Weeds and Water

I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border.  I think it is a flower garden, she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass and tries to correct the error. Sara  Stein   

                                                                                                                                               





Spraying weed killer



As you can see we have weeds and grass.  Before you lay your flower garden away for the winter you need to kill or dig up the weeds and grass.  Some weeds and grasses are perennials, during the winter the roots just get stronger and ready to go come Spring.  Kill it now and be rid of it.



Thick folded newspaper



After you have killed the weeds then put two inches of compost, thick news paper and cover with pine straw.  I like pine straw for several reasons, cheaper ( I have pine trees plenty pine straw)  The chips change colors and just look like dead wood.  The first year I was here I bought pretty red chips, the next spring the leaves had covered it, when I raked the leaves I raked some of my pretty chips out along with them.  So there went my pretty chips and my money.







Pine straw over news paper





While we were working I spied a butterfly on the gold Lantana.  So, I had to stop and take a photo.



Highway to Heaven climbing Rose



We got a really good rain yesterday and last night, that is the best way to water your garden.  However this has been the driest year in my lifetime.  We use soaker hoses, place them behind you plant and no more than two feet apart.  Never spray any fertilizer on the leaves.  I never spray even water on my leaves, that is a good way to give them mildew and black spots.  If Carrel runs the lawn mower to close and throws dirt on my leaves, I wash them early in the morning.  The leaves need to be clean to make food for the flower.

We dug up,divided, and replanted several of our Day lilies this month.   I bought ten new ones from Grady' day lily farm, and my grandson Paxton gave me ten.  Breck's sent me fifty pink daffodils I ordered earlier this year,we planted those.  We also divided and replanted our Asiatic Lilies.  They had really multiplied.



My Lambs ear died this summer how ever the seed had made so I have them coming up all over the place.  I transplanted one I am going to give some to my neighbor.











This month if you are in zones 7-9 you can plant you pansies, we did.  I have never bought pansies but my daughter Charlotte brought me some one year up from Sheveport, when I lived in Ashdown Arkansas.  I was not home and some little boys poured some kind of oil on them.  I drove up just as they finished.  I took them home to Mama. 

I hope you have enjoyed  watching my garden grow and will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me.  Juanita

Resting after all the work

October Blooms Part 3

"What is in a name a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."     Shakespear

We bought October fest in the spring of 2008 from Selman's Nursery.  Liz told us it was her Mother favorite rose.  Being a grandaflora it grows tall blooms back but slower than most.  In the spring it loads up, in fact we have had to cut them off if it rains at that time.

Hot Coco was planted in 2009, bought at Selman's Nursery in Eudora Arkansas.  A florabunda, in spring blooms in clusters, grows about four and one half feet.  Keeps blooms most of the time not a real full bloom. We are happy with it.  Tends to have week limbs, need to keep it cut short for a while.





Roses are not the only flowers I have in my garden.  I planted these Mums in the fall of 2008 and we cut them back to about  four inches after they bloom in the fall.  They begin to bloom in July and we keep them dead headed, they bloom until the first frost.  It is recommended to cut Mums back to seven inches until July, but I like for mine to bloom early.  I have the Lavender in two places they come up every year.  A really good flower garden needs something blooming at all time, this is my goal.                         



I was surprised that some of my Day Lilies   have been blooming since the last of April and still are.  I bought one of these Day Lilies  in 2009 divided it in 2010 and had eleven when I finished.  I planted them around three sides of my peace rose bed.  I buy only  rebloomers now. 

 





We bought Ebtide in 2008 at Selman's Nursery.  It is not as dark I would like it to be but it is a rose that blooms well.  A  florabunda  Ebtide is not too tall and blooms in clusters.  The fragrance of the rose is quite lovely.  Most purples or lavender roses have a wonderful fragrance









Butteryflies love lantana.  I have two different kinds, one grows really bid, in fact too large, you have to cut them down.  This one is light pink and yellow, my favorite.

