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Where are my gardening gloves – time to get my hands in some dirt

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I’ve got my work cut out for me this weekend! Yesterday evening my husband and I went to a new garden center that opened up near us – it’s called Reeves Nursery.

We’d driven past the site a few times in the last couple of weeks and when I took a look at their website I discovered that they have a “no tax” Wednesday every week … so we figured we might save some money if we went shopping for our plants last night.

It turned out that they were having a 20% off sale … so we got that instead of the “no tax” as that saved us an extra 7%. They had a great selection of plants in a variety of sizes and the prices were ok … I’d be happy if the prices were the lowest I could find, but the discount and the quality of the plants made me a happy gardener.

We ended up spending more than I thought we would. You see we have several hanging planters, window planters and 7 balcony boxes (those large low rectangular planters) to fill with annuals.

I did grow some of my own annuals this year, but not nearly as many as I need.

So … what did we end up getting?

A flat of Impatiens, 2 nice double flowering Begonia, 2 small Fuchsia, 6 dwarf Dahlia’s, 6 Gerber Daisies, a few Coleus, several Lobelia and Petunia plants, dwarf white night scent Nicotina, several Marigolds in vibrant orange and yellow and I’m sure a few other plants that I can’t think of right now.

I also picked up some early Girl tomato plants, Sweet cherry 100, English cucumbers a few types of lettuce and Swiss Chard.

The only plants I couldn’t find, but ones that I usually use in my garden or planters were annual Geraniums and Cleomes. When I found the dwarf Dahlia’s I thought I’d use them instead of the Geraniums but if I can find some Geraniums this weekend I might use both.

As for the Cleomes I did find some at Reeves but they were single plants in 4 inch pots at 2.99 each … and I need about 20 of them to border the back of my garden beds so I’ll have to find cheaper ones. Oh and I did take some seeds off the plants last year so I’ll be planting some of last years seeds in the back of the garden beds this weekend too.

Earlier in the week we’d been to another garden center. I wanted to find a replacement for one of my roses – Chicago Peace – as it didn’t seem to come back this year. With the great weather we’ve had all year I’d think it would show signs of life by now, especially considering that all the rest of my roses are 3 to 7 feet high, full of leaves and rose buds … but no luck.

So … I thought I’d replace that rose with perhaps a Weigela or another type of flowering hardy shrub since I’ve now lost two roses in the same spot in the garden. I did pick out a purple Weigela that I love, but then I found yet another Chicago Peace … so I guess the Weigela will go in another place in the garden and I’ll try the rose for the third and final time in my small oval patio garden bed.

All in all I think I picked up 75 or more plants! You know what I’m going to be doing this weekend … planting, planting, planting. I’ll also be pulling out all my seeds and get some veggies and a few other annuals started by seed.

Hows the weather in your area? Are you going to be planting this weekend too?






Chicago Peace

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Chicago Peace … Originally where this rose is now planted I grew Love and Peace – a rose that descended from Chicago Peace. My Love and Peace didn’t make it this year. It gave up the ghost in late spring. I think our mild winter and lack of winter protection did it in.

I wish I still grew Love and Peace, but I’m very happy with the rose that I chose to replace it. Isn’t Chicago Peace lovely? I quite enjoy the multicolored flowers.

Sorry about my GTS post being late today. We’ve had a huge snow storm here in Toronto, getting about 40 cm of snow in one day. (that’s close to 16 inches) The weather people are saying that this is the most snow we’ve got in one day since 1944! I believe the storm had something to do with our cable and internet going out sometime early this morning and not coming back on till much much later in the day.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

My five new roses – your experiences?

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Does anyone grow any of these roses? I’ve listed the roses that I purchased a week ago to replace the ones I lost last winter.

When I bought the roses … five in all, I knew exactly where I was going to put them, but now – a week later, I’m looking at them going what was I thinking?

These are the roses that I purchased:

Joseph’s Coat –

A large flowered climbing rose that grows from 8 to 10 feet tall by 4 feet wide. hardy in zones four through 10. Bred by Armstrong and Swim in 1969; mild fragrance, 23 to 28 petals – repeats occasionally later in season. Blooms are a red blend – but I’ve noted that they range from a combination of orange, pink, red, yellow and white mixed in each flower. It’s apparently a very thorny rose with average disease resistance.

Climbing Iceberg –

Bred in the UK by Cant in 1968, White semi-double blooms with 9 to 16 petals, blooms in flushes throughout the season; Grows to a height of 8 to 15 feet and is hardy in zones 4 to 9. May or may not have a mild fragrance.

Chicago Peace

A hybrid Tea originally bred in the USA by Graeme Johnston in 1962. Blooms are large- up to 6 inches, and are a pink blend with 45 to 60 petals. The blooms have a very double form. This rose blooms in flushes throughout the season and grows to a height of 4.5 feet to 6.5 feet. Mild fragrance. Susceptible to blackspot, requires winter protection. Helpmefind -Roses says it’s only hardy to zone 7 but they often state high zones for hybrid teas.

Climbing Westerland –

Kordes bred rose, 1969, scented – strong rose, spicy fragrance; Apricot & apricot blend, Semi-double (9-16 petals) bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Grows to a height of 4 to 12 feet by 4 feet wide and is disease resistant. No hardiness info but I think it’s hardy to at least zone 5a.

Double Delight –

This is a hybrid tea that was first bred in 1977 in the US by Herbert C. Swim. The blooms are a red blend with red and white within, and red edges. It has a spicy fragrance. The average diameter of the flowers are 5 inches and each bloom is double with 17 to 25 petals. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Grows to a height of 3 feet to 5 feet and a width of 2 feet to 5 feet. This rose is apparently susceptible to mildew and requires winter protection.

Wow, would you look at that? Every rose that I purchased was first bred in the 60’s. Isn’t that odd? All of them, with the exception of the Climbing Iceberg are multicolored roses. However, I’ve noticed that my standard iceberg often gets a pink blend in the petals as they age.

I really wanted to replace my Love and Peace but I couldn’t find one. That’s why I got the Chicago Peace. I’m hoping that it really does turn out to be as hardy as Love and Peace was because I didn’t have any problems with that rose. I think it’s demise was due to a fungal infection. It actually got a fungus like woody growth near the base of the rose. I think I’ll have to remove all the soil in that portion of the garden where Love and Peace was before I plant it’s replacement as I fear that the fungus or virus might still be in the soil. Anyone familiar with the problem that I’m discussing?

As you can see I’ve chosen some roses that get quite large and I have a small jam packed garden. This should be fun!

Obviously I’m not a rose novice but if anyone has experience with any of the roses that I’ve listed above I’d love it if you’d tell me how the rose faired in your care.

I’m particularly interested in how these roses do in cold zones.

I’m in Toronto and it’s classed as a Canadian Zone 6b or a US zone 5b. I know I’ll have to winter protect the hybrid teas I purchased but I’ve been very successful with roses that are not supposed to be all that hardy – like Just Joey, and Valencia for example, so I’m not too worried.

I do prefer to buy roses that are hardy to a plain Jane zone 5 or lower though as it gives them more of a chance of survival if we have a really harsh winter.

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