The past couple of days have been filled with the normal things that make up my life….taking care of my family, landscape consults, blogging, etc. But, one of the things that I love and sometimes don’t love about life are the unexpected things that sometimes cross my daily path.
First the unexpected things that I enjoy…
Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii)
The beautiful flowers on this Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii), stopped me in my tracks as we were entering the house at Double S Farms.
This Australian native is a big favorite of mine because of the large purple flowers that are produced in the spring. To be honest, I am not sure why someone decided to give it the common name of ‘Blue Hibiscus’, because the flowers are always purple. I am not a huge fan of common names in general – especially the ones that don’t make sense.
Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii)
Blue Hibiscus does well in our desert climate and grows 4 – 6 ft. high and wide. Some gardeners report that it is hardy to 15 degrees F, so this shrub hold up well under the frosts we experience. Prune lightly after the first flush of flowers to help produce a second flush. Supplemental fertilizer is not needed, but regular irrigation is. It does not do well in an area with reflected sun, so place in a north, south or east facing exposure.
Okay, here is one last look at one of the gorgeous flowers just beginning to open….
Other instances when I enjoy the unexpected is when I see a plant that does something different then the norm – grow larger, produce different colored flowers, foliage, etc.
Yesterday, I was called to a client’s home to look at his sick Magnolia tree (yes, Magnolias grow in the desert). The prognosis on the Magnolia tree was good and the client was happy. I offered to look at the rest of his landscape to see how things looked when we walked up to the largest lemon tree that I have ever seen…
This picture really does not accurately show how large this lemon tree was. The fragrance coming off of the tree was amazing….the scent of the lemons along with the smell of the lemon blossoms was intoxicating.
**My clients are soon quickly convinced that I am somewhat of a crazy plant lady because I get so excited when I see something out of the ordinary. They in turn are tickled pink by the knowledge that they have a special plant in their very own garden.
Well, the client with the lemon tree was a retired doctor who was pleased to show off his tree that was planted over 20 years ago. He said that he had more fruit then he knew what to do with and offered to pick me some lemons and ended up picking me 2 bags full. I was very touched because he was an older gentleman and it was not easy for him, but he insisted on picking them for me himself.
Now for the unexpected things that I do not enjoy at all….
I was on my way home from this consult when my husband called me to say that my 7 year old son may have broken his arm. So I rushed home and took him to the doctor. X-rays were not clear as to whether there was a break or not, so his arm was put into a black brace for a couple of weeks until they could check it again.
You know at first, how it can be kind of fun for a kid to have a cast and/or brace? That is until they realize how restrictive it is. I was asked, “Do I have to wear this all the time? Even when I sleep?” This morning, he asked me if he had to wear it when he played his video game 😉
Yesterday, I received very unwelcome AND unexpected news…
It was the beginning of a beautiful day and I was getting ready to leave to go on a landscape consultation when I got a call from my oldest daughter, who was just sobbing into the phone.
You know that dropping feeling in your stomach that you get sometimes when you know you are going to hear something awful? Well, that is exactly what I felt as soon as I heard her voice.
Well, she had fallen down the stairs as she left her apartment and she was pretty sure that she had broken both of her feet. Somehow, she was able to crawl back up to her apartment where she called her husband, who was at work, to come and get her. Then she called me.
As a mother, it is so hard when your child is in pain. I spoke to her trying to help her stay calm while her husband rushed as fast as he could to get home. But her voice would break with cries of pain. I woke up my husband, who works at night, and we rushed to be at her side.
Firefighters were called to carry her down the stairs of her apartment and then we met her and her husband at the hospital. As she was checking in, the clerk asked her if she had ever been there before and my daughter said “No”. I then stepped in to remind her that she had been there before….23 years ago when she was born. Surprisingly, they still had her medical records from back then.
Well, it turns out that she broke her right foot AND her left ankle. She is definitely laid up for a while and will not be able to teach (she is a high school history teacher). Her husband is wonderful and very supportive. I will be going to ‘babysit’ her today so that he can attend an important meeting for a little while. So, I am gathering my magazines, DVD’s and bringing them dinner.
And so in closing, I am hopeful that the coming days bring only unexpected good things for both my family and yours 🙂
Like a Kid in a Candy Store…
All Dressed Up For Easter….
