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It’s freezing!

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I’m writing this post to record our first frost. Well I think it’s the first. it’s -2 c outside right now and I believe that’s the first time it’s dipped below zero. Brrrrr Well at least all the silly roses in my garden will hopefully get the message that it’s time to shut down and stop blooming. Yes – my roses are still blooming. They always seem to bloom into mid November or so.

I guess it’s time for me to get outside – not now, it’s cold – and clean up the garden and start putting it to bed. I always mound some compost or peat around the roses to protect the roots. I buried the root ball several inches below the soil level when I planted the roses but the mounds that I put around the base of the roses in the fall give them further protection in the winter.

We don’t tend to get a lot of snow here. Yes it does snow and sometimes we get quite a lot but it melts away fairly quickly. The air however stays very cold. The temps can fall to more than -20 c and worse with the wind factored in. If my garden doesn’t have a good snow cover or a cover that I’ve created with my mounds of compost and piles of leaves the plants will be more suceptable to freeze damage.

I’m not looking foward to putting the garden to bed this year. It’s a big job what with us having 60 roses plus all the other plants. We’ll manage to get it done though.






My favorite cheque designs

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I need to get some new checks made, preferably cheap checks . Why cheap? Well, I don’t use checks these days as much as I used to, so why pay the bank $40 or $50 to have them make me checks that will take me two years to use?

I’ve never been really big on plain looking checks. They’re just so boring. I’ve always picked out checks with background designs that I enjoyed. I even did that with my business checks way back when I had my own jewelry business (I was a jewelry designer/trades person).

I can’t remember what I picked out for my business checks – that was more than ten years ago, but I think I chose ones with my business name written in gold. My companies name was Gold Cuts so it made sense to have the company name splashed across my business cards and checks in gold. Oh, the checks for my business were in duplicate as well to help me keep track of my expenses easily. I just didn’t have time, or even access to a good finance program that I could use on my computer back then.

Whenever I order personal checks for my accounts I pick a different design. Some of my favorite check designs have been of beautiful landscapes or animals. I had one with two deer on them once. I really enjoyed that design.

I think the next checks that I purchase- hopefully cheaply – will have some kind of floral design. Something in keeping with my current interests. Perhaps I can find some nice ones with rose backgrounds. My personal checks are always side tear checks. I don’t need duplicates of my personal checks as I write so few of them these days it’s easy enough for me to remember what I paid for with a check.

So tell me- what kind of checks do you like to use? Do you purchase plain checks or do you get ones with a design that you’ve spent some time picking out in order to make your checks a little more personal?

Coral Bells

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Heuchera micrantha commonly known as Palace Purple

This is a seed-grown strain, rather than clonal cuttings, so the plants vary wildly. Growing them in light shade seems to protect the foliage from burn, and on some of the superior forms, the flowers make a light, airy effect that is highly appealing.

Palace Purple does not seem as prone to develop woody stems that need to be divided as frequently as some of the other heuchera types, although this varies widely by plant.

This lovely, often purple foliaged plant grows to 12-18 in.. When planting space 24-36 in. Coral Bells are quite hardy, and should thrive in USDA zone 3a – 8b. Coral Bells prefer to be in a shady to partial sunny spot. The blooms that spring up on tall stalks are white or off white.

Coral Bells bloom from late spring to mid Fall, and blooms repeatedly. The folliage is deciduous and should not be covered with mulch in the winter or it may rot. Heuchera has average water needs and should not be over watered.

Propagation can be achived by collecting the seeds from the dried blooms. Sow the seeds indoors before the last frost and plant out in the early spring after the last frost has passed.

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