For the Love of Heirloom Roses

 

On this Sunday, Valentine's Day,

the day of love and roses...

  

I wanted to share some pics from a not-so Secret Garden

we stumbled upon during a visit to Oregon.

  

It's off the beaten path,

down a country road...

  

In the heart of the beautiful Willamette Wine Valley,

south of Portland, Oregon.

  

A magical little shop called Heirloom Roses.

Not just a pile of bare roots leaving you confused and confounded, relying on a picture to make your purchase decision. No no.. Here we found garden after garden of luscious roses in full bloom! Each rose flaunting a name tag so we knew exactly who we wanted to take home.

  

We wandered through the Tranquility Garden...

The Hope Garden...

And ~ be still my heart! ~ an entire Miniature Rose Garden, my absolute fave.

 

Enter at your own risk.

Tip: Lock your credit card in the car to avoid big trouble.

 

Inside the 'candy store.' 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The idea of this post came from Gail/Clay & Limestone - who suggested we go through our photo files and 'fall in love with our gardens all over again.'

In doing so, I skipped right over my own garden and spent my afternoon drooling over the Heirloom store's roses.

Just in case you're wondering... They do grow other colors than pink. On this blog, you're at the mercy of a pink rose fanatic.

Last, but not least, they didn't compensate me, in any way, for this mention. But that's not to say I wouldn't happily work for roses. I'd love to build them a better website. For some odd reason they don't show pictures of these fabulous gardens on their site!

What to do with Uncle Henry

I am not a hoarder. I'm not!

Fish around in my garage, if you don't believe me. There you'll find lawnmowers, rototillers, every garden tool known to man... A few hundred flower pots. And, that's about it. Nothing but the bare necessities.

People think I'm a hoarder because I tend to keep house plants. Forever.

It's not always because of a deep, emotional attachment. In Uncle Henry's case, I keep hoping someone, someday, might like the looks of this spiny old fella and offer to adopt him.

It has been 15 years. And, so far, nobody has stepped forward to claim this Grumpy Gus.

Uncle Henry is an African Milk Tree. Nurseries say these plants make a cute little addition to those coffee table size cactus gardens that are ever so popular.

Well, that was then.

And, this is now.

Henry is brushing our 10 foot ceiling.

Plus! We have a love child. Check out the photo.

When we did the annual super bowl rotation (it takes an army of house guests to move him and most are none too thrilled with the task) look who was hiding behind the old guy's gnarly stalks! A 4 foot tall bambino. Henry, Jr. exposed to the light of day.

African Milk Trees are called the Good Luck Plant. Give him away and good luck comes my way! Any takers?

PSSSST! Want the inside scoop as to how Uncle Henry became such a big bruiser? It's not groovy, organic fertilizer. It's not special soil. It's Christmas lights. Yup. When we tie him up tight with Christmas lights, he goes ga-ga over the warmth.

Wordless Wednesdays: The Boys Are Back!

Five curious Bull Elk standing on that side of this fence.

On the other?

One scared pony.

For more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here!

Grand Plans for the Big Rock Garden

 

It may not look like much in it's frozen state, but this garden spot is my pride and joy. I was peering down on it, this morning, from the upper deck, trying to remember everything I planted out there. 

Because I'm almost done drooling over my 2-foot-tall stack of gardening catalogs. Which, naturally, inspires all sorts of grand plans! Including three goodies I'd like to start from seed:

• Butterfly Flowers
• Joe Pye Weed
• Blue Cupidone

Plus, a few more I might be forced to pay for. I need at least a million Hot Papaya Coneflowers. And, the Belladonna Amaryllis is absolutely calling my name.

Here's my Big Rock Garden in summertime. 

I love this time of year because it's filled with sky's the limit possibilities. After all, I'm still 3 months out from actually plunking down a credit card so it's not like reality will be raining on this parade. Not for awhile anyway...

This garden spot is a 50-foot oval, bordered by a half moon driveway, with an unbelievably big rock, smack dab in the middle.

Before!

 

Three years ago, I decided to camouflage that gigantic boulder [about the size of my Jeep Wrangler] with all sorts of waterwise flowers:

Off in the distance, you can see my tiny town.

I fantasized about drilling a hole in that big boulder, adding a spout and turning it into some sort of extravagant water feature. No can do ~ the depressions on top of the rock provide a shallow water source for butterflies.

