Roses In Bloom

In honor of Friday, I will leave you with a few pictures of my knock out roses. They need a little of my attention, but truly are thriving without much work on my part. Plant one today!



*It looks like I need to refresh my mulch. My arms are aching just thinking about it!

Clematis

My husband bought this clematis last year. It did pretty well last summer, but this year it has really taken off.

Pruning clematis can be tricky, but this article from Clematis Nursery is thorough and easy to follow.

The best part of our clematis, is that it is one of our "cheap" plants. We buy just as many flowers at the local hardware store as we do at more specialized nurseries, and the clematis was one such purchase. (My grandma can't BELIEVE we do this--she is a very gifted gardener with extensive flower beds.)

You'll notice the clematis is actually climbing a telephone pole. I am not sure what a landscape designer would think about that. I consider my current landscape a field trial of sorts. I plant things I think I may like and experiment with pairings, placement, etc. Someday, I will have a well-thought out landscape. For now, I am just enjoying playing in the dirt and trying things out.

Using Flowering Shrubs as Centerpieces

Hydrangea make a great cut flower. Their generous blooms make a full arrangement from a single stem. Their large, broad leaves work great as bases for arrangements as well.

I am not lucky enough to have my own hydrangea shrub, but I did buy a branch at a local flower market for my dining room table. Other flowering branches that work great as arrangements include forsythia, quince, crabapple, cherry and many varieties of dogwood.

Ants on my Peony Plants

I love peony flowers. When I was growing up, I used to cut off the open blooms and put them in a vase or glass next to my bed because I just loved how their beautiful fragrance filled my bed room. Before I brought them inside, I had to be sure to shake the ants off of them.

If you have peony plants in your garden, you are probably familiar with the ants that crawl all over them. The ants are not harming your peony plants. They are a temporary, natural "by-product" of having these lovely garden plants.

Did you know the ants have nothing to do with the health of your plants or whether they bloom or not? Ants are not required to open the flowers. They are attracted to the nectar that is given off by the peony blooms and do not damage the blooms themselves. In fact, once the blooms open, the ants will disappear. Since the ants disappear on their own, spraying the ants with insecticides or other chemicals is not recommended. Doing so will do more harm than good.

Pink Primrose

My husband doesn't like to give up on any plants or throw them away. He removed some pink primrose from someone's yard last year and brought them home. We planted them in our front landscape bed in a place without any other plants (at the time anyways). I think they are very beautiful when they are flowering. They started to flower late last week, so I snapped this picture. Many more flowers have opened since!

If you have an open area that needs some color in the early summer, consider this perennial wildflower. We have since expanded the landscape bed and I think I will need to remove some of these plants because it is spreading into areas where I don't want it to go - like too close to my roses! (I am not sure if it is from the seeds that it produces, or just the plant itself spreading underground.) Either way it is a nice splash of color by the front door area. I definitely would recommend it if you have the appropriate location in full sun for it.

Weigela

I wanted to post this picture of my weigela while it was in flower. Last year we planted some new plants in our landscaping beds and these weigela were one of the plants that we chose. Since they were newly planted, they didn't flower for us last season. This spring they are just covered in flowers!

There a number of different weigela out there. I have to admit, I'm not sure what the name of mine are. The tag said 'Minuet', but I think these were maybe tagged incorrectly. (Minuet is supposed to be green foliage tinged w/ purple. I don't really see any purple tinge.) I liked the idea of the purplish foliage as some variety against the St. John's Wort and perennials that I have in the same bed.

I really like the flowers though. Weigela attract hummingbirds and butterfly, two favorites of mine to watch. I encourage you to check out this plant at your local garden center.

Rose Cane Borers

I've been concerned about my roses (the same ones that had aphids earlier in the year). I noticed some of the stems wilting and turning brown. I got out my felco hand pruner and cut out the dead branches. They are pictured above.

Upon closer examination, I noticed the center of the cane was hollow (see above). I think I am seeing the evidence left behind by a rose cane borer. I did a little research and the best defense to this pest is careful monitoring. Prune out affected branches as soon as they are noticed. You need to prune down past where the cane is hollow, then seal off the pruning cut with a drop of Elmer's glue. Some experts recommended putting a drop of food coloring in the glue so you can keep track of the cuts that you've sealed as you prune your roses. I think I will try it! I'll let you know how it goes.

Gerbera Daisy

Last week was Mother's Day. Since I didn't post last week, I wanted to share this picture with you. My kids made a beautiful pot for me with the help of a very dear friend of the family. I put my favorite flower, gerbera daisy, in it and snapped this picture.

I love gerberas because they are so bright an cheerful. Since I wanted to write about them today, I did a little research. I know I like them, but I never realized so many other people do as well. They are the 5th most popular cut flower in the world! Thousands of cultivars exist in a variety of shapes and sizes. I picked mine up from Family Tree Nursery in Shawnee, KS. If you are interested in trying this fun flower, check out your local garden center!