AZ Plant LadyBeavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris)
Soft, pastel colored flowers ready for Easter. But on a cactus?
Absolutely!
Each year, an event occurs in the surrounding desert about the same time as Easter. Beautiful spots of bright color start to appear on the hillsides of the desert.
Cacti everywhere are beginning to bloom.
Isn’t it amazing that such a tough, prickly plant produces such gorgeous flowers?
Purple Prickly Pear (Opuntia violaceae santa-rita)
The flowers themselves are soft….unlike the cactus.
Every spring, I look forward to seeing the beautiful show that the cacti put on with their colorful blooms. I have anxiously been waiting to share them with you and now they are beginning to bloom 🙂
I hope you have enjoyed these unusual, yet beautiful flowers.
Happy Easter!
A Surprise In My Inbox….Flowers!
AZ Plant LadyNasturtium
From time to time, I receive emails from readers of my blog who ask me a gardening question or two. Well, I love talking about plants and helping people with their gardens, so it works out well.
Earlier this week, I was so surprised to find an email from a reader who had sent me pictures of flowers growing in their garden.
Snapdragons
To be honest, I was touched that someone would want to share with me pictures of their garden.
I love to garden, obviously…..but it is so nice to get a view of what is happening in other people’s gardens.
Pansy & Dianthus
The beautiful flowers that I am privileged to show you are from the garden of Frank & Lynda who reside in Northeast Mesa, which is a suburb of Phoenix.
Alyssum, Geranium and Nasturtium
Frank was kind enough to let me show you all their beautiful flowers. As he put it, his wife has the ‘green thumb’ and he is the ‘waterboy’.
Pictures of flowers
Frank & Lynda, thank you for allowing me to share some of your beautiful flowers.
**If any of you would like to show me what is growing in your garden, please feel free to send me an email with a picture. I would love to post photos of what you are growing, so that other people can enjoy them as well.
Have a great day!
An Author’s Garden and Inspiration
AZ Plant LadyAs a child, I was a voracious reader….I still am. One of my favorite authors was C.S. Lewis. My mother introduced me to the first book of the “Chronicles of Narnia“, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. As soon as I had finished the first chapter, I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to read the remaining six books in the series. So, my mother told me that if I folded laundry for two weeks, then she would buy me the rest of the books. Over the years, I have read and re-read those books countless times, sharing them with my children.
In the summer of 2003, my family embarked on a vacation to Great Britain. It was actually a family tour because our entire extended family came…aunts, uncles and cousins included. We had a large bus, a driver and my uncle (who is a college professor who teaches classes about C.S. Lewis), as a tour guide. We visited Scotland, Wales and finished up in England.
The last full day of our trip was to be my most favorite. We were to visit the home, pub, church and grave of C.S. Lewis.
Vacation to Great Britain
His home is located in the village of Risinghurst, which is just outside of Oxford. The home is generally not open for tourists and is owned by the United States based C.S. Lewis Foundation and is primarily used by scholars.
Our time there was spent viewing the gardens and the surrounding grounds.
C.S. Lewis wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia” in this home where he lived for 34 years, until his death in 1963. Both his home and surrounding landscape played important roles in his stories.
During WWII, he played host to children that were evacuated from London, just as the main characters in his stories were.
Although, I had been looking forward to seeing his home, I was quite surprised at how beautiful the surrounding garden was. I love surprises that involve beautiful flowers.
Cosmos
Dahlias
My favorite flower that I cannot grow, Hydrangea.
The house used to be surrounded by eight acres of woodland. Now, the area is smaller.
I remember how excited I was as we walked around to the back of the house, and were greeted by the sight of a beautiful woodland with a pond. This area is called the “C.S. Lewis Nature Reserve” and was visible to Lewis from his study window as he wrote his stories.
My father and oldest daughter explore this picturesque area.
It is said that much of the inspiration for the land of Narnia came from this wooded area. During periods of snowfall, you can almost picture the lamp post, that figures prominently in his stories, in the distance.
When I stopped to listen, I could almost hear the trees talk as they sometimes did in his stories….
You can read more about C.S. Lewis places to see in Oxford at the following link, “In The Footsteps of C.S. Lewis, Oxford“.
A Vegetable Garden…..Completed!
