When we have to let go of favorite plants in the garden... and we're not ready yet.

[Float On]

The house we just bought has beds full of roses of which I know nothing. Pinks, reds, corals, maroons. I guess they get woody when they are old? Thus far, they have bloomed and bloomed so I will keep dead-heading and see what happens. Not sure what to do with all the poppies though as they look spent but for some new blossoms near the base. Back in TX, just about everything was dead by now so I was used to cutting it back. I didn't mind cause I knew all the perennials would come back in the fall.

That's interesting that they left the roses. I've known of three ladies who spent more time digging up and packing their roses than they did the house. There is a house near me and I've missed her beautiful rose garden ever since she moved 15 years ago. The guy renovating it now must of heard about her because when he was redoing the front landscaping he did it all in roses!

[Geila]

Biking Lady - your boat is so cute! I can tell you have a very charming garden. Hope you post more photos.

One of the further dilemmas with the roses is that even if I can find a spot for them (there's one potential site), they are a hazard to my two dogs, my boxer in particular. She's gotten scratched pretty deeply by them (as have I!) and her short fur and non-fur tummy don't offer any protection.

Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed a thinning of skin with age? I get scratched so easily now, deeply enough that it bleeds and hurts, from the simplest things. Roses, of course, but even my own short fingernails while doing basic daily stuff. And the cuts and scratches take a long time to heal.

[iris lilies]

I am not a fan of roses alrhough the right climber in the right spot at the right time is a stunning sight indeed.

Witche's Broom got most of the roses around here. We finally stopped plantjg them in my neighborhood's public plantings.

[rosarugosa]

I love your succulent planting, BL! I'm with you on the roses, IL. I love the fragrance, but don't really take to them as garden plants. I really enjoy my nom de plume at the beach, and will always stop to sniff them, but there isn't a single Rosa in Rosa's garden!
I cannot remember if I shared previously, but this is a broken concrete birdbath that I planted this spring. I have both before & after shots. 18527527_1535599139786110_7375916387343717716_n.jpg19894635_1592558377423519_5601265033941923795_n.jpg

[nswef]

What a great use of broken bird baths. It looks wonderful. I have one climbing rose from my mother in law that is healthy and strong - it must be 40 years at this house and probably 40 at her house (was her mother in laws's) I love it. I have a climber I bought 30 years ago...it has good years and bad years. I bought 3 at Ollies last summer...all reverted to root stock immediately so I've let one grow but am digging out the others. I'm not good at spraying- I use the rose society's spray- 1 tsp. Epsom salts, 1 tsp baking soda and a bit of detergent in a 1/2 gallon sprayer. It works well when I use it every 5 or 6 days. I love seeing pictures of the gardens.

[Geila]

Rosa - that looks great! And I'm kinda shocked to learn that there are no Rosas in your garden.

[BikingLady]

I love your succulent planting, BL! I'm with you on the roses, IL. I love the fragrance, but don't really take to them as garden plants. I really enjoy my nom de plume at the beach, and will always stop to sniff them, but there isn't a single Rosa in Rosa's garden!
I cannot remember if I shared previously, but this is a broken concrete birdbath that I planted this spring. I have both before & after shots.

Looks really nice, I love stuff like that. I will go take pics of my prickly pears. I have yellow which has already bloomed. Last week I got two new colors lavender and chartreuse. I learned to use needle nose pliers to weed, ouch.

[catherine]

Oh catherine, that is too bad! I cant imagine being that bothered by tree removal. DH used to work for a tree mirdering company. But they also treat trees for better health, so there's that.

We are trying to murder a tree on our parkng. It has become old and unhealthy. The city came by and put a big orange X on it, but so far they have not cut it.

I know.. I think I was maybe being a little hyperbolic calling it tree murder, but not much. I realize there's a time for trees to go, and that's perfectly fine, but we happen to have neighbors that are allergic to trees, apparently, because they move in and all these lovely and healthy 40-year old ash trees disappear and their house suddenly looks like a monopoly house on a bare plot of land. Those are the times I get upset.

But I'm probably the bane of their existence, too, because I don't use any herbicides and I coexist nicely with the dandelions and clover.

[iris lilies]

I know.. I think I was maybe being a little hyperbolic calling it tree murder, but not much. I realize there's a time for trees to go, and that's perfectly fine, but we happen to have neighbors that are allergic to trees, apparently, because they move in and all these lovely and healthy 40-year old ash trees disappear and their house suddenly looks like a monopoly house on a bare plot of land. Those are the times I get upset.

But I'm probably the bane of their existence, too, because I don't use any herbicides and I coexist nicely with the dandelions and clover.

Your neighbors may know more than you do. The Emerald Ash Borer is rampant, it hit St. Louis here two years ago from the East Coast, out your way. There is no saving these trees. We cut one of our Ash trees down before it got sick because it is cheaper to cut a healthy tree than one that is dead inside, those are dangerous.

[catherine]

Your neighbors may know more than you do. The Emerald Ash Borer is rampant, it hit St. Louis here two years ago from the East Coast, out your way. There is no saving these trees. We cut one of our Ash trees down before it got sick because it is cheaper to cut a healthy tree than one that is dead inside, those are dangerous.

Funny you should say that, because we are being infested, and maybe that's another reason I'm sad. I have a call out to SaveATree to see what they say. Our neighbors are getting a petition going to see if the township would take some responsibility because they planted them back in the 70s--one ash in every front yard.

But I still have neighbors that hate trees. And their houses are ugly without them.