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A bed of roses (ouch)
Jan. 30th, 2005 11:01 pmI pruned roses today. I pruned roses yesterday. I will prune roses tomorrow.
This is what comes of having 70+ rose bushes, despite giving away/shovel pruning a dozen last winter. There may be even more shovel pruning in the near future. Poor Charles de Milles had been entirely supplanted by Dr. Huey (an extremely vigorous Dr. Huey, I might add) and was removed today.
In other garden news, I am thrilled with my fennel bulbs which I am growing for the first time this year. Our winter growing season is kind of like a really, really extended spring, except that instead of gradually growing warmer and the days getting longer, it gets cooler and the days get shorter. Some veggies are quite happy with this, while others sulk, get sickly, or out and out die. Fennel, I'm delighted to report, are apparently quite happy being transplanted out in September here.
Brassicas (the cabbage family) are also generally happy with this regimen. But I planted them too close together at my community garden and am paying the price now -- stressed plants attract aphids. The cauliflowers are one-shots anyhow, so they're coming out as they mature, which will give the broccoli some elbow room. Here's a picture of my fabulous purple cauliflower, 2 1/2 lbs.( Picture )
The results are in on my personal spinach trial -- no savoyed spinaches ever, ever again! I spent ages cleaning a mere 9 oz for dinner tonight. It's Oriental Giant from now on. Lovely, smooth, arrowhead-shaped leaves on long stems held high about the dirt, slugs, and snails. Yes!
Still, the Spinach with Lemon and Raisins was worth the hassle in the end. It's a recipe I adore -- quick (except if you're painstakingly washing your own spinach), delicious, and unusual. ( Recipe, for anyone interested. )
Lastly, I planted my bulbs today. Finally. Yes, well, I know it's late, quite late. Probably too late. Poor things were sprouting in their little net bags. But they arrived in November, and December was so busy, and it's been raining so much in January, and I couldn't remember where I thought I was going to put the silly things anyhow. But M had taken advantage of the sunny day and moist ground to weed the fruit hedge (more on that later). Since there are already some daffodils residing there, I decided the new bulbs could join their siblings. Done! 2 1/2 months of guilt finally laid to rest. I swear, I'll never again order bulbs until I know exactly where I'm going to put them and have prepared it in advance.
Hah.
This is what comes of having 70+ rose bushes, despite giving away/shovel pruning a dozen last winter. There may be even more shovel pruning in the near future. Poor Charles de Milles had been entirely supplanted by Dr. Huey (an extremely vigorous Dr. Huey, I might add) and was removed today.
In other garden news, I am thrilled with my fennel bulbs which I am growing for the first time this year. Our winter growing season is kind of like a really, really extended spring, except that instead of gradually growing warmer and the days getting longer, it gets cooler and the days get shorter. Some veggies are quite happy with this, while others sulk, get sickly, or out and out die. Fennel, I'm delighted to report, are apparently quite happy being transplanted out in September here.
Brassicas (the cabbage family) are also generally happy with this regimen. But I planted them too close together at my community garden and am paying the price now -- stressed plants attract aphids. The cauliflowers are one-shots anyhow, so they're coming out as they mature, which will give the broccoli some elbow room. Here's a picture of my fabulous purple cauliflower, 2 1/2 lbs.( Picture )
The results are in on my personal spinach trial -- no savoyed spinaches ever, ever again! I spent ages cleaning a mere 9 oz for dinner tonight. It's Oriental Giant from now on. Lovely, smooth, arrowhead-shaped leaves on long stems held high about the dirt, slugs, and snails. Yes!
Still, the Spinach with Lemon and Raisins was worth the hassle in the end. It's a recipe I adore -- quick (except if you're painstakingly washing your own spinach), delicious, and unusual. ( Recipe, for anyone interested. )
Lastly, I planted my bulbs today. Finally. Yes, well, I know it's late, quite late. Probably too late. Poor things were sprouting in their little net bags. But they arrived in November, and December was so busy, and it's been raining so much in January, and I couldn't remember where I thought I was going to put the silly things anyhow. But M had taken advantage of the sunny day and moist ground to weed the fruit hedge (more on that later). Since there are already some daffodils residing there, I decided the new bulbs could join their siblings. Done! 2 1/2 months of guilt finally laid to rest. I swear, I'll never again order bulbs until I know exactly where I'm going to put them and have prepared it in advance.
Hah.
