Clean up – Part 1

I think the only way I am every going to get my rose bed in shape is to publicly out myself and my lazy, procrastinating ways.  Here’s the rose bed.  Yes there ARE roses in there amongst the weeds. 

I have very little sun in my garden but have eked out a little around one corner of the deck.  I have six or seven rose bushes.   The tall gangly one is a Queen Elizabeth.  Very regal, that rose.

I went to our local, expensive nursery (since Lowe’s and Home Depot weren’t  cutting it, florally ~ and honestly I’d prefer our little local guy get my money even if his prices are twice as high) and bought some stock, decorative cabbage, dusty miller, pansies and marigolds to freshen up the pots on the deck.

Oh and take a look at that bird feeder – normally $120 and I got it for $30 because the little doohickey on the cupola broke off.  I’m going to go online and see if I can find a minature weathervane to stick on top.  I’m hoping that there is a market for barn decor for the dollhouse set.

Aren’t these Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum) adorable?  You know me – I like things for the name as much as the thing itself.  I just think this will look sweet sitting in a low pot on our little table out on the deck.  The mother ‘hen’ is surrounded by little duplicates of herself, the ‘chicks.’ 

I saw it in a Sharon Lovejoy book called Sunflower Houses and have wanted to plant it ever since.  If anyone has children I would highly recommend Sharon Lovejoy’s gardening books.  Or even if you don’t but love enchanted gardens.

Okay ~ I’ll be back…..

I’m not really back – just taking a break before I start on the pots on the deck.  I had to jump in and say, though – omibob the world of dollhouse miniatures!  It’s fascinating.  Did you know you can actually buy an itty bitty teeny tiny jar of LEECHES for your dollhouse?  What room in god’s green acre would that go in?

Okay back to the garden….

Clean up – Part 2

Alrighty then.  Weeded.  Planted.  Swept.  Now the rosebed looks a bit bare and spindly but the only greenery left in the bed was invited there.  I redid two of the pots on the deck.  The garden will be quieting down pretty soon but since I’m in mild Northern California I do have another month of roses.  I have a long standing tradition of pruning them back on New Year’s day.  I think I’ll get one more blooming out them this year.

One is never quite alone in the garden.  I have to be very careful when I’m weeding, planting and generally stomping around in the garden because of these little guys.  We have hundreds of them.  Some of them no bigger than my thumb nail.  I was just getting ready to pull out the spent petunias when he hopped onto the edge of the pot. 

There is nothing quite as satisfying as spending a day out in ones garden, whether it be a cottage garden, a formal Japanese garden or just some pots on a deck.