Early Spring Break

I'm taking a week

 or so off to visit

with family

and 
(maybe)

weed my garden.

(...and weed the driveway!!!)

Hope you are having a

wonderful February.


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Strong Roses

Long ago and far away we lived in Germany. It is a beautiful country.  I met several Germans who gardened like there was no tomorrow. They planted the plants much closer together than the instructions say to plant them. This trick makes annuals look full and lush.  Pride of ownership showed in the beauty of even the smallest window boxes that I saw. I love all kinds of flowers, especially roses, it was in Germany, while on family vacation in 1998, that I fell in love with pink climbing roses.

Scanned a photo from our German days, this was taken near Berchtesgaden, 1998.

I didn't count to see how many roses were in this arch. Today I am guessing four.  That summer day I stood there and just stared. I remember taking this picture.  I don't remember a fragrance. Too bad, that's how I select my roses. I just knew that someday I would have an archway like that.

The garden fairy has yet to show up at my place, so I'm trying to recreate that beautiful arch in my own backyard. 

What I have is... well, it's just not there yet. 

I am such a dreamer, but that's a good thing.

Not sure if you can see it, but the right side of this arch is a bit twisted, these roses have already started to grow.  Everything around here is starting to bud and with all the sunshine we've been having I am ready to tackle my winter clean up projects.  Tomorrow most of these weeds will be gone.  They've been protecting a primrose but it's just about time for it to be at it's best so I'm cleaning up the area and getting ready for a spring that already seems to be here.

I usually prune the rose bushes the first two weeks of February, that is when we (normally) get our coldest weather. This year I started trimming in January because it does not feel like winter here. In fact, my climbing roses (which I trim up after their first big bloom) are putting on lots of new growth.  This two year old rose is so strong it's moving my arch. 

New growth on roses January 2012.

So my work this week is to untie the rose canes, straighten the arch, and then retie the little strings that are helping the roses to grow the way I want them to grow.  Sounds cruel?  Hey, I taught my children to pick their clothes up off the floor - I am going to teach these two roses to 'climb' this arch.

I'm off to garden.  If you have snow, lucky you.  I'll be searching the blogs during my lunch break looking (and wishing) for the snow.  But since I don't have it, I might as well get busy - time, tide, and weeds wait for no one.










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Back to the Garden - Weeding

Weeding is the worst of all chores in the garden. It's also one of the most important. I put this off for so long (I live in hope that my gardens will become self-cleaning). When I got busy doing it instead of just wishing it was done, clean up was much faster than I thought it would be. 

I took this picture a few days before I started work and put it on my computer as my background so I would remember I had a bit of weeding to do. 

Thursday morning I spent less than 90 minutes weeding, putting in soil amendments / plant food, putting down newspaper to hold in the water and keep out the weeds, and scattering wood mulch across the top of everything to make it beautiful (this also helps keep out the weeds and keep in the water).   I started at 7:00, I was trying to work while the temps were only in the 80's (around here that's just a few precious minutes in the morning). Also, I was trying to avoid a sunburn - that takes a bit of work - it seems like the sun is always out.

I told you about the book LASAGNA GARDENING by Patricia Lanza.  This is one of the benefits of putting down newspaper in your garden, it keeps the weeds from really taking hold. 

I started pulling the weeds with my hands (wear gloves!) and they came out very easily.  I grabbed my old fork hoe and it made the job go even faster. 

After a bit of weeding I was ready to add the good stuff (soil amendments).   It was going so fast I almost forgot to take pictures. 

As I put down the sections of newspaper I spray them with water, this keeps them from flying away. 

When I was done I was careful not to take any photos of me. I was dirty, sweaty, hot and tired. And proud. I have just started a garden revival.   

Yes, the stone and the fossil were there all the time - just hidden by all the weeds.  I am so amazed at how quickly I cleaned up this area of my garden.  Sure, I've got lots more to do, but that's one of the things about a garden  - it needs you as much as you need it.