Vegetable GardeningWell as promised, this is the last installment of the creation of our vegetable garden. The journey has been quite a bit longer then we had anticipated due to some unexpected interruptions….a dead car battery & a broken arm.
Now we had all of our materials and my husband was going to get started on cutting wood and creating the fencing for our new vegetable garden. All along, I had a picture in my mind of how nice our little fence would look and I was anxious to plant my seeds. To be honest, I was getting tired of spending my evenings just staring at pictures of corn, cucumbers, watermelon and sunflowers on my seed packets. I wanted them in the ground so I could stare at real vegetables and fruit.
I had our whole afternoon planned out so we could finish our garden, when the phone rang….
Our oldest daughter had fallen down the stairs at her apartment complex and had broken both of her feet. We rushed to be with her at the hospital. It turns out that she broke her left ankle and her right foot. Needless to say, it was going to be very difficult for her to get around.
And so, two days later we were all gathered out in the garden again and started working on the fencing. My oldest daughter and her husband came out to visit and our youngest kids were so anxious to see her because they had been so worried about her feet.
My daughter is able to use a wheelchair and crutches to get around, but must stay off her feet as much as possible. She cannot drive for 6 weeks, so has to rely on her husband and family to drive her to and from school where she teaches.
It was a perfect day….beautiful weather, time to finish the garden, and all of my kids under one roof for at least a little while. My husband started to put the fence together with help from the kids.
The fence went up quite quickly and I could hardly wait to get inside and start planting. First, I planted a tomato plant.
Then it was time to deconstruct our Children’s Flower Garden and take the surviving flowers and plant them in our new garden.
Geraniums typically do not survive our hot summers, and are treated as winter annuals. I have some examples of them surviving the summer and so we will see how they will do in their new location.
Now the kids and I were ready to plant our seeds.
Our third oldest daughter, is most excited about planting watermelon seeds.
My son had fun planting corn, which is a great plant to grow because they germinate quickly and their seeds are large and easy for a child to plant.
We are planting two separate crops of pumpkin – one right now, and the other later this summer.
I could hardly believe that we had FINALLY finished. That evening, I just sat outside by our new garden, just feeling so content and happy that all was finished.
Now, we wait for our seeds to sprout….
A Vegetable Garden Interrupted….Again
Vegetable GardeningIn yesterday’s post, I am sure that I left you all on the edge of your seats, waiting to see how we fared after our van, which was fully loaded with supplies for our new vegetable garden, wouldn’t start in the parking lot of our local big box store.
It turned out that it was a dead battery, which was easy for my husband to replace, but it took up the rest of our afternoon – so we did not get any work done on our garden.
The next morning found us up, bright and early, eager to begin work on our garden. We had already dug the existing soil to a depth of 1 ft., breaking up large clumps and raking it smooth. Then we, (meaning my husband), began to add the bagged garden soil, compost and manure to the existing soil.
You know what says love to me? A wonderful husband who spreads manure for your new garden without complaining 😉
Then it was time to go back to the big box store to buy the wood we needed in order to make the raised planter and the fence.
Why did we have to build a fence, you may ask?
Well, there are two reasons, and their names are Tobey and Missy.
On our way to the big box store, we dropped two of children off at their weekly Chinese school. Our three youngest children were adopted from China and they are taking Chinese lessons.
Now, we had some ideas of what we wanted to use to make a fence. But, you know the feeling you get when you are standing in the aisle of your local big box store, faced with multiple choices and all of them have their merits? Well, that was our problem. There were so many choices and we had to spend some extra time figuring out which choice would be best for keeping the dogs out, would be attractive and kind to our budget.
Well, we did make our choice and had a lot of wood cut and ready to take home. As we headed to the checkout, we looked at our watches and realized that our kids had gotten out of school 10 minutes ago. So, I left my husband at the checkout, sped as quickly as I could, without getting pulled over, to their school – I was 20 minutes late and felt like an awful parent.
I went back to the big box store and picked up my husband, and we got all of the wood home and stacked on the patio. The next morning, we woke up to pouring rain…another interruption.
The next day, I had a landscape consultation in the morning, but I was excited to get back to working on our vegetable garden in the afternoon. As I was on my way home from the consult, I got a call from my husband saying that my son may have broken his arm. So, instead of working in the garden, we spent the afternoon in the orthopedist’s office. The doctor is not positive if his arm was broken or not, so my son has to wear a brace for a couple of weeks and then will get another x-ray. *Thank you for your kind comments for my son.