This bed has mostly bulbs however I did plant these Mums and Gold Lantana.   This Gold Lantana is a great size, we dead head it and it does not get out of control





We planted this Red Lantana in the spring, bought it at Selman's Nursery.  I planted it in the flower bed with my Peace rose.  A very good bloomer, the color is bright and catches your eye.  I hope you have enjoyed this October page and you will continue to watch my garden grow, and will grow one of your own.  Happy Gardening to you from me.  Juanita

October Blooms Part 2

In the beginning  God made the Heavens and the Earth.  Genesis




I believe God made these little green frogs, and we have many on this little spot of ground.  I have found them asleep in roses, and lilies.  The  Queen Elizabeth  is my favorite rose bush, slender, elegant  and  pretty pink color.  If Carrel, when dead heading this rose would go down about four or five, five leaf branches it would not grow quite so high.  I know my Queen Elizabeth bush is at least eight feet tall and I am only five feet ,it is hard for me to take a picture of the rose on top.  The bloom is medium to large and being a grandaflora bloom often and  blooms back quickly.   I want to keep all of my rose bushes, but if I could have only one I would keep the  "Queen of Roses." 



My Granddaughter Bridget gave me two rose bushes for Christmas in 2008 Kimberlina ( shown in part1) and Sweetness.  Sweetness was the Grandafloura of the Year in  2008.  Being a grandaflora Sweetness is taller than most bushes and blooms more often.  Sweetness has a wonderful flagrance. 

I have bought many flowers in Shreveport, any time I go there to visit my daughter Charlotte, we hit the nurseries.  I wanted a yellow rose so Charlotte was going to buy me one for my birthday.  When I made a trip close to my birthday in June of 2007, we looked every where, we could find lots of Tea roses ,but we wanted a florabunda or grandaflora, these bloom more than tea roses.  We finally found Eureka, a florabunda  at Garrisons Nursery, they have just about everything.  Charlotte bought me one and I bought one.  I planted one on the left side of my driveway and one behind the mail box,it did not get enough sun so in 2008 Carrel moved it to the right side of the drive.  Eureka is Carrel's favorite rose.    

In 2008 Debbie my second daughter brought me another yellow rose, a florabunda Sun Bright,  we planted it in front of the house.  In 2009 we moved it to bed A on the left of the drive because it was not getting enough sun.  Sun Bright  does not bloom in clusters, however it is blooms back quickly.



Madi Gras is a grandaflora,  taller than most florabundas, like florabundas blooms in clusters.  The Madi Gras is a smaller rose with an open face, very colorful.  A Week's rose planted in 2009, we bought Madi Gras from our good friends at Selman's Nursery.  We have been very happy with Madi Gras heavy bloomer, even in the hottest days of summer.  

  







The VaVoom  is a very bright orange, get your sun glasses out ,bright.  A Week's rose ordered   from Selman's Nursery.  Carrel made a bed just for our four  VaVooms.   Unlike most roses the VaVoom does not have to be dead headed  before starting to rebloom, and it will rebloom at a three leaf branch.   VaVoom  blooms back much quicker than most roses, a medium rose with over twenty five petals.   How ever this summer the blooms were not always as pretty as past summers.  This was the hottest and driest summer in my life time of raising flowers that I can remember.  We are happy with our VaVooms.  I hope you will continue to watch my garden grow and grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me Juanita.

October Blooms Part 1

"Just before the death of flowers and before they are buried in snow,there comes a festive season when nature is all a glow."   Author Unknown

 


Frankly Scarlet

 

 These are the flowers that are blooming this day, October16,2011.  We planted Frankly Scarlet in 2009, in the same bed we planted Black Cherry.  This rose is a heavy bloomer and  is seldom with out a bloom.  A florabunda and blooms in clusters, medium height and a medium sized bloom.



 


Kimberlina

 

 Kimberlina was the Florabunda of the year in 2009, a Christmas gift from Bridget, my granddaughter.She also gave me Sweetness.  Kimderlina is a small open face rose, of medium hieght.



  








Pink Gerber Daisy

 

I planted 2 in 2010 just to see if I could raised them, I had bad luck a few years ago with these.  I was talking to Liz at the nursery where I bought themlast year and she suggested that I may have watered them to much.  I planted them this year in a raised bed, three timbers high, twelve inches.  I have two 4x8 ft. beds end to end around two pine trees.  I have lost some of these but most have lived, the ones that died had some kind of fungus.  I planted yellow and pink in one bed and yellow and red in the other.  So be careful  and plant them in a well drained area in full sun. 

