Rose Fever: Pursuit of the perfect garden (a springtime vanity)

me | 3/18/07 | Knitting a Conundrum

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Spring fever has got me. I want to get out of the house, away from the computer, and dig in the dirt. Getting ready to start a new rose bed. Anybody else out there nuts about roses?

[this_ol_patriot]

Count me in and if anyone knows how to get rid of voles, I'm all ears.

Try putting a stick of Juicy Fruit gum, sans foil of course, in their holes. It's supposed to plug em up real good after they eat it.

[Varda]

Great links!

[Varda]

I know, I feel like the guy in Caddyshack. Dynamite is starting to look good to me.

[Varda]

I tried that. I think I could hear them laughing and chewing at the same time. I also have set mouse traps and poison corn. They really are a plague.

[this_ol_patriot]

We got lucky and have some Red-Tailed Hawks nearby and a few stray cats, that keeps them down. I caught one on the patio 2 weeks ago with a spring trap and peanut butter. It was driving our indoor cat nuts. We had a lot when our development was new, probably because their holes were disturbed but after 2 years I didn't see any more trails or subway bumps. We do have a plague of rabbits though. They just throw the ol' lucky foot to the Hawks.

[SE Mom]

bookmark

[Varda]

I see many hawks, Red-tail and otherwise but I think our dog keeps them out of the yard. I've heard cats are the best for voles but our cat doesn't like the outdoors. I wish the dog would take up vole killing but I guess to him that's a step down from his current hobby of killing muskrats. Maybe I need a terrier.

[Quix]

LOL.

Some terriers are tenacious about ferreting out critters.

[this_ol_patriot]

....his current hobby of killing muskrats.

Hey maybe Muskrat coats will come back in fashion, then you can make Muskrat coats with Vole collars.

My Mom had a Muskrat coat stored in the closet which my brother and I played with when we were kids, oily thing it was. I also remember those Fox stoles with the little beady eyes that stared at us and gave us the willies. They were usually wrapped around a fat lady that sat in front you in church.

[Texas_shutterbug]

Sure!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Links on prepping garden beds (time to start thinking about it if you haven't already started!) Starting new beds is a big pain, but o, the results can be so fun. But beware the bermuda grass monsters!

Prepare the Bed

Preparing The Garden Bed

Weeds and Your Garden

Digging a Garden Bed

Preparing Your Garden

GardeNET: Preparing Garden Beds

How to Design and Prepare a Flower Bed - eHow.com

Tips For Preparing a Planting Bed | Tips & Techniques

Preparing A Garden Bed

[Knitting A Conundrum]

All America Rose Selections: The 2007 Winners
Proven in National Testing! Voted Tops by Experts! Easy to Grow! 

From left to right:  Rainbow Knockout, Strike It Rich,

Rainbow Knockout

Even more floriferous and disease-resistant than its famous parent, Rainbow Knock Out is a bushy and compact landscape shrub rose with short stems bearing glossy, dark green leaves. Its blooms are single-form flowers that start out as pointed buds and appear abundantly throughout the growing season. The delicate five-petaled flowers are two inches in diameter and are a deep coral-pink color with a yellow center finishing nicely to light coral.

Rainbow Knock Out will have a nice display of blooms late into the season for a lovely fall bloom, and while it does not exhibit a strong fragrance, the petals emit a delicate sweetbriar scent. Suitable for container growing in small spaces, this rose is the prefect accent to any garden. It is also winter hardy to zone 4 and is fully resistant to black spot, mildew and rust.

Rainbow Knock Out is hybridized by William Radler and is introduced by The Conard Pyle Co. of West Grove, Penn.

Strike It Rich

 

A modern version of the classic 1950 AARS award-winner Sutter's Gold, Strike It Rich esembles its famous ancestor with stron spicy fragrance and elegant buds of deep golden-yellow swirled with ruby red. Yet this contemporary cousin is much easier to grow because of its great disease-resistance and strong natural vigor. This true grandiflora bears loads of long-stemmed blossoms offset by very dark green leaves and unusual deep red stems.

A medium-tall upright bush, Strike It Rich boasts clustes of voluptuous double and informal flowers that are up to 5-inches in diameter with approximately 30 petals each. The flowers are long-lived and retain their blend of gold, orange and red tones to the very end. The blooms are stunning in a bouquet or in the landscape.

Strike It Rich is hybridized by Tom Carruth and introduced by Weeks Roses of Upland, CA.

Moon Dance

As ethereal and lovely as its name implies, Moondance is a floribunda characterized by large trusses of creamy white, beautifully formed flowers contrasted by very glossy dark green foliage. Upright and well branched, it is an extremely vigorous and tall plant with stems that are typically 14-18 inches long. Rose buds are pointed and oval-shaped in form leading to high-centered flowers, which open flat to about 3½ -inches in diameter and consist of approximately 25 petals each.

Moondance has an exceptionally delightful spicy fragrance for a white floribunda. In addition, its impressive long stems can also be arranged into an elegant bouquet for displaying in the home. Moondance is highly resistant to black spot, mildew and rust.

Moondance is hybridized by Keith Zary and introduced by Jackson & Perkins of Medford, Ore.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Too cold to garden here yet...got to freezing last night, and is still in the 30s...

[La Enchiladita]

Moon Dance is the one for me .... must have.
Thanks, Knitting, for all the info and pictures.
I'm in "Peek'n'FReep" mode at work: naughty!!

Roses'n'Roses'n'Roses.... it's Spring!!

[pinz-n-needlez]

Raising my hand. :-)

It's pathetic to see how proud I am that my hostas came up this spring. LOL

Looks like I have some digging to do... double digging even. :-(

But after all this sewing, I'm looking forward to some exercise. :-)

[pinz-n-needlez]

I love your tagline. LOL

Glad you survived the experience!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

As much as you've been sewing, I can understand why.

Feeling too under the weather today to dig, so i pulled out some wool, one of my really big wooden spoons, and holding the bowl of the spoon under my left arm, I am teaching me how to drop spin with my right hand and a distaff, instead of lefthanded.

But what my heart wants is to get some garden sulfur, some compost, maybe some sand and get the bed going. Sigh.

[pinz-n-needlez]

I'm glad you posted the picture of your new bed. Got to see your new house, too. It's very pretty.

This old Buckeye thinks you need lots of red flowers in that bed! ;-)

[Knitting A Conundrum]

No, no, no! Pink! Pink roses, and yellow and white. With something else to be selected later.

The red roses will go in the back yard.

Actually, I am plotting putting in a sort of 18th century garden in the back....

[pinz-n-needlez]

But the red would look so nice with the gray. ;-)

I love yellow roses.

An 18th century garden would be awesome. Some for smelling, a bit for dyeing, plants for nibbling, herbs for healing and a wattle fence....