That was the third interruption for those of you who are keeping count, as I am sure most of you are 😉 I was beginning to think that maybe we were not meant to have a vegetable garden. **I apologize for the lack of pictures, but we had not accomplished enough at this point to take pictures of 🙂
Tomorrow, is the last installment of “A Vegetable Garden Interrupted” and yes, there is one more interruption to come….
A Vegetable Garden Interrupted….
Vegetable GardeningOur first foray into vegetable gardening, as a family, was well on it’s way to becoming reality…. the site had been selected, the seeds purchased, the time set aside in our schedule and then….life happened.
I had a vegetable garden as a child. My father made raised planters for me and my siblings. We would select what we wanted to grow inside. For me, it was usually a combination of vegetables and flowers. As a horticulture student in college, we had to grow our plot of vegetables at the school farm and I have also helped plant vegetable gardens for charity. But, that is really as far as my vegetable gardening experience goes.
The entire family has been looking forward to having a vegetable garden, especially the kids. I am a planner and so I love to plan things out ahead of time. At first everything was going very smoothly. We had a good site, that faces east, ensuring the garden would receive some relief from the hot summer sun in the afternoon.
As you can see, there is not much going on in this area.
First, we tackled removing the existing shrubs. We decided to try to transplant them into another part of the garden. First, I pruned them back severely in order to remove most of the leaves.
*Since the shrubs would lose many of their roots and therefore their ability to take up water when transplanted – I made sure that most of their leaves were removed since they would lose a lot of water through their leaves, which would lessen the chance that they would transplant successfully.
I immediately put each shrub into a pail of water for a good soak. To be honest, I do not really care either way if these shrubs survive. I guess that sounds heartless, but it is the truth. They have never done that well for me, but if they survive being transplanted, perhaps they will like their new location better. Although we have attached them to our irrigation system, they will require extra water, which we will supply for the next few weeks.
**In the desert, it is best to dig up plants and transplant them during cooler weather and should not be done in the summer. It will also help them if they are shaded temporarily. This can be done easily by just placing a patio chair over them for a few weeks.
Vegetable gardening
We, (meaning my husband), raked back the gravel (rock). The kids can be seen in the background looking at what remains of their “Children’s Flower Garden”. We will transplant some of those flowers to the new vegetable garden.
I am so blessed by the men in my life 🙂 They never complain about helping me in the garden.
Vegetable gardening
Then it was time to loosen up the existing soil to a depth of about 1 ft. Although I do not appear in any of these photos, I was working. I dug up my share of soil. – my sore back proved that the next day. Projects seem to take longer when you have to keep pausing to take a picture of each step 😉
We were now ready to go to the store to buy soil, compost, manure and wood for our vegetable garden.
We had fun at the garden department and came away with soil, manure and step stones, which were on sale. The step stones will be used inside the garden so that we can easily access the vegetables without stepping on them.
It turned out that we did not have room for the wood, so would have to return the next day for that.
After we had loaded up the car with all we had bought….the car would not start. We had a dead battery.
This was only the first interruption of our vegetable garden project. Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow….
**Thank you for the well-wishes for my oldest daughter, who broke both of her feet last Thursday after falling down the stairs at her apartment complex. She is doing fairly well, although it is hard for her to get around. We are taking her to the orthopedist today to see what he has to say.
A Vegetable Garden Interrupted….Again
Like a Kid in a Candy Store…
AgaveA horticulturist in a plant nursery is much like a kid in a candy store, which can be VERY dangerous…..
This is where I found myself a couple of weeks ago after spending the day walking through the beautiful gardens of “The Living Desert“.
The gardens themselves, were absolutely spectacular and I posted about the beautiful flowers and the strange and unusual plants earlier. Well, we were on our way out after 4 hours of walking around the gardens when I saw their plant nursery.
Well, one look at the glazed expression on my face, caused my family to find the closest bench to sit on because they knew it would be a while before they would see me again.
Agave attenuata
I particularly love visiting nurseries that are connected to botanical gardens because you can usually find plants that are hard to find elsewhere.
