  The theory is that the soothing and relaxing scent is said to promote a feeling of calmness while the volatile components in the oil have a physiological effect on the limbic system.

I don't really care how or why it works...I can only attest to the beauty and calmness that lavender brings into my life.  I use lavender oil in an atomizer beside my bed and I have placed little bunches around the house where I can enjoy their delightful color and scent wherever I go.

I truly believe that lavender is a scent for the soul.

Until next time,

Kelly

The Perfect Perennial

by Deanna

It's July, it's summer, it's warmth (sometimes), it's garden in bloom time.  I mentioned the word "sometimes" because we have had an unusual summer.  No heat, lots of rain, minimal sunshine, but with all that rain comes the flowers.  It's not April showers bring May flowers, it's summer rain brings plenty of gain.  Oh I am lame when it comes to rhyming, but you get the point.  And what's blooming right now, along with other flowers, are my daylilys or the botanical name of  Hemerocallis  which in Greek translates to "beautiful". Can't argue with that....

 The 1st Daylily I planted over 30 years ago..

Over the years I have collected several varieties because 1) they don't die 2) they take very little care 3) they will grow in bright sun or some shade 4) they need minimal water 5) you can dig them up in the spring or fall and divide them for more beautiful clumps 6) they adapt to about any soil condition, 7) they will grow anywhere from zones 1-11 which covers the entire USA. OK, what's not to like about these wonderful flowers?  It is the perfect perennial.

Daylilys come in practically every color except blue and pure white. The lighter the color, the more sun they need to bring out the paler colors, while the deeper oranges and reds can do well in some shade.

 My "almost" white daylily

In the 1920's the yellow daylily was introduced to the American garden, and since that time there have been more than 35,000 different varieties introduced.

 I love these two toned species

Daylily, as the name implies last for only a day.  But each stamen has an abundance of buds so with each new day, a new one appears.  They naturally are not great for cutting because of their short life span, but I did read that if you cut one that has multiple buds, the buds will then bloom after cutting. I have yet to try that.  Let me know if you have tried this.

This is the palest pink that is growing in my garden.  Hybridizers are constantly focusing on sturdier stems, foliage color, larger and neater clumps, scent, ruffled edges, and a glitter look to the petals.

Each year the highest award that is given to a cultivar is the Stout Silver Medal in honor of Dr. Arlow Burdette Stout, the father of modern daylily breeding.

I have no idea if I have any award winning daylilys in my garden, they are all award winners to me when they present their new faces each day.

The last two are my newest additions, planted 3 years ago by the mailbox.  I hope the mailperson enjoys their beauty. They are huge flowers.  The last one is larger than my spread hand.

These beauties only last a short while like most perennials, but while they are here I certainly enjoy their outstanding color and appeal.  Do you have daylilys in your garden, why not? they are the perfect perennial.

Protecting the Pomegranates

by Terri

A long and sad tale . . . but with a happy ending. Sort of. For my husband’s birthday several years ago, he decided he wanted to plant a pomegranate tree. We picked it out at the nursery and had it delivered and planted. It was covered in beautiful red blossoms and I liked it right away. Soon the red flowers began to change into fruit.

And then the fruit began to ripen.

But just as we were anticipating having all this wonderful fruit right outside our door and the things we would make with it, this happened:

The birds discovered them and bored through the tough outer skin to the sweet insides, leaving us nothing but a shell.  All that watering and feeding and tending went for naught.

So the next year, my husband decided he would cover the tree with netting to keep the birds away. However, a quail got caught in the net and I spent a half hour cutting up the net in order to free him. It was traumatic so I told my husband, no more netting. And this again was the result:

The next spring, I went online to read about how to protect your pomegranates from birds and read about a method of stapling brown paper lunch bags over each piece of fruit. So we tried that with the 20 or so fruit that we had. We ended up with 2-3 pomegranates that survived to the time they were ripe enough to pick. We were beginning to think the birds were smarter than we were. Here’s a shot of one of the few we managed to harvest:

The tasty and beautiful jewel-like fruit inside made us want to try even harder to see if we could find a solution to the problem of the birds.

The next spring, I posted about my plight on Instagram and a friend suggested tying knee high pantyhose over each fruit. That sounded like a good plan, so I bought several packages of inexpensive knee highs and we tied them on.  It wasn’t too long before we found this:

 

The birds had torn open the knee highs and feasted on all the fruit. Those little buggers had untied the knots at the top of each knee high and helped themselves. The third time was NOT the charm.

So we have given up.  We now look on our pomegranate tree as a gift from us to the birds and we have resigned ourselves to buying our pomegranates at the store. I leave you with this fruit that we purchased from Trader Joe’s.  

 

A beauty, isn’t she? And so much easier than trying to outsmart the birds. We’ll keep our pomegranate tree and let the birds feast on it and from now on we’ll buy our pomegranates rather than trying to grow them. And because our theme this month is Word Art, I’ve even added a bit of Sue Cummings art to this image. 

Are you a gardener? Have you ever been outsmarted by Mother Nature and lost your harvest to some critter who got into your garden? Did you find a solution or did you have to finally give up like we did? I'd love to hear your stories and if you have a solution for keeping the birds from eating the fruit on your trees, I'd love to hear it. Maybe the fourth time will be the charm!