| April 1, 2006 Emptied the done compost bin and turned the cooking compost into that bin. Spread two 5-gallon buckets of coffee grounds in the pond bed and then topped it off with a good layer of compost and mulched with shredded leaves. John built a "floating deck" type shelf behind the seating platform on the left side yard. We couldn't keep soil in it--either washing or voles, but I'm leaning more towards the washing theory--so now I can sit pots on it. 'Zepherine Drouhin' has a basal break 1" long. |
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| April 2, 2006 Pruned roses for canker--left a few questionable ones to see how they do. Got the five buckets of alfalfa tea applied. Cleaned out the holding bed--emptied the mum pots--only two of them had a tiny bit of growth so tossed them all. Potted up the bands and miniature 'Scentsational' from The Uncommon Rose in larger pots and put 'Marie Daley', 'Pink Gruss an Aachen', and 'Clotilde Soupert' in pots for the new platform. Got both 'James Galway' tied to their arbor. Mowed lawn. John got most of the string algae out of the front pond tub--it was obstructing the waterfall opening and overflowing the tub. Put 1 cup peroxide in the pond. 'Zepherine Drouhin's basal break is 2" long today. |
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| April 3, 2006 Promised thunder storms in the early AM with rain on and off throughout the day. Wind picking up in the evening. Replacement 'Sharifa Asma' arrived from David Austin and was put in to soak. |
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| April 4, 2006 Put all new roses that were recovering on the front porch out where they'll get some sun. Many of them have buds. 'Zepherine Drouhin's' new basal break is 3" long. |
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| April 6, 2006 Received roses from Rogue Valley Roses. Very, VERY small bands but they all look healthy except for 'Augustine Guinoisseau' which looks a little anemic and spotty. Will keep an eye on it. |
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| April 7, 2006 Roses from Heirloom arrived today. Bigger than Rogue Valley, but bands nonetheless. Healthy looking, as well. Dogwoods are in full bloom. |
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| April 8, 2006 One 'Ambridge Rose' from Chamblee's bloomed and the scent is so sweet and strong! Badly needed rain today. |
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| April 9, 2006 Insecticidal soap did not work on the aphids so I got and used some insecticide by Bayer. Put Bayer All-In-One on all of the established roses, including those permenently-potted this Spring. Messengered just about everything except one 'Ambridge Rose' rose to be used in "The Experiment". Potted up the rose bands I got this week. Also potted the hosta liners into larger pots. Edged, trimmed, mowed lawn. Put some Sevin dust on the survivors of last fall's kale disaster. |
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| April 10, 2006 Got my replacement 'Sharifa Asma' potted up. Put Osmocote on all established roses, last year's pot ghetto plants, and this year's body bags that were potted up. |
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| April 13, 2006 Very warm temps and no rain. Watering my ghetto pot roses nightly and enjoying blooms on many of the ones from Chamblee's. Lots of buds on the older roses. |
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| April 16, 2006 HOT this weekend--records set! Getting very dry. Got several new plants this weekend at Anderson's: hosta 'Blue Mammoth', daylily 'Jolyene Nicole' (second one of these), heuchera 'Creme Brulee' and 'Key Lime Pie'--both real cuties. |
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| April 17, 2006 Cooler today. Finally got some much-needed rain--after I watered two beds--but could use lots more. Put Mighty Plant plant food on all roses, including pot ghetto. Bought and planted 'Parks Whopper' tomato plants. Planted 'Dasher II' cucumber seeds, too. May be a little early for the cucumbers but I think they'll be OK. 'Cl. Sombreuil' (AKA 'Colonia White') is about to open it's first bloom. Already smells heavenly. |
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| April 18, 2006 Lovely, lovely day. Moved 'Zepherine Drouhin' to a pot to pillar her on the end large back deck post. John made a "trellis" of wire fencing around the post. Moved 'Clotilde Soupert' to the back deck--she didn't like all the sun she got on that little platform. Moved 'Perle d'Or' to that spot and potted up 'Katharina Zeimet' to put in the spot 'Perle d'Or' vacated. Potted up 'Francis Dubreuil' and 'Eugene de Beauharnais'. Planted one 'Climbing Aloha' in Zeffy's old place. We're planning on building a pergola to span the walkway from the arbor bed over to the roof in front of the garage on which to grow 'Climbing Aloha'. Put Ironite on some chloritic looking potted roses, including the 4 experimental 'Ambridge Rose' roses after they were potted up. Moved 'New Dawn' into a large pot in front of the gazebo deck maple tree. Potted up the new hosta and the 3 left-over tomato plants--hated to see them go to waste, will do something with them. Mowed the lawn and put alfalfa meal on it--plan to water it in tomorrow night. Spread a 5-gallon bucket of coffee grounds on the tomato and cucumber beds. Started 3-18 gallon tubs of alfalfa tea. Zeffy wilted a bit--hope she recovers. Watered her well and misted her after attaching her to her trellis. First rose of the season: 'Climbing Sombreuil' AKA 'Colonia White'. Clematis montana is blooming for the first time. |
