| November 1, 2004 Finally got my rear in gear and planted my bulbs. The crocus are in the side bed, clustered around the three roses bushes. The fritillaria are in front of the kitchen window, between the first 2 lavenders (to the left of the lilac). I planted the hyacinths throughout the front bed. The anemones are on either side of the Love rose in the front bed. The ranunculus are between the white and red mum in the front bed. And I planted the new tulips just behind the old ones, in line with the mums. If I can buy more soon, I will, and add them to the same "line." I also weeded the side bed, and raked leaves away from the roses. I'm leaving most leaves in the garden beds, as mulch. I also raked the front lawn today. Yesterday, I cut back the mums that got droopy and brown from the rain, and also cut back the two dahlias in the front bed (nearest the Love rose), which had become so mildewy they were not getting new blooms. Don't know if they'll come back properly. I also cut back the blanket flower and removed the petunias. The new white mums are blooming beautifully; the rust colored ones are doing okay, but the rain is really not making them too happy. January 7, 2005 Today I pruned back the roses. With the red roses in front of the kitchen window, I was more ruthless than usual. I cut them to just about knee level, even when I couldn't see a bud forming that low. I hope this will make for bushier, more fruitful plants. (I also don't normally prune in Jan., but I notice that one of my neighbors who has lovely roses does so...So I thought I'd give it a go, instead of spring pruning!) I also lay some compost down around the front beds, more like mulch. Then, I started a grand experiment: Winter Sowing. I found instructions online at Garden Web, and proceeded this way: I saved up the clear plastic containers grocery stores use to package pre-cooked chicken and baked goods. I washed them and removed the labels as best I could. Then, using kitchen shears, I cut three to four slashes in the bottom and top of each container. (I found this was easier to do if I placed the plastic containers on my plastic "grass style" entry mat, and cut straight down.) Then I filled each with dirt (I used Miracle Grow Potting Soil, because it's what I had on hand), watered it down well, and sowed my seeds. Then I marked each container using a freezer pen and freezer tape. Now they are sitting on the picnic bench in the backyard, and are already fogging over like a greenhouse--as they should. I thought the smaller containers that you get strawberries in would be especially good, since they already have holes in them, but I found they weren't "green housing" very well, so I put a clear freezer bag over each, cut one hole in the bag. I sowed: purple daisy, columbine, red poppy, baby's breath, Chinese lantern, garden thistle, sweet pea, and several "mixes" that included poppies, daisies, cornflower, catchfly, coneflower, alyssum, black eyes susan, baby's breath, sweet william, snapdragon, cosmos, dwarf sunflower, lewis flax, lupine, stock, phlox, forget me nots, zinnias, delphinium, and I don't know what all. All the seeds were given to me by either the National Home Gardening Club, or my online gardening friends. January 23, 2005 I sprayed the roses and nasturtiums with oil today, in hopes of keeping aphids at bay. I also planted a new rose: Bonica, a pink shrub rose, which I received for my birthday. I need to move the two roses I replanted last spring now, as I want the bush rose there. |