Unlike some of the big box stores, you will not find plants that are not suited to that particular area offered up for sale. This is a huge pet peeve of mine which I will cover in a later post.
Coral Aloe (Aloe striata)
The quality of the plants cannot be matched anywhere else either.
An assortment of Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), in different sizes offered for sale.
The nursery staff was assisting a couple of new desert residents in making their choices and were very helpful and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, this is also not often the case in big box stores.
Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)
I was quite overwhelmed at the selection that was available and I could have spent hours just looking and making choices, but my family was waiting patiently for me and so I tried my best to hurry.
Somehow, I got out of there with only 3 plants….2 Gaura lindheimeri ‘Siskiyou Pink’ and 1 Chaparral Sage (Salvia clevelandii).
It is a miracle that I came away with so few plants…..
The Unexpected…In the Garden and in Life
Citrus, Double S FarmsThe past couple of days have been filled with the normal things that make up my life….taking care of my family, landscape consults, blogging, etc. But, one of the things that I love and sometimes don’t love about life are the unexpected things that sometimes cross my daily path.
First the unexpected things that I enjoy…
Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii)
The beautiful flowers on this Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii), stopped me in my tracks as we were entering the house at Double S Farms.
This Australian native is a big favorite of mine because of the large purple flowers that are produced in the spring. To be honest, I am not sure why someone decided to give it the common name of ‘Blue Hibiscus’, because the flowers are always purple. I am not a huge fan of common names in general – especially the ones that don’t make sense.
Blue Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii)
Blue Hibiscus does well in our desert climate and grows 4 – 6 ft. high and wide. Some gardeners report that it is hardy to 15 degrees F, so this shrub hold up well under the frosts we experience. Prune lightly after the first flush of flowers to help produce a second flush. Supplemental fertilizer is not needed, but regular irrigation is. It does not do well in an area with reflected sun, so place in a north, south or east facing exposure.
Okay, here is one last look at one of the gorgeous flowers just beginning to open….
Other instances when I enjoy the unexpected is when I see a plant that does something different then the norm – grow larger, produce different colored flowers, foliage, etc.
Yesterday, I was called to a client’s home to look at his sick Magnolia tree (yes, Magnolias grow in the desert). The prognosis on the Magnolia tree was good and the client was happy. I offered to look at the rest of his landscape to see how things looked when we walked up to the largest lemon tree that I have ever seen…
This picture really does not accurately show how large this lemon tree was. The fragrance coming off of the tree was amazing….the scent of the lemons along with the smell of the lemon blossoms was intoxicating.
**My clients are soon quickly convinced that I am somewhat of a crazy plant lady because I get so excited when I see something out of the ordinary. They in turn are tickled pink by the knowledge that they have a special plant in their very own garden.
Well, the client with the lemon tree was a retired doctor who was pleased to show off his tree that was planted over 20 years ago. He said that he had more fruit then he knew what to do with and offered to pick me some lemons and ended up picking me 2 bags full. I was very touched because he was an older gentleman and it was not easy for him, but he insisted on picking them for me himself.
Now for the unexpected things that I do not enjoy at all….
I was on my way home from this consult when my husband called me to say that my 7 year old son may have broken his arm. So I rushed home and took him to the doctor. X-rays were not clear as to whether there was a break or not, so his arm was put into a black brace for a couple of weeks until they could check it again.
You know at first, how it can be kind of fun for a kid to have a cast and/or brace? That is until they realize how restrictive it is. I was asked, “Do I have to wear this all the time? Even when I sleep?” This morning, he asked me if he had to wear it when he played his video game 😉
Yesterday, I received very unwelcome AND unexpected news…
It was the beginning of a beautiful day and I was getting ready to leave to go on a landscape consultation when I got a call from my oldest daughter, who was just sobbing into the phone.
You know that dropping feeling in your stomach that you get sometimes when you know you are going to hear something awful? Well, that is exactly what I felt as soon as I heard her voice.
Well, she had fallen down the stairs as she left her apartment and she was pretty sure that she had broken both of her feet. Somehow, she was able to crawl back up to her apartment where she called her husband, who was at work, to come and get her. Then she called me.
As a mother, it is so hard when your child is in pain. I spoke to her trying to help her stay calm while her husband rushed as fast as he could to get home. But her voice would break with cries of pain. I woke up my husband, who works at night, and we rushed to be at her side.
