Dear Friends and Gardeners, Week Seven

Dear Carol and Mary Ann,

My letter is a tad late this week.  This Red Dirt family had much too much going on over the weekend.  The Diva was confirmed and had a school function yesterday.  This week, ASW and Bear have field trips.  Such is the busy life of a family in April and May.

However, now that we’re here, let’s all take a deep breath, walk through the garden gate and stroll.  Yesterday, while on the main path, I smelled the scent of roses.  I turned and saw the first rosebud on ‘Cl. Old Blush.’  With that first bloom, I truly know spring is finally here to stay.  Soon, ‘Cl. Old Blush’ will be so decorated with blooms, that you will hardly see her green petticoats.

In the vegetable garden, lots of wonderful things are starting to happen.  Bear and I thinned the radishes, and she even picked a couple of strawberries.  I ate the first radish straight out of the garden dirt and all, but Bear took hers inside saying she preferred them washed.  To each his own.

The ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ lettuce is getting larger and larger, spreading a lime, green carpet across one of the beds.  I thinned it again too, along with the turnips.  ‘Detroit’ beets are finally up, and their tops are so pretty fringed in red.  ‘Flashy Troutback’ lettuce is just emerging from the soil, and the Garden Writers’ Well Read blend of lettuces from Renee’s Garden Seeds are growing leaps and bounds under the ‘New Dawn’ rose.

Speaking of Renee’s, I won six packets of garden seeds from her and Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening.  Kathy had a scavenger hunt, and I played.  Even if I hadn’t won, it was a really fun way to learn how to navigate her revamped blog.  She has a lot of good information on there even for those of us who don’t live in a cold climate (and thank goodness I don’t).   Here’s what I chose:  ‘Ronde de Nice’ zucchini, a holiday pumpkin mix, ‘Autumn Gold’ and ‘Spookie,’ cathedral bells, which is an heirloom plant, ‘Snow Sonata’ cosmos (a shorter variety), maiden’s feather, an heirloom vine, and a mix of seeds for a butterfly garden.  I chose the last to put in the meadow area.  I plant new seeds each year to keep it fresh and ongoing.  This packet contains ‘Persian Carpet’ zinnias, ‘Purity’ cosmos and ‘Red Sun’ sunflowers.  I know it’s an odd mix, but since I’d already bought a bunch of seeds, I didn’t need repeats.

This week, I’m going to plant my green beans, ‘Blue Lake’ pole bean, and a new mix of tri-color pole beans. I used to always plant bush beans which perform great in Oklahoma, but this year, space is at a premium, and the tomatoes are taking a lot of it. I put some of my tomatoes out in this garden this weekend, which may be a little early, but I’m holding some plants in reserve. I could use the wall ‘o water idea, but we’re supposed to have hot weather most of the week. I’m just not that worried about them. ‘Hazlefield Farm,’ ‘Giant Belgium,’ ‘Sungold’ (a favorite of Mary Ann’s), ‘Virginia Sweets,’ ‘Grandma Mary’s Paste,’ ‘Aunt Anna’ and a very special tomato, ‘Royal Hillbilly,’ went in. More about him later.

“S” is for Sweetheart, and my HH is one today. He worked on several projects for me. He installed the rain barrel sent to me by Fiskars to test. He moved my rain chain to a more prominent downspout so we could enjoy its music when we have rain. I plan to put some beach glass underneath it to keep the rain from eroding the soil. More on that later too. He is working on the front fountain, which was so exuberant that it kept splashing all the water out, almost ruining the pump. Most importantly, though, he made a pea fence for the snap and snow peas. I’ll have to figure out a way to thank him later if you know what I mean.

Carol, in your letter, I saw your question on roses.  Here are my suggestions.  I don’t think all of them will stay below three feet even with pruning, but I thought you (and others in Zone 5) would like to hear about all of them.  I’m sure others who read this will have suggestions of their own.

• Souvenir de la Malmaison .  Hardy to Zone 5.  I grew the climbing form of this one.  It is terrible.  However, I’ve heard the bush form is good though.  A lovely color, once described as the color of a young woman’s thigh.
• Zepherine Drouhin. Thornless – Hardy zones 5-10.  Love this rose.  It gets blackspot here, but may not up north.  Smells divine.
• Madame Isaac Pereire – Hardy to Zone 5.  I had two of these, but finally let one go.  It is okay.  Balls up here, but you don’t have humidity.  It smells wonderful.  Blackspot finally weakened it.  It does have a wonderful scent.
• Louise Odier – Hardy Zones 5-10. Never grew this one after all.  I grow Louis Phillippe, which is a China.  You can’t grown Chinas, or Noisettes or probably Polyanthas.  Too cold.
• Kathleen Harrop – Hardy Zones 5-10. A sport of the Zepherine Drouhin.  The color is a subtle pink and is thornless too.  I have grown this one.  Sounds pretty.
• Therese Bugnet – Hardy Zone 5. A beautiful Rugosa.  Rugosas never need spraying by the way.  I don’t grow it, but I would like to.
• William Baffin – I have a friend who loves her William Baffin.  She says it is the finest rose she’s ever grown.

I also think some of the Knockout rose family are hard to Zone 5, but I’m not sure.  I hope that helps.

That’s all I have for this week. Later dear ones.