About Face






The back of About Face

 



I bought  About Face  on sale at Wal-Mart in July of 2007, Carrel really likes it.  A forabunda that grows taller than most.  When you cut off the blooms on this one skip about three or maybe four, five leaf branches, because it tends to run long branches out.  When you  dead head your roses you cut them at a branch of five leaves.   Roses tend to bloom back quicker that way.  About Face is not a pretty Rose in the hot summer, gets very small and not well formed.  Carrel likes the color any way. About Face gets it's name from the fact that it's petals on the back side is a  shade  darker than on the other side.

                                                    




Cinco De Mayo

   Cinco De Mayo means the fifth of May,  Mexico's Independence Day.  We planted the Cinco De Mayo in March of 2011, and I have had no complaints, not a heavy bloomer but a steady one.  Being a florabunda it will bloom in clusters and often, must florabunda's are not extremely tall.  The rose blossom is an open face of medium size.
     




Moon Dance

 

Moon Dance, is the prettiest white rose I have seen, the camera really does not do it justice. A medium to large rose twenty five petals, this is the first year, so I do not know how tall it will be.  I bought from a Week's dealer, in Eudora Ar, Selman's Nursery. 

Hope you have enjoyed part 1 of October Blooms there will be several parts, as I have a lot of blooms around the October16,2011.  I hope you will continue to watch my garden grow and grow one of you own. Happy gardening to you from me. Juanita

























Digging up Redoing in October

Do not look upon October as the death of your garden look upon it as a time of renewal for next year.

Carrel digging up replanting

Carrel and I met October 14, 2006, two week before I move in next door to him.  We grew to be friends over the next year, married December 2007.  Carrel is my partner, friend, lover and wonderful Husband.  October should be viewed as the month to renew you garden.  I renewed my life 2006 in October, I have and never will regret it. Transplant plants that are growing in the wrong place.   Make a list of new perennial plants you want, order or go to your nursery and buy.  If you have a plant in the wrong place dig it up and  plant where you want it.  Do not move roses now, move them after December.  We move ours in January or February, do not feed at this time.

Frank, Larry, Jordon, Carolyn. and Lauren

Happy Birthday to a very talented young man Jordon Murphy my Son's youngest.  Jordon is not a lazy young man.  I watched him load the bed of his Dad pickup truck with fire wood he cut. We have to have a little spending money.  Jordon loves to go camping up on the rivers of north Arkansas with his Dad.  This little family is one of the nicest I know.  Jordon is an Artist, he can draw just about any thing.  He is going to college in Monroe La.

Frank's Rose

I Hope you have enjoyed watching my garden grow and will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me.  Juanita

October Harvest Month

"Even if something goes undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn" Elizabeth Lawrence  

Samantha and Jeniffer Evans

 October is the beginning in the Norther Hemisphere Fall, however in the Southern Hemisphere it is Spring, like our April.  Today October Third in Germany is Unity day, the Berlin wall  came down November 09, 1989.  This wall had been put up by Russia, in the middle of Berlin, after world war two.  We all celebrated the coming down of that awful war.  A country of people should never be divided.  In the Murphy and Evans family, we are celebrating the birthday of a lovely girl. Lovely in body and spite, Jennifer Evans.  Jen is one in many single mothers, who are raising their children, but she is among the lucky ones, not completely alone.   The father is an honorable man, and helping this little boy grow up to be a man.  

Jen works for a telephone company in Shreveport and teaches zumba on Saturdays.  Max's father takes him every other weekend.  Jen is the daughter of my daughter of my daughter Lenora. I hope Jen you had a very good day Happy Birthday,  The month of October is a cooling off time, a time to put this years garden to rest and plan for next year.



Max with Uncles Steven and Jeremy

Hope you have enjoyed this blog page.  Hope you will continue to  watch my garden grow and will grow one of your own.  Happy garden from me to you . Juanita