Firefighters were called to carry her down the stairs of her apartment and then we met her and her husband at the hospital. As she was checking in, the clerk asked her if she had ever been there before and my daughter said “No”. I then stepped in to remind her that she had been there before….23 years ago when she was born. Surprisingly, they still had her medical records from back then.
Well, it turns out that she broke her right foot AND her left ankle. She is definitely laid up for a while and will not be able to teach (she is a high school history teacher). Her husband is wonderful and very supportive. I will be going to ‘babysit’ her today so that he can attend an important meeting for a little while. So, I am gathering my magazines, DVD’s and bringing them dinner.
And so in closing, I am hopeful that the coming days bring only unexpected good things for both my family and yours 🙂
Like a Kid in a Candy Store…
Celebrations, Chickens and Slugs…
Double S FarmsKind of a weird title for a post, but it fits all that I am going to try to fit into this one….
Earlier this week, we packed up the kids into our trusty minivan and took the long drive to Double S Farms….okay, it took us all of 5 minutes to get there. We were gathering together to celebrate the birthdays of my husband and my nephew (Littlest Farmer).
One of the first things we did was to go out and see the chickens, who are the newest residents of the farm. They are now 5 weeks old and they have now graduated to the outdoors. My sister, Chicken Farmer, is enjoying raising her chickens. You can read my earlier posts about the chickens here.
Raising chickens
For some reason, the chickens were not very cooperative about standing still for the camera. So, my brother-in-law (Farmer Dad), picked one up so I could take a better picture.
This is Flo who was very patient while I took her picture. She is one of two who does not mind being handled. However, what happened afterwards, I am not sure that Flo was too happy about….
Farmer Dad handed Flo to my daughter, who just happens to work at Chick-fil-A, (a restaurant that serves only chicken). I may have imagined it, but Flo look vastly relieved to be set down by my daughter.
Lucy and Ramona were kind enough to pause a moment for their picture.
We then ventured inside for dinner and birthday cake. Afterward, my son and his cousins, (Little & Littlest Farmers), had fun wrestling in the living room.
Well, it was getting late and we started to head out the door when I saw something truly gross…
We were greeted by the sight of slugs crawling all over the low wall surrounding my mother’s succulent garden. She has had a problem with slugs ever since she moved into the house last year. There used to be a flower garden where the succulents are now planted.
Recently, she has been setting out a bowl of beer for the slugs. They are attracted by the smell of beer and then crawl in and drown. I wonder if they are drunk before they drown? Hopefully, for their sake.
Not too pretty is it? But, it is a welcome sight for those who are waging a battle against slugs. They do not seem to prefer one beer over the other, so my mother used some old beer that my brother-in-law had left over since November. **Some gardeners also have had similar results using grape juice.
Within 5 minutes of setting out additional saucers of beer, the slugs were racing as fast as they could to enjoy their beer. Does that remind you of anyone you may know?
My kids thought it was very cool in a gross kind of way and so did I. But I have to say that I am extremely glad that I do not have slugs in my garden 🙂
A Face Lift for an Old Rose….
Double S FarmsPicture an old rose bush that had been neglected over the years. With new owners now in charge of the garden, this rose received much needed attention back in January.
Some of you may remember my post “An Overgrown, Nameless Rose” back in January. This old rose bush graced the front garden of Double S Farms, which is where my mother, sister and her family are new residents.
Unlike many rose bushes, this particular one continued to bloom without any help….no fertilizer, sprays or pruning. But, there was a lot of dead growth and old canes (branches) that needed to be removed. In other words, this rose bush needed a face lift.
When I finished pruning, this is what was left. My mother, Pastor Farmer, may have been a little unprepared for how far back I had pruned her roses, but I assured her that this was essential for their health and that new growth would soon appear.
Well, this is what they looked like this evening, just 9 weeks later, when we stopped by Double S Farms to celebrate both my husband and nephew’s birthdays.
The rose bushes are flush with new growth and there are no old canes (branches) to be seen anywhere. I like to think of pruning as like giving a plant a face lift. The results are usually remarkable and you don’t have to pay a lot of money like you would to a plastic surgeon 😉
For me, the icing on the cake was to see both of these formerly neglected rose bushes covered with rosebuds getting ready to open.
I can hardly wait….