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| April 19, 2006 Potted 'Madame Isaac Pereire' in a square container and put her in the far right corner of the back deck. Will add a obelisk and pillar her. I read that she doesn't like heat and won't rebloom because of it, but I'm hoping the half sun she'll get there will encourage a little repeat bloom. I'm chipping away at the pot ghetto. Zeffy looked a little better this morning, but was wilted again this evening. She got misted several times when she was out of the sun. I'm sure she'll live, but I'm equally sure she'll need some pruning (perhaps severe) after I see what damage has been done. 'New Dawn' hasn't turned a leaf. |
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| April 20, 2006 Potted up 'Rose de Rescht', planted 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' beside the Sweet Autumn Clematis in the arbor bed, and planted 'Mary Rose', 'Jude the Obscure', and 'Noble Anthony' in the left side bed next to the house. Zeffy still looking rough--misted several times today. 'Francis Dubreuil' bloomed--a dark velvety red. And it smells good! Ordered four hostas through a Dave's Garden co-op: 'Jewel of the Nile', 'Komodo Dragon', 'Permanent Wave', and 'Queen of Islip'. |
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| April 21, 2006 A little rain today. 'Rose a Parfum de l'Hay' bloomed. Nice. |
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| April 22, 2006 Nice early morning rain. Zeffy seems definitely to be perking up a bit. The new 'Sharifa Asma' from David Austin is beginning to show life. |
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| April 23, 2006 Took a little road trip today to Sherando Roses. Randy was, as usual, very helpful. I came home with: 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' (my little Rogue Valley plant is still so small I decided to get a larger one), 'Old Blush', 'Awakening', 'Mme. Alfred Carriere', 'The Apothecary Rose', 'Charles de Mills', 'Erfurt', 'Excellenz von Schubert', 'Penelope', 'Comte de Chambord' (in case my Home Depot plant was mislabeled--if it's not, I'll have two plants of an excellent rose), 'General Cavaignac', 'Quatre Saisons Royale', 'Sydonie', and 'Marie Bugnet'. Also got a clematis montana rubens. |
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| April 25, 2006 Put alfalfa tea around all roses, including the new ones. Spread the sludge on the first six beds on the left property line and spread a 5-gallon bucket full of coffee grounds on the first five of those beds. John got some cypress mulch today and spread it on the walkways between the left side yard beds. Several of the older roses are blooming: 'Abraham Darby', 'Cecile Bunner', 'James Galway', 'Falstaff', 'Crown Princess Margareta', 'Pat Austin', 'Golden Celebration', 'Tamora', and 'Royal Wedding'. Many of the new potted roses are blooming, most notably 'Paul Neyron', who also smells good. Cucumbers are all up. Tomatoes looking good. Attempting to get some Heuchera in a Dave's Garden co-op. I've asked for: 'Autumn Haze', 'Black Beauty', 'Can Can', 'Cascade Dawn', 'Champagne Bubbles', 'City Lights', 'Ebony and Ivory', 'Green Spice', and 'Velvet Night' or whatever is still available. |
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| April 26, 2006 Chilly and cloudy today. Went to Lowe's to get more cypress mulch and bought three new hostas: 'Pizzazz', 'Mama Mia', and 'Pacific Blue Edger'. Also got a curved, scalloped concrete bed edger to try as a sort of dam to keep soil from washing when watering the roses on the left side bed slope. If it works, I'll get more. Saw the idea on Dave's. Getting more Heuchera: 'Amethyst Myst', 'Chocolate Ruffles', 'Hollywood', 'Plum Pudding', and 'Tango'; Heucherella: 'Chocolate Lace', 'Kimono', and 'Sunspot'; and Tiarella: 'Candy Stiper' and 'Jeepers Creepers' from another Dave's Garden co-op. |
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| April 27, 2006 Potted up the new hostas: 'Pizzazz', 'Mama Mia', and 'Pacific Blue Edger'. Also potted up roses: 'Charles de Mills' and 'Rainbow's End'. Placed all roses in their pots in their places in the long beds. |
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| April 29, 2006 Got the first four long beds planted--20 roses in. including supports, soaker hoses, and mulch. John heard the first hummer of the year. |
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| April 30, 2006 Applied Messenger to all roses and hostas. Saw female Cardinal in the bird bath and saw a hummingbird. Planted 2 more long beds. Prepped hostas for 2 swaps on Dave's. |
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