Everything Is Coming Up Roses

" Ebb Tide'


I just had to do a posting on Roses for the New
Year. It is in the low 20's with a wind chill reading
that I do not even want to think about.
And snow upon the ground once more so
all I want to think about are flowers and Spring. LOL!

So instead of groaning about the weather I decided
to dig into the ole flower vault and bring out some
of the roses I am missing so much right now and
do a posting on 'coming up roses'.





'Scentimental' reminds me of peppermint candy or
candy canes but the naming it Scentimental is a
little deceiving because it has such a light
fragrance.





' Double Delight' is bound to perk up anyone.





As 'Double Delight's' blooms age the petals
take on a neon pink tinge all over, which I for one
like less than when it first opens.
It has a mild fragrance.






'New Dawn' loves to climb all over my old garden
building but her blooms fall away fast and it usually
only blooms for me in a massive burst in June and
just a few blooms in August.
It has a very mild fragrance.





'New Blaze Improved ' is a climber that grows over a trellis
that helps hide an air conditioner. The new
improved variety is still a disappointment to
me because it only blooms once for me so I am
looking for a replacement that will bloom more
than once. If anyone has any great climbing
rose selections for zone 5 please let me know.
New Blaze will be demoted to the garden shed
with New Dawn.
Maybe I should stay away from any
roses with the word new or improved in the name.





'Lavender Simplicity' rose has been moved a few
times and has taken it in stride but other than being
proven tough by my handling and Ohio's cold winter's
the poor thing hasn't had much of a chance to just set
and grow so I will not pass judgment on it just yet.

'Almost Black' is new and although a very deep
red it is not even almost black. It was moved twice
in its first season after my evaluation of the flower
beds in the fall and the moving of a lot of flowers so
they would compliment each other and undo the
random sticking in of plants that were bought on a
whim.
The final decision was made to create a rose
garden bed and add in some different colors of roses
especially after the Ebb Tide rose took over the side
of the garage and the Irish Yellow roses nearby decided
to put on red blooms last summer, which was a
great unwanted surprise.
So the bed beside the garage will become a rose
garden bed next Spring. I will use all of those new
gardening catalogs to find some roses for it this
winter and envision a lovely rose garden.

I am looking for a white rose, another yellow one
and even some orange or peach ones to add to the
rose garden. The new ' Cinco de mayo ' Floribunda
rose looks like a possible addition.





The Knockout roses have become some of my
favorite roses. They have no fragrance to speak of
but they give me blooms all summer and into fall
until a freeze claims them, so any rose that will give
me continuous bloom is a winner to me and I can look
to other flowers like the phlox's to give
me some fragrance in the garden.





' Rainbow ' knockout has flowers ranging from
color shades of pink into yellow and even a touch
of orange at stages in the blooming.
It looked just a wonderful in September as it did
in June.






Knockout Red 'Rosa Radrazz'

Knockout pink 'Rosa Radcon'

A double bloom pink Knockout
A new yellow knockout will be one of the ones
added to the rose garden next spring.

The last rose is one that I have had for many years
and has put up with many moves, ice storms and freezes.
The ' Crimson Bouquet' a Grandiflora rose puts
on a big show of beautiful shaped blooms in June
and also in September with a few blooms in between.
It has a very strong fragrance and is just perfect for

those of you who like to dry rose blooms for potpourri.




This has been a wonderful year and I have made
many friends on Blotanical and on gardening blogs.
I would like to thank you all for making my year a
much better one. Thank you for your friendship
and sharing your gardens and your generous advice
throughout the year. If I needed an answer to a
gardening question or a problem I knew I could count
on your help to provide me with the answers.
Thank you for sharing your frienship, pictures and
your seeds.
My wish to you all is a New Year filled with love,
good health, family, friends, and many flowers.
I wish a New Year for you filled with all that your
heart desires.
I am looking forward to a New Year with
you and meeting even more wonderful friends.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
AND HAPPY GARDENING IN A NEW YEAR !

And by the way another reason for my posting
about 'Coming Up Roses'
Ohio State is in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on
New Year's day so............

GO BUCKS !!!!

Just Breathe

Well now we can all just breathe.
Christmas is over and if you were like so many
people the returns were made today and the
clearance aisles were cleared and left in shambles
in the departments stores for those Christmas
bargains to start you off next year.
Today was just one of the three days I stay away
from the departments stores including, black Friday
and Christmas Eve.
After working so many years in retail I know just
not to venture back into the abyss.

How many of you got lots of pretty gardening
presents for Christmas this year?
A am going to love seeing what everyone got.

I did not get any gardening presents this year but
I did get a plant present that I just love.





This little snowman is made from a small
gourd. Isn't he precious. LOL
The painting of it and dressing him was so
wonderful. Some people have so much talent.
Unbeknownst I really picked it out for myself.
At the Bob Evans Farm Festival this year I had
picked him up and thought he was so sweet but
then but it back. I do that a lot and then
when I get home I wish I had gotten it.
My daughter then looks at it and
she bought it as if it was for a co-worker. So I was
tickled to see it as my present this Christmas.

We had an inch of rain yesterday and it melted
and washed away all of our pretty snow.
I am sure that it will be replaced in the next couple
of days.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with
family and friends and I will be watching for
those gardening presents you all received.