Oh! And, did I mention I'm the sprinkler system? Yup, it's all up to me, schlepping a hose around. Hence the reason for waterwise flowers.

That's also the reason for this post! I've a feeling we're all doing the same thing. Pouring over garden catalogs, schemin' and dreamin.'

That had me wondering... Have you discovered any brand new, brightly colored, not thirsty flowers?

Pink Evening Primrose and Centranthus Jupiter's Beard.

* Sticker Shock: Last, but not least, I desperately want to plant a whole bunch of Italian Forget-Me-Nots. However! That particular garden catalog wanted $13.99 for one 4-inch pot! Might anyone have some seeds to sell?

Common Grounds

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”

- Jennifer Yane

At the risk of sounding like one of those annoying co-workers you wish would get fired, may I just say: TGIF?

I sit here in a stupor this morning, thrilled at the prospect of a weekend without an alarm clock. I hug my coffee cup with two grateful hands, tentatively embrace reality, and contemplate setting fire to my to-do list. It's Friday. The stuff on that list should have been done long before now.

I've heard tell there are people in this world who begin their day without coffee. Legend has it some folks require no caffeine of any kind to feel all perky first thing in the a.m. I know not of these strange fools. Could be an urban myth.

Coffee is my magical morning potion and that should never change. It not only makes me civil. It also makes me smile.

Coffee makes my flowering friends pretty happy, too.

Leftover coffee grounds slowly release nitrogen into the soil as they degrade. They’re acidic, a blessing for Azaleas and other acid-loving plants who have the misfortune of living in my alkaline soil.

Strawberries love 'em. Hydrangeas go nuts. Roses and Evergreens perk up quite nicely. (I've never met a non-native flower who has a problem with being caffeinated.) Coffee grounds are also great at combating ant problems. If you live in the Desert Southwest you are likely plagued with this pestilence, same as me.

Oh! And, then there's the phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper in those leftover grounds. I suppose I could get into the nitty, gritty details of why that's so wonderful, but could we just say 'trust me' and leave it at that? After all, my coffee's getting cold.

* Used coffee grounds green up plants, improve soil conditions, and encourage rapid growth. Starbucks gives away their coffee grounds for free. Or, just give me a call. I've got plenty!

** PS! They can be very acidic. Best way is to compost them. If you're a composter, then you're aware of how you need a balance of 'browns and greens.' Coffee grounds are considered 'green.'

Wordless Wednesday: The Grateful Daisy

* When I first started growing these hippy dippy Daisies, they reminded me of tie-dyed shirts and a cool, old band. Do you know which one?

For more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here!

HappyThankYouMorePlease

10 days out of every year I get to be a film critic. That's because I live in the tiny town where Robert Redford holds his Sundance Film Festival. Last night I saw the 2010 Audience Award Dramatic Winner: HappyThankYouMorePlease. It's a cute movie based on the premise that it's...

... Quite all right to ask for a little bit more of anything that makes you happy.

Azaleas are re-blooming for the umpteenth time. Plump, pink buds ready to open as soon as the big flower's time is up.

Early this morning I was anxiously awaiting the end of the coffee pot's drip, drip, drip. The signal I can begin my day. Busying myself, inspecting the flowers and thinking about that idea: HappyThankYouMorePlease and what, exactly, makes me happy.  

 

The face only a Mother could love. Plumeria stalks are preparing to set their first leaves.

Certainly flowers do. You can't get a job in my indoor garden if you won't flower. But what really makes me happy...

What really and truly gets me excited is not always the flower...

 

Delicate Cyclamen buds hiding in the shade of the big green leaves.

It's that spiffy green growth and new tiny buds ~ the promise of another flower. After the ones the store provided, the flowers that prompted me to buy her in the first place, are all gone.

Look close. Pink and yellow Rosebuds are hatching a plan.

Same deal outdoors. Half the time I look right past the gorgeous blossom to see who's waiting in the wings to do the same darn thing.

African Violets ~ Maybe, just maybe, will be showing off for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

The day I started behaving like that is the day I feel I officially became a gardener. When those little buds that nobody sees but me suddenly became my gratification.

Because they tell me the whole story.

Which always prompts me to exclaim:

Hey! You're not dead?? 

Perhaps I'm a good gardener, after all!

 

Bonus Photo: Even my leftover produce is in a happy growing mood these days.