tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100239422026-01-28T06:56:50.287-05:00<p>The adventures and misadventures of an heirloom gardener</p>OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.comBlogger727125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-79358218368757686992008-09-01T15:03:00.001-04:002008-09-07T03:09:06.222-04:00

I can’t believe that it is September already. The entire summer has gone by and I haven’t written a thing. At least not here. I haven’t done much gardening either but that’s another topic. I have, though, been practicing with my new camera.I tried to write gardening posts, but the screen remained stubbornly blank. The cursor blinked at me, mesmerizing me. Scrolling through my pictures did not

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-27018965889228259442008-06-16T13:03:00.000-04:002008-06-27T01:04:57.617-04:00

It may not be summer according to the calendar, but the daylilies are blooming and that always signals the start of summer for me.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-60546338861240349242008-06-15T13:38:00.000-04:002008-06-20T01:41:43.900-04:00

JoinBargain Jackmanii clematis purchased last fall and wintersown Balcony petuniasGardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-83846169146748697262008-06-12T13:29:00.000-04:002008-06-20T01:34:42.299-04:00

It’s a well-known fact that I love iris. Almost as much as I love heirloom roses. I have bearded iris, Japanese iris, Siberian iris, iris bucharica, iris dardanus and miniature iris. I don’t have a favorite. But I do have some oddities. Like the iris that bloomed in full shade. And this:This is a Japanese iris that was part of a collection. Although planted years ago, it was only last year that

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-16209595032785895182008-06-10T13:23:00.000-04:002008-06-20T01:27:21.227-04:00

Peonies are everywhere. Blooming in gardens. Pictured on blogs. Everywhere except my yard.I started out last fall with six peonies. Three singles that I had ordered and planted in the border along the Ugly Green Fence. Two survived the winter. Neither is showing any inclination to bloom this year. Because they’re new and still small, I’m giving them a pass this year.The other three I had moved

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-70408363974321580532008-06-08T11:00:00.003-04:002008-06-08T11:03:57.698-04:00

Join Wild Purple Foxglove that I wintersowed last year.Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-61179391699362179402008-06-06T13:51:00.000-04:002008-06-08T10:53:31.645-04:00

I’ve always wanted a cutting garden. Although I love having bouquets of flowers in my house, I don’t like picking flowers from my carefully planned borders. A separate plot, preferably in an inconspicuous spot from which I could plunder as many blossoms as I wanted without worrying about leaving holes in my planting scheme, is definitely the answer. But how to begin? How to decide what to plant,

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-53547252288611677602008-06-05T13:02:00.000-04:002008-06-07T01:26:12.261-04:00

You are invited to a Garden Party. Come mingle with my roses. Enjoy their varied colors and scents.The first on the scene is always Harison’s Yellow aka The Yellow Rose of Texas.My only yellow rose, it brightens up a shady corner. When I visited Arlington National Cemetery in May, I noticed one in the garden at the house. You can see pictures of my visit on Flickr.Next to step into the spotlight

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-71576992989160615712008-05-31T13:20:00.000-04:002008-06-03T01:23:45.004-04:00

“Beautiful at All Seasons: Southern Gardening and Beyond with Elizabeth Lawrence”I have to confess that I never finished this book. I found it to be unreadable. At first I thought it was because she writes of many plants that I cannot grow in my NJ garden. Or perhaps it was because I couldn’t relate to what was blooming in her garden during the winter months when my own gardens are completely

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-33331350060044472772008-05-28T13:06:00.000-04:002008-05-29T01:33:23.217-04:00

My garden is at its best in the spring. The season begins with a burst of yellow and white from the many clumps of daffodils that increase in size each year, then transitions to a multi-colored celebration of tulips. As the tulips finish their performance, iris takes the stage. Normally this happens on or about Mother’s Day. The cooler than normal weather delayed the iris’ appearance this

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-36026897973242872162008-05-27T15:02:00.000-04:002008-05-28T03:15:36.156-04:00

I don’t handle change well. I like my routines, every day the same as the one before it. But therein lays stagnation so sometimes I force myself to go outside of my comfort zone, to stretch my wings like a butterfly newly released from its chrysalis. While my garden slept this winter, I allowed what I thought was a healthy change to take shape in my life. I nurtured it for months. Like a new

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-70618540630241903472008-04-23T13:14:00.000-04:002008-05-01T01:24:42.729-04:00

I’m glad that I planted so many new tulips last fall. Not all of them turned out as well as I had hoped but I love all the color in my yard. Like most gardeners, I’m already planning what I’ll be planting and where next fall.The white lily flower tulips have opened in the Entry Garden. They are even more underwhelming than the pink. None of the tulips I planted in that bed for last year came back

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-51026476503506663312008-04-21T13:59:00.000-04:002008-04-30T02:01:15.369-04:00

