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Rose Wrestling

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Tiffany – Hybrid Tea Rose

I did some work in the garden yesterday. Yes I’m still trying to tidy it up and no, I haven’t planted any annuals or new perennials yet.

I did discover that some roses that I’d been hoping would recover from the one winter that I didn’t do winter protection have died. I’m sad to report that the lovely love and Peace is gone. So is the monster rose I talked about a lot last year – Antique 89. Zepherine Drouhn and Adriana didn’t make it either. So sad. I’ll have to see if I can find good replacements for these roses. I definitely want to get love and peace again though!

As I was saying on Tricia’s Musings my yard is full of blooms! Rose blooms. Oh and rose scent, lovely lovely rose perfume.

As I worked under the largest rose – 8 foot tall William Baffin (more like a tree!) it’s petals rained down on me. I was literally covered in rose petals at one point! How often can one say that?

I managed to tidy up and trim a number of roses. Lots of dead tips and dried out branches needed to be removed. The roses of course grew and bloomed around the unsightly dead twigs. My arms are now covered in scratches and I’ve probably still got a few thorns stuck in my fingers, hands and arms!

Oh yes, my back is aching too. I don’t get outside enough these days so I think over doing it just hits my back first when I do get out to the garden to work.

That’s what I get for rose wrestling!

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






Q & A – Vines for cover

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I had a question from a reader that is similar to my own situation.

The reader stated that they have a five foot chain link fence and they’d like to cover it with annual and perennial plants.

She was particular interested in finding a perennial vine that wouldn’t crowd the annuals, and one that would also provide enough ground cover so that she wouldn’t have to clean up after the annuals were finished blooming.

This is a tricky situation as many climbing vines, particularly Morning Glory which she had been growing are very vigorous. What she really needs is a vine that isn’t over vigorous, but that grows steadily so that by the end of the season it will have filled in the areas taken up by annuals such as Sweet Pea vine.

Lonicera sempervirens, Evergreen Honeysuckle, or Polygonum aubertii, silver lace vine are both vigorous vines that do not take over a garden bed.

I grow annual morning glory. I don’t mean to grow it anymore but it seeded itself so well the first two years that I grew it that it keeps finding it’s way back to my back garden bed. At this point I’m of the opinion that morning glory should only be grown in areas where it is either on it’s own, or where you can easily prevent it from spreading and taking over the garden.

I’ve switched to Honeysuckle (dropmore scarlet) , and two types of white clematis where I used to grow Morning Glory vine. However, as I’ve mentioned, I still have to pull out new morning glory seedlings on a regular basis otherwise they’ll strangle my clematis!

When you are seeking to cover a troublesome area, do your homework. You might regret planting vigorous or invasive plants.

If you have gardening questions please feel free to ask your question and I’ll try to find an answer for you.

No-Crank Hose reel system

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How many of you hate rewinding your hose when you’re done watering the lawn and garden? I know that I do.

We have one of those crank systems for our hose. The handle is low to ground which makes it hard on your back if you’ve been out in the garden for hours. Frankly I hate winding up the garden hose when I’m done puttering in the garden.

Good news. I’ve just been to a site that sells No-Crank hose reels. The rewinding of the hose is done using the power of water.

There’s a water-piston engine inside the No-crank hose reel casing and with the simple flip of a lever it begins to rewind the hose for you on it’s own. You don’t need to bend down and manual wind up your hose any more.

The No-Crank hose reel doesn’t use batteries or electricity either. If you’re interested in taking a look at the No-Crank system there are a number of different designs to suit your needs.

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