Planning Important When Dealing with the Outdoors

Check out this article that was printed in the Kansas City Star.

The Jackson County Courthouse started a $2.5 million outdoor renovation project in 2005. They removed 2 large elms and several locust trees in order to plant the lot with native buffalo grass. Long story short, surrounding buildings cast too much shade on the lot and the native grass never took off. The county is going to reseed and sod the lot with a fescue blend to the tune of $10,000.

I can't think of a better illustration for the necessity of planning when trying to work with Mother Nature.

Empathy

I was reading the KC Gardens Blog this morning, and there was a question from a gardener about her Angelique tulips. She planted 150 two years ago, and last year they bloomed great. This year, nada.

The same thing happened to my Angelique tulips. First, I thought a squirrel had gotten them. However, I asked around and discovered that it was more likely that they just gave out.

I am learning so much about gardening. For instance, bulbs do not necessarily equate to perennials to enjoy for years to come. Sometimes, they are just annuals you plant in the fall.

Maybe there is no such thing as a "low-maintenance" flower bed.

Fanciful Foliage

Original Photo Here

Purple Ninebark (like Diablo, pictured above) is a great shrub to add color to your landscape. A fast grower with deep burgundy leaves and white blooms in summer, ninebark can tolerate some shade but performs best in full sun. Use ninebark in mixed shrub borders or even as a foundation plant. A newer cultivar, Summer Wine Ninebark, is a more compact plant with Diablo^®’s deep wine leaves and white flowers. For the best effect, plant it to complement yellow or bright green plants.

Sand Plum Farm

The freeze this spring was enough to reduce the fruit production on my Dad's sand plums at Sand Plum Farms. During a normal growing season, the trees are covered in white blossoms like the tree pictured above.

Sand plums are native to Kansas and their fruit is used in jellies and wines. It has small, red fruit (in most cases). Prior to planting his orchard, my dad scoured the countryside looking for wild trees to harvest.





Sand plum jelly is delicious. It is a touch tart, but very good on toast, pancakes or served as an appetizer with cream cheese.

Did any of you have fruit tree damage this spring?

Blooming Iris

The person who lived in my house before me planted iris along the south side of the house. I noticed last week they are blooming. I am not sure what kind they are, but I thing the color of the flower is very pretty.

I have some other iris that I have brought with me when I moved from my other house. (I’ll share pictures when they bloom later on). I have recently learned that the iris was named the official flower of Kansas City, Missouri in 1929. Learn more about iris by visiting the Greater Kansas City Iris Society website.

Candy Tuft

The perennial plant that is pictured above is candytuft. I added it to my landscape last year. As you can see by the date, I snapped this picture in mid-April. Just yesterday I deadheaded the plant because the blooms had finally faded. Since I deadheaded it, maybe it will bloom again for me later this season. (If it does, I’ll let you know!) I have a group of three of these planted on a sloped area by my driveway. The idea was to create a white carpet cascading down the side of the small hill. It bloomed about the same time as my creeping phlox providing me early spring color. Give it a try!

Dwarf Korean Lilacs

I noticed my dwarf Korean lilacs are blooming. I like the small leaves and dainty flowers that this plant has. When we moved into our house a few years ago (already!), we had two of these lilacs planted in the landscape in front. They should not have been planted there because they had outgrown their allotted space. We moved them into the back yard when we designed some landscaping back there.

This brings up the point of trying to plant too much in a small space. When you are designing your landscape beds, think about the full size of the plant. The little plants you put in the ground today will soon grow. Also, remember to regularly prune any shrubs that you plant to maintain their size or keep them from getting too big. A little effort now will prevent big headaches (and wasted money) down the road.

Spring Seeding Update

Although fall seeding is best, spring seeding can be successful if you get your seed down early and are diligent with watering. If you remember, I tried spring seeding this year. I put my seed down on Friday, March 13th. If you check out the picture above, I would say it was a success. It is so nice to look out the window and see green grass instead of mud and dirt! We’ll have to see how the summer goes and can fill in any thin spots this fall.

Aphids!

Looking at the calendar, I see it is May already. It seems like it is too soon for garden insect pests because it has been so cold and wet. Over the weekend, I found out differently! I was walking past the three rose bushes by my front door and I noticed aphids all over them! I quickly grabbed my camera to snap this picture. Then I grabbed my garden hose. (Aphids can be dislodged by a strong stream of water). It appears my roses are safe – at least for now!

This reinforces the fact that regular monitoring of insect pests is very important to protect prized garden and landscape plants from damage. Let the diligent monitoring begin!

Good Things for Those Who Wait

Original Photo is Here.

I think you all remember this post, wherein I lamented about my inability to grow anything because little critters were munching down on the seeds.

This week, however, I noticed several more sweet peas starting to come up, and realized I may have been a bit premature.

Now, I am once again eagerly awaiting the blooms from my sweet pea experiment.