This past week I spent every spare moment in the rose garden. I've been doing a hard prune which it has been in desperate need of. Last year's blossoms did not live up to their full potential but I am hoping that some extra care will make for a spectacular spring show. Key word...hoping.
I knew I needed to be ruthless and get rid of the poor producers, most likely runners, that had been left alone for decades. It's hard, quiet work back there save for the occasional thorn induced curse word. At times it seems overwhelming and never ending, but mostly I love it. At the end of the day every muscle in my body is sore and tired but yet I feel good. I still have a mile long list of things to do but really I'm not complaining. I know I'm lucky to have this lovely little home and garden to care for. And at this point I don't know who is taking care of who any longer.
Oh and one more thing...you are all the nicest readers in the whole www.
Lucky when we have things we can just escape into, especially things that have a huge return in our happiness. Im going to call this the "sigh" post or maybe the "aaaahhhh" post? Love your arbor with what looks like a metal pipe handrail? I feel like Im looking at YesterYear. Lovely, as always... Lor
ReplyDeleteit is a metal pipe handrail. i'm trying to train ivy to grow up it. :)
DeleteI love that. Never change it. YesterYear, indeed. ;) That really did make my day.
DeleteYour rose garden inspires me. Are there any white roses you particularly love?
ReplyDeleteI only have one white rosebush and don't know the name of it. sadly, there are only 3 tags on all the roses and the white one isn't tagged.
DeleteOh good for you! I'm sure the roses will pay you back in spades with a season of bloom. I hope your area isn't so terribly deep in drought. My garden is buried in snow. Spending the day out there sounds nice about now! Of course when it's actually time I'll complain that it's a chore. Haha. Your house is such a gorgeous jewelry box of details; each of which I enjoy reading about. It was a post on your rose garden that introduced me to you and your blog!
ReplyDeleteoh we are in a drought. a bad one. :(
DeleteI SO wish I could be there helping you! I desperately miss my garden in the winter - it makes feel quite sad, actually. Thank goodness we will be in Florida for a month so at least I can enjoy the flowers and shrubs there!
ReplyDeleteI am convinced that my garden is the one healing me!
Agree with Stephen, good for you! And what a lovely garden - my dad was a gardener and we always had roses.
ReplyDeleteJanet, 2 things that bring huge rewards for me are dried molasses from the feed store and coffee grounds. I go by Starbucks every time I'm in town. About a heapng cup of each one.
ReplyDeletenever have done dried molasses but i used to get the grounds from starbucks too.
DeleteYes -- another vote for adding coffee grounds and Epsom salts to the soil! Also good to soak in the Epsom salts in the bath after gardening!! And it is indeed necessary to be tough and ruthless in pruning, clearing and cleaning -- whether INSIDE the house OR outside in the garden! Best results from a very hard job! Very well done indeed!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Jan at Rosemary Cottage
i'm excited to see the results of this hard prune!
DeleteDear Janet, It is one of the best ways to spend all of your spare time - by working in the garden! Hands into the earth works as a reboot button for the soul, so is viewing your photos of it!
ReplyDeleteYou sound so in love with your life; it's a wonderful thing.
ReplyDeleteS
xo
thanks sue. it's not perfect but overall i do love it.:)
DeleteI was so happy to get a free hour on a not-too-cold day today to tidy up my garage. When it is bitterly cold I have a bad habit of setting things just outside the mudroom door - resulting in a huge pile that I have to carefully step around. We are set to be back in a deep-freeze tomorrow but now I am ready! It really is the little things! -Sarah
ReplyDeleteRoses love a hard pruning and you will be rewarded when they bloom.
ReplyDeleteI top dress mine with Epsom salts once a month from May until September and they love having banana peels at their base. Dig them in so you don't need to see them....I admire your formal rose bed. Mine are scattered around the beds. It must make it easier to tend when they are all in one spot.
a couple of years ago i did the banana peel thing and i think it worked.
DeleteNice pruning!
ReplyDeletePruning my roses back is on my to do list as well! Hope to get to it sometime this week. :)
ReplyDeleteI love your your roses! I, too, enjoy working in our yard. Even shoveling snow can be be enjoyable during our winter months. I gave our hydrangeas a hard prune last Fall. They needed it! It has been a long, cold winter. I have begun to dream of my daffodils.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll be able to do any pruning this winter, rotator cuff and all, so I'm gazing at the fruit of your labor with greedy eyes.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a good year.
xo J
This posts makes me remember and miss pruning my 40+ roses at my So. California home. Only have 19 at my little house on the prairie and we don't prune until May! Not at all what I was used too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind acknowledgment to your readers. This is my favorite blog!
Have a question on the olive oil as a moisturizer.... do you use cold press EVO or do you use non cold press ???
hi priscilla, i use extra virgin olive oil right off the shelf.
