It is a fairly quiet time of year in the garden.
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| But pruning is looming large |
Some roses are blooming here and there....
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| Mme Edouard Herriot |
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| Isabella Sprunt |
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| Souvenir de Victor Hugo resting against a tomato cage |
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| Condesa de Sastago |
...and a few perennials are still looking good.
I have been raking leaves, potting up my ornamental oreganos...
...and Vintage French import babies which have finally made it to 5-gallon pots.
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| Not much top growth, but the roots are big (Isabella Ducrot) |
The weather has been mild and sunny, so whenever I can I weed. This year I have started with pots where weeds seem to flourish year round. Even my newly potted oregano, Marshall's Memory, had lots of little sprouts coming up.
I attacked them with unremitting enthusiasm, and about half way through it dawned on me that I was weeding out lavender seedlings. Oops.
Fortunately, there were about a thousand more in the nearby lavender pot :)
Next I moved to my big rose pots. They have a large surface area and some weed or other always seems to take hold in them. This time, again (one would think I might have learned), it took me awhile to realize that these particular weeds had fuzzy stems and serrated leaves.
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| Rose seedlings! |
There were over ten of them in the pot and more are coming up. A few started to succumb to damping off...
...but the ones that looked good went into little pots next to the lavender seedlings I rescued earlier.
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| What will I do with them if they all live?? |
I wish I knew who the parents of those baby roses are because of such a high germination rate compared to anything I have been able to achieve (although this is not saying much). Perhaps I will if they live and bloom. I can't wait.
The largest task in the weeks ahead is rose pruning. The growing season here is long, and by now the whole garden has become a tangle.
It seems impossible to make sense of a mass of rose canes, tree branches and perennials: Isabella Sprunt has grown through a lime tree....
...while my gorgeous Rosette Delizy is vying for space with lots of juicy lemons...
....some of which are obviously crossing with cucumbers :).
Pruning is looking more and more daunting each year...
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| Elie Beauvilain is not making it easy for me |
whether because I am growing older or my roses are growing bigger, I am not sure :)
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| Duquesa de Peñaranda |