We are having one of the driest Aprils ever. The ground is like concrete making it impossible to weed. The Jack Frost Brunnera doesn’t seem to mind. It has come up and is now flowering despite intense competition from weeds. Definitely worth every penny that I paid for it.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-36878006190851315022008-04-21T13:57:00.000-04:002008-04-30T01:58:49.023-04:00

As you may recall, I have been employing new weapons and tactics in my war against the local squirrels. The squirrels, in turn, have become more sophisticated. Through the use of surveillance, accurate mapping and weather prediction, they were able to completely wipe out a bed of allium. Or were they?This little gem greeted me this morning. As I admired it, I found myself wondering. Did the

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-79968307867251742542008-04-21T13:26:00.000-04:002008-04-30T01:56:45.740-04:00

No, I didn’t play with the color in PhotoShop. They really are that intensely red. I loved these last year, their first year in my garden. I love them even more this year after they returned and multiplied. I planted more of them last fall, but not all of them came up. The ones that did are lagging behind the originals.Right next door are the species tulips which also appear to have

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-43167997145105493952008-04-20T13:59:00.000-04:002008-04-24T02:02:28.609-04:00

Join Hiking at Hacklebarney State ParkGardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-23948014934350036222008-04-20T13:33:00.000-04:002008-04-24T01:58:25.281-04:00

The tulips are beginning to bloom. Some disappointing, others breathtaking. Among the disappointing are the first of the lily-flowered tulips.I was hoping for tall and stately. These are nothing to write home about. I’m happy about the little rosebush in the corner. It’s a Therese Bugnet that I though died last year. I left it in place and suddenly it has come back to life. Gotta love

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-78341919008056125922008-04-19T21:58:00.001-04:002008-04-23T02:45:13.299-04:00

I had an opportunity today to explore what was once described as the most beautiful park in New Jersey, Hacklebarney State Park. It had been suggested that I wear my hiking boots. A glance at the website told me that it was no exaggeration.Our hike started out innocuously enough.Um, okay. So where is the steep ravine? The rushing river? The glacial morain?Found it!Click on the above photo to

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-74253804051036472072008-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:002008-04-23T01:56:38.330-04:00

The daffodils seem to be peaking now. More of the Tahiti daffodils have opened.I really like them now that they are fully open.Here’s a disappointment:Geranium daffodils. They are heirlooms from 1930. The cups are supposed to be orange.Never a disappointment, Actaea daffodils.Developed in the 1920’s, this is the flower that turned me on to heirloom flowers.The Thalia daffodils along the Ugly

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-3654203040810686302008-04-16T13:31:00.000-04:002008-04-23T01:32:34.403-04:00

Another of the daffodils I planted last fall has begun to bloom. Named “Tahiti”, it met my requirements of being both yellow and double. It’s close to the Fortissimo daffodils to bring out the orange accents in the blooms. I can’t wait for it to be fully open.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-51834100851525660792008-04-15T14:12:00.000-04:002008-04-20T20:59:24.855-04:00

Last year we had a very cold spring so I didn’t have a lot of flowers for my first April Bloom Day. It was so cold, in fact, that I posted a picture from 2006 to illustrate what a “normal” spring looks like. This year we have had normal spring weather. April 15, 2006 April 17, 2007 April 15, 2008Other than the fact that I am way behind in my spring clean-up and edging, 2008 looks very much like

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-27929626118400538202008-04-13T17:07:00.000-04:002008-04-20T17:12:17.065-04:00

Join Hiking in Round Valley, April 12Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-70581908337197193632008-04-12T17:05:00.000-04:002008-04-20T17:07:26.851-04:00

In the fall of 2005, I ordered a Martagon lily. It is reputed to need filtered sunlight so I though it would be perfect on the edge of my semi-shady garden. In due course, it came up in the spring of 2006 and was promptly eaten by the squirrels. Or maybe a rabbit. It really doesn’t matter. The end result was the same: no lily.I didn’t bother trying to replace it that fall and I wasn’t at all

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-87699710828110804402008-04-11T13:57:00.000-04:002008-04-20T17:04:08.407-04:00

Hooray! Pineapple Prince is one of those daffodils that changes color as the flowers mature.Aren’t they gorgeous?The first of the new double daffodils opened today.That’s Golden Beauty. Very aptly named.Here’s something unexpected. I was terribly disappointed last year when the Fortissimo daffodils turned out to be plain old yellow instead of yellow petals surrounding dramatic orange

OldRoseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10307114475443602351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10023942.post-39346142331992682582008-04-10T13:55:00.000-04:002008-04-20T16:57:43.058-04:00

I don’t have many hyacinths. Like tulips, they don’t last long. The first time I planted them en masse, was at my last house, an old Victorian. I planted them all around the wrap-around porch. They looked good and at least at first, were wonderfully fragrant. But their perfume grew cloying. I started using my backdoor to avoid the odor.The Purple Garden was originally planted by my daughter.

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