Phaedra's 2023 Adventure

[Branching Out]

Well, keep in mind that when you are cutting flowers or dead-heading, you are pruning your roses.

Perhaps, to make them more manageable bushes, you could take all the flowers off the plant for one year and bring them indoors to enjoy them as bouquets. While harvesting your flowers, eliminate what you don't want to grow and cut to strong buds where you do want growth.

Steve, with just a thought

That sounds like something to consider Steve. This particular rose was recommended to me by the guy at Select Roses, as it is often planted as a low-maintenance flowering shrub in parks-- but instead it is the most high-maintenance rose that I have ever grown. The amount of green waste that it produces is ridiculous, with metre long thick, thorny canes. Ruthlessly cutting it back on a regular basis throughout the year may be just the ticket, so I will give that a try. And Phaedra, Sunny Sky is the earliest rose in my garden too. I will try your method as well, with a second hard pruning after the first flush of blooms. The first rose pruning around here is usually on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.

Sunny Sky — Select Roses

Hybrid tea. Pointed buds open into large, elegantly shaped blooms in honey yellow tipped in pink. Not only does the bloom give off a fruity fragrance but they sit regally on sturdy stems, making them a great cut rose. This rose is an extremely prolific bloomer and has proven itself a top performer i

www.selectroses.ca

 

[Phaedra]

That sounds like something to consider Steve. This particular rose was recommended to me by the guy at Select Roses, as it is often planted as a low-maintenance flowering shrub in parks-- but instead it is the most high-maintenance rose that I have ever grown. The amount of green waste that it produces is ridiculous, with metre long thick, thorny canes. Ruthlessly cutting it back on a regular basis throughout the year may be just the ticket, so I will give that a try. And Phaedra, Sunny Sky is the earliest rose in my garden too. I will try your method as well, with a second hard pruning after the first flush of blooms. The first rose pruning around here is usually on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.

Sunny Sky — Select Roses

Hybrid tea. Pointed buds open into large, elegantly shaped blooms in honey yellow tipped in pink. Not only does the bloom give off a fruity fragrance but they sit regally on sturdy stems, making them a great cut rose. This rose is an extremely prolific bloomer and has proven itself a top performer i

www.selectroses.ca

As Steve said, I did give them cleaning cuts when I deadheaded them. Just on top of it, I would do major pruning twice to keep them tidy.

This is how it looks now after the first major pruning, and I used to keep them this size instead of becoming something too powerful.

 

[Phaedra]

Lovely scenes in Feb/Mar/Apr, never enough for me

First time growing garden Geraniums from seeds

First time growing Lisianthus from seeds - the third leaves show up. It's good to know in advance that they will remain tiny for the coming weeks.

With sunlight, everything looks promising.

 

[Phaedra]

I kept pruning the roses - those stems are so healthy, and how can I throw them away?

So eager to grow!

So, after one hour...I also got some goat willow (Salix caprea)
I guess there are about 70 rose cuttings. When 10% survive, I will get seven new roses. For willow, they are easy one to propagate from cuttings, so I expect 2~3 new plants from them.

Tomorrow, I will prune some more roses and fill this tray.

My overwintered Cayenne plants also started to grow. On the day I removed all chili and tomato plants last autumn, I kept three robust ones. I dug them out and trimmed them hard until they could go inside 9cm nursery pots. They stayed in the corner of an unheated room and looked sad, especially after the whole winter.

Last week, I changed their soil, added some palletized fertilizer made from Penguin droppings, and moved them under the LED lights with other seedlings. The side shoots started growing. I'm happy about this experiment, too.

 

[baymule]

How can you throw them away? I hopeyour rose cuttings grow well for you!

 

[Branching Out]

Penguin droppings?? Lol!

 

[AMKuska]

Perhaps this year I'll give overwintering a pepper or two a try. It looks like it was successful for you!

 

[Phaedra]

Penguin droppings?? Lol!

Yes, so popular here 🤣

 

[Phaedra]

Another journey is going on - this terrace space will have a new waterproof layering this Friday. The room (with an independent door, not connected to our house) below will be my small shop.

The young craftsman who is working on this small project did a very good job of cleaning all the debris we couldn't remove on our own. Here will be my small backyard nursery in the future.

 

[digitS']

I don't understand, @Phaedra .

There is a big hole in your terrace?

What that for - some kind of drainage feature?