The following rose care calendar is from the book Growing Roses Organically by Barbara Wilde. These are the suggestions for zones 7-8. December: Plant new bareroot roses. January: Prepare new beds, continue planting bareroot roses, prune and train established roses, clean up and dispose of rose debris, spray dormant oil if you had high numbers of mites and scale last season. February: Prune and train … Continue reading Roses—What to do in Winter
A small celebration is in order. Today at the nursery we planted a tree, Platanus acerifolia ‘bloodgood’ the London Plane tree. A tree that nobody wanted. It was on sale for many seasons, no one bought it. It was moved to the 50% off section for a year. No one cared. It was a few twigs away from being recycled and turned into compost, but … Continue reading Today We Planted a Tree…
The Damask rose has been cultivated for thousands of years and is associated with the ancient city of Damascus (This capital city of Syria is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, possibly from 6000 B.C.!) Damask roses are grown for perfume in North Africa and the Middle East and are an important cash crop in Iran, Bulgaria and Turkey. Their … Continue reading Antique Rose—Damask
Stinging nettles can fertilize your roses! Turn this painful native perennial into a nourishing foliar spray or soil drench for your plants. Nettles contain nitrogen, potassium, magnesium and iron that make an excellent plant tonic. Here’s the recipe from Growing Roses Organically by Barbara Wilde: 1. Cut the nettles. Wearing gloves, cut the plants at around half their height. Using shears or pruners, roughly chop the … Continue reading Stinging Nettle Tea
Centifolia means ‘one hundred leaves’ and is also known as the cabbage rose. Imagine naming a rose after a cabbage? Picture in your mind a sprawling rose bush, covered in prickles and, instead of delicate pink blossoms, miniature heads of gray-green cabbage. Extraordinary visually as well as pungent. Luckily, centifolia was named for the way the petals fold over, like a cabbage, rather than for … Continue reading Antique Rose—Centifolia
Rainyleaf 