Wednesday, May 15, 2013

may bloom day 2013

For someone whose middle name is rose, it pretty surprising that this is my very first bloom day post with ROSES!!

I was so excited that when I moved into my great grandmother's house and I found two roses.  One is a small bush rose, and the other is a rambler.  Both had been severely cut back before I moved in, both had problems with their foliage last year, and neither bloomed.  Thanks to an ID from Connie at Hartwood Roses, I was able to confirm Rose Slugs as the culprit munching on the leaves.  I didn't catch it early enough to prevent all of the damage, but I was able to contain it enough that the tea (?) rose has 4 blooms.

Ignore the house about to be painted in the background.

The rambler is doing much better than the tea (?) rose, and I'm seeing a lot of strong healthy new growth.  The new canes are about 3 times as thick as the rest of the plant.  I'm not sure if it's the weather, the compost & mulch from last year, or a combination of both, but I'm really happy how this rose is doing.  My first bud is getting ready to bloom, and more are forming.  The next step will be documenting the blooms, and trying to identify the rose.

 

Also doing much better this year is my rhododendron.  Last year it had some new growth but only one bloom.  It has been fertilized and mulched with pine nettles, and this year it is covered in new growth and about 10 beautiful blooms like this one:


One of the surprises in my yard last year were blackberries bushes!  There is a row of blackberries in my yard that the previous renters had mowed down each year.  I have let them grow, and this year the plants are covered in blooms!


My Mock Orange is in full bloom right now, and it smells amazing. It's about 6.5 feet tall, and a perfect fit off the corner of my porch.  If there was one plant in my yard that I would try to propogate through cuttings, this would be it.


Something new I have found this year are wildflowers called Little Brown Jugs. (information form the University of TN Institute of Agriculture ) They have heart shaped, waxy leaves, and the petal-less flowers are underneath.  The flowers really do look like little brown jugs. 


Also blooming in my yard are a few wildflowers, or weeds as some people like to call them.  My hellebores and pansies are hanging in there too, but I'm not sure they'll still have their petals by this time next month.

I hope you've enjoyed your walk around my yard.  If you'd like to see what else is blooming around the world today visit Carol over at May Dreams Gardens.  She hosts a blog party of sorts on the 15th of each month, where people around the world share what is blooming in their yards.

10 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to have helped! Finding roses in the garden is so exciting!! It looks like the red rose gets quite a bit of shade. (Not sure it's a Tea ... but we'll see what we can do for an ID once it grows out a bit more.) Let me know when you have flowers on the other one.

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    1. Connie, yes the small rose gets quite a bit of shade. I'd say less than 4 hours of sun a day, and most of that is filtered. The good news is that it is planted in a hollow tree stump, so if it needs to be moved, it should be fairly easy to do. My house is in the process of being painted, so when that work is done I may consider moving it. Thanks for all of your help!!

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  2. Hello, and Happy Bloom Day to you!
    Love red roses! (and pink and white and....)
    That is a pretty Rhody, too!
    I have never heard of Little Brown Jug wildflowers. What an unusual plant.
    Have a great day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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    1. Thanks Lea, I need to take a full size picture of the Rhododendron soon, so we can keep up with how much its growing!

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  3. Cool--I've seen wild ginger but never "little brown jugs"--funny name!

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    1. Thanks Val, I didn't know anything about them, but a friend of my grandmother pointed it out to me the other day. I looked them up, and apparently they are native to the mountains of the southeast. The early settlers used it as a substitute for ginger, and apparently it has some medicinal value too.

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  4. Those little brown jugs are so interesting! I've never seen anything like that before. And your red rose is just beautiful. Now that you're giving it some good care, I hope it takes off for you.

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    1. Thanks Holly! I'm hoping that I can keep everything watered and fertilized this year so my roses have a chance to thrive.

      Happy Gardening!

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  5. Happy Bloom Day! I was just remarking to someone the other day that I don't think I've ever smelled a Mock Orange before :-(

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