Everyone Just Breathe
And Have a Great Weekend!

Merry Christmas and Thank you !

When we count our blessings,
it isn't hard to see
That life's most valued treasures
are the treasures that are free,
For it isn't what we own or buy
that signifies our wealth,
It's the special gifts that have not price---
our family, friends and health.

Thank you all for a special year
of good gardening and good friends.
Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas
and another year of good health and
great Gardening.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pink Poinsettia Failure

I departed from my usual red poinsettia this year
in favor of this pink one.
I love the pink color of it but must admit it does not go
with my Christmas decor and .....



certainly does not go with the red 'Ragtime' amaryllis.
It might go better with the 'Apple Blossom' one but
it is not blooming yet.



I will have to make a mental note to go back to red
for next Christmas or maybe try one of the white
ones.






On the subject of poinsettia's my experiment to get
the red poinsettia from last year to bloom was a total
failure.



Don't you feel sorry for this sad specimen. LOL!
Poor thing just keeps dropping its leaves and
I am tempted to toss it out into the snow or
drop kick it to the basement.
I hate to give up on any plant though, stubborn
as I am.
Another garden blogger took hers to the
basement in March for a month and then
brought it back out and it is blooming and turning
now. Maybe that is worth a shot. It sure cannot do
anymore harm that what I already have done to
the poor things.



To those of you who are traveling or going to be so
busy I would like to take this time to wish you
all a Blessed Christmas!

Winter Comes Right On Time

It was bound to happen sooner or later but
it looks like winter has finally came to the
Hocking Hills Garden.

In the southeastern part of the state we got
more snow than our northern friends.
I wish I could send it to those up in Cleveland that
wanted it but they will eventually catch up and pass
us for snow fall amounts before winter is over.





I must confess that if we had to have snow we
were surely blessed with a beautiful one Saturday.





It was one of those great snowman making snows.
Wet and heavy sticking to everything and washing it
in white.





In the woods beside the house the snow covers
and sticks even to the sides of the trees.





The field across the house is just beautiful and
I only wish the sun was shining a little so the
pictures could have been lighter but even with
the cloudy skies all day yesterday and today I
could not stop snapping pictures.





The rododendron bushes have sagging branches
and it looks like my yellow Capistrano one has
broken off to the ground. It has been dying back for
the last two years and I can only hope it will send
sprouts up from it now.





The poor garden kids look cold and their hats
tell how deep the snow was on the ground.
Poor things, maybe I should have brought them
into the shed for winter , but they are still smiling.
Alright I know they're not real!

Even with all of the snow there are some things
that just refuse to give up and let go.

This maple leaf is hanging on and sways in
the winter breeze.





This was the only green besides the pines that I
could find around the house.









With all of the snow needless to say there
has been a run on the bird feeder.
Go to my other blog "Natures Scenic View"
to see some of the snow birds.

Snow

"There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the
forest clothed to its very hollows in snow. It is the
still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray, every
blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of
twig, is clad with radiance."

- William Sharp -

Happy Winter Gardening Everyone!

Somebody Stop The Madness

Decisions, decisions.

Easy for you maybe but anyone who knows me
knows I run things over, under and around in
my mind, even in my dreams at night until a final
decision is made on anything.
Starting in the Spring when the first flowers are
being potted or sown I am already starting a list
for the fall planting or next winters seed list.







Every new posting of the blogs that shows a flower
that is so pretty and that will grown in my zone 5
garden is added onto the never ending list of prospects.
I say never ending because just when the list is just
being whittled down to size a new variety of echinacea,
phlox or hydrangea appears on the gardening world
scene.







To add to the clutter in my mind the gardening
catalogs started arriving earlier this fall.
They all naturally have the glaring words
"New For 2010", "Spring of 2010" on each issue.
On cold, rainy evenings (when the house is clean)
we look through every page folding the pages on the
corners and marking another potential new seed
or plant that would look wonderful in the garden.
We go through them over and over again adding
some to the now 'Monster List' of plants.

And then it happens. The day fast approaches
when we have to sort through the list and finally
decide what will be ordered for winter sowing.
We set and ponder in our minds the layout of the
garden beds. Which flower will go best with the
plants we already have? Will the colors clash?
How tall will the new ones added get and where
can they be placed in the beds? Does it need more
or less sun? Will it take some partial shade?
How much room does it need to grow well in?
When is its blooming period?






Do not forget the plants in the basement.....




and the ones over wintering in the house have to
be accounted for in the decision process.



Then do not forget all of the seeds blog friends and
seed swap friends have sent are to be included
into the seed or planting frenzy.
Decisions now have to be made, it is crunch and
countdown time.
Draw up a diagram of the beds and try to
pencil them in with the plants that are already there.
Do not forget the bulbs and roots that are planted
in the bed too. You don't want to dig into them.
Scratch that seed. Cannot find a suitable place for
that bright flower, so cross it off.
But, you moan and groan "I really love that one".

Somebody has got to stop the madness!!!!

So like all practical and knowing gardeners
the decisions, diagrams, and plans are ready and
your mind is finally made up.
It is really quite simple .......

you just make another new flowerbed.




Happy Gardening Everyone!