DeleteIt looks like you've accomplished a lot in your garden!! So clean. Roses are so incredibly beautiful. I don't have a garden but do pot plants for my balcony. At least it's something. Can't wait to see your summer rose posts :)
ReplyDeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason you get such nice comments from your readers. You are able to make a connection to all those who read your blog. And as a frequent reader, your writing appears to be effortless. Now as an English teacher of sixth graders I know that any kind of writing is an effort. But, for all of us who enjoy reading your blog please keep sharing. I look forward to your latest words of wisdom.
Bobbie Allgood
Omaha, Nebraska
thank you bobbie. i maintain that i'm a typer not a writer but thank you so much. :)
DeleteI finished my pruning this past weekend. I also surrounded each rose bush with an enriched compost. I hoping that the drought we're facing won't take too great a toll on my roses.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see your rose garden once it's in its glory this spring. Gardening for me is the best therapy.
Karen
i still have feeding and mulching to go. try to do it all in steps. i have 2 big roses to prune tomorrow and then i'll be on feed duty. :)
DeleteOut of all the many many blogs out there, your's is a very special one. So pure and real it sometimes makes me weepy, but in a good way. I've been a volunteer Master Gardener for more years than I care to count, but what always worked well for my roses was as you have done Janet, a hard prune, plus epsom salts and a weekly dose of fish emulsion or seaweed emulsion, plus lots of top dressing with organic compost. Looking forward to your bloom time. Cheri
ReplyDelete"...who is taking care of who." SO true! I miss gardening in the winter, it's all faded memories and dreams ahead. Thank goodness for those pretty little snowdrops in March! :)
ReplyDeleteXO,
Jane
I haven't commented before, but I love your blog! Nothing better than feeling tired at the end of a long day hard at work in the garden :)
ReplyDeleteI can just hear my mom talking about work and reward; how hard work pays off. All the old cliches which still ring true.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very poignant post, Janet. You have a good soul.
I do know what it is to love a little place so much, and to have put so much of yourself into it that the line becomes blurred as to who shelters whom but I guess it goes back to that thing about getting what you give. You do The Gardener proud! A good steward along the way...
I was very glum today. I've thrown out my back, pinched a nerve, strained a muscle; I don't know and neither does the doctor...yet. And then I happened to be speaking to someone who is really smart and who can zero in on things I often can't...and she (right smack IN MY FACE) reminded me of my blessings, which my dad used to say, "you forget just what you have."
Always a good thing to have people in your life who set you straight when you go off course...
Hi Janet,
ReplyDeleteI spent 3 hours in the yard today, a good part of that time was spent hard pruning my roses as well. I still have 6 bushes left to do. I think I already asked you before, but how many bushes do you have?
I hate to complain but gosh darn it, we need some rain! It's just down right scary. And we haven't even had a winter to speak of. My sweaters and boots just sit in the closet. (unless I go out at night which is rare)
Have a good week!
Linda
xo
Sounds like Janet, you and me are all in the same boat...a boat without a lake, so to speak. Unreal photo of Folsom Lake with people walking on the boat ramps high and dry; shrinking water. I don't even know where Folsom Lake is; I think it's Central Calif. Here in the South, forget it...we're a shriveled, thirsty mess.
DeleteP.S. What do you feed your roses? I fed mine today but I'm ashamed to admit the food is not organic.
ReplyDeleteI bet your roses are going to be fantastic after all your hard work! Can't wait to see them :) xo
ReplyDeleteshow us those thorns, between all those roses.....
ReplyDeleteYou have such a way with words, and roses.
pve
Hi Janet! When you ever make it to Vienna, you have to see the roses at Volksgarten:
ReplyDeletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zmu4ChUeKLU/Ur8mon_aNKI/AAAAAAAAH9c/IGb5mIMId-c/s1600/jute+16.jpg
During the winter months they rest in their cozy bags:
http://ratherthanfacebook.blogspot.co.at/2013/12/downtime-at-volksgarten-after-sunset.html
I hope you weren't too tired for a hot bath for the sore muscles and joints? I often find myself too hungry and/or too tired for treats like a hot bath.
"And at this point I don't know who is taking care of who any longer."
ReplyDeleteSo true, dear Janet!
I love your place.
Greetings,
Tanja
Looks great. I could spend forever in my garden - despite the dirty and tiring work, I just love it.
ReplyDeleteI could look at yours and Slim Paley's rose blossoms every day and, in fact, I do! We are going down into the single digits here in Nashville. So nice to rest my eyes on your lovely photography and dream of warmer times ahead. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. I look forward to every post.
ReplyDeleteI adore you and your rose garden, and so looking forward to the beautiful blossoms! My grandmother is a fantastic gardener and for her, gardening is a necessity just like breathing. I'd love to be a gardener myself some day, but unfortunately I don't have a green thumb! The best I can do for now is try not to kill my lavender plants! ox
ReplyDeleteDo you trim the rose trees the same as standard bush?
ReplyDeleteyes, i just finished the rose trees today.
DeleteI'll right away grab your rss as I can not in finding your
ReplyDeletee-mail subscription hyperlink or newsletter service.
Do you have any? Please allow me know so that I may just subscribe.
Thanks.
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