Mountain Laurel and a new book

Last summer while looking at a nursery catalog my eye caught the Mountain Laurel. It was love at first sight. So this summer I hope to plant several varieties. I particularly like this one.
I have no idea the name but it seems to be the most prevalent one offered. I know they also offer a pink with darker highlights. I think one of each will be a nice addition to 'The Gear's' landscape.

On the book front. I purchased the book, Shrubs and Vines by Donald Wyman. A large book at 598 pages but unfortunately none of the photos are in color. Seems like such a waste not to have at least some of the photos in color.This warm weather......38 degrees....has got me wanting to get out in the garden, but I know this is just a tease and unfortunately it will snow again.

Today's Theme is Owosso Michigan

Not only does Owosso Michigan manufacture my favorite patio furniture (Woodard) but it is home to several antique shops. It was at one of those shops that I purchased a small flower vase with matching frog made of black amethyst. I already own several larger black amethyst vases but this is just perfect for small roses on thin stems that will not hold up the heavy flower. The smaller piece with the holes is the frog and it sits on top of the vase. Some frogs sit in the bottom of the vase and are not seen unless the vase is clear. You see clear round glass frogs all the time at garage sales. They usually sell for less than $5.00. They are handy for holding the stems in place so that you can arrange long stemmed flowers in a tall vase.Black amethyst glass appears to be black until it is held to a bright light in which it shows purple. R didn't have to ask me why they call it black amethyst because he has been to enough antique shops to know......but that didn't stop him from asking me "Why do they call it a frog? It doesn't look like a frog to me." Damn him. Just a minute while I look that up.....I'm back. Seems the guy who wrote this article doesn't exactly know the answer but has some interesting frog facts. Just a minute while I look some more....OK, well it seems that no one knows for sure but they guess that it is because the frogs (flower holders) usually sit in the bottom