A day in spring...

Hi, there!  It's been awhile!

These pictures where from back in May.  I think.

I don't remember the name of the iris, but I think it is one of the most stunning ones I've ever seen.  The rose is Ballerina.

Look who's hanging out in a rose blossom!

Oh, so lovely!!!

Have a beautiful day!

Surrounding Ballerina...

Ballerina Rose grows along the path to my back door.  And right now, she is absolutely gorgeous!

The kitties, Tiger and Princess, walking on the path.

The violas that I planted along the path for winter are still blooming as the spring and summer perennials are
filling in.  

Hmmm...... looks like I have a little volunteer color here.  

This is the combination I planned.

That is a Blue Hill Salvia with Ballerina and I just love it!

The blue and white iris is almost finished.  You can see how pretty it is with Ballerina, though.

I  love this picture.  The pink.  The blue.  Mmmmm.

 
This is a longer view, looking towards the humming bird garden, most of which hasn't started blooming yet.

I like the way this deep pink salvia looks with the pink of Ballerina.

 The deep pink Salvia.  I think it is HeatWave, but I can't remember.

 The deep pink Salvia from the other side.  The blue is Catmint.

One more shot.  (As always, you can click on the pictures for a larger view.)

 There is yellow Moonbean Coreopsis planted between Ballerina and the Lirope.  But the weeds make a nice yellow until the Coreopsis blooms. 

Have a beautiful day!

Iris in the bed...

This morning,  I took a few pictures of the gorgeous blue and white iris in its garden bed.  I'm not sure how I like the quality of the pictures, but at least you have some idea of the colors in the bed.  The iris is next to Ballerina rose.  The iris and the rose are along the path to my back door and then behind them, stretching out to the pedestal is my hummingbird garden.  One of the salvias, the pink you see behind the iris, has begun blooming already.

I love how the pinks and blues look together.  Ballerina rose is covered with buds and will be stunning when they all open.  (You can click on the pictures for a larger view.)

Have a beautiful day!

Pruning Ballerina rose...

Look what I found yesterday! Can you see them? This Ballerina rose has tiny, red leaf buds!



I have read that one is supposed to prune in late winter, before new growth appears. Well, what if new growth appears before late winter? If I don’t prune, then the plant puts all this work into growth that I will then come along later and cut off. So, if I prune now, then it can work on producing the growth it gets to keep. That makes sense, right? My pruning isn’t causing it to start the new growth; it has already started it on its own. I guess it might be argued that somehow the growth I just loped off could protect the plant for the rest of the winter. Maybe. But if it needs to be protected still, then why is it putting out tender new growth? This was so much easier in California.

(Can you actually see the rose in this mess? Ah, the reality of gardening. Definitely not a magazine picture!)

I did prune it. And I will just have to see what happens. After I finished pruning, I tucked non-rose leaves back around it and tugged some of the catmint back over it to maybe add to its protection and covered it for the night as it is still dipping below freezing for a couple of more nights. I wonder if the catmint might help deter the mites that carry rose rosette disease.




Of course, this rose may already have rose rosette disease, since it grows fairly close to where Madame Alfred Carriere grew. She had rose rosette disease and had to be taken out and burnt. As a precaution, I am burning what I pruned from Ballerina. And disinfecting the pruners.




I’ll keep watching it as the new growth comes along, checking for signs of the disease. I sure hope it doesn’t have it, but I realize that the odds are pretty good that it will have it. So sad.

{Rosa 'Ballerina'}

I discovered something else as I worked around my rose. New shoots of chives are starting! They smelled SO good! Well, in an oniony, chivey sort of way. Which is good in my book.


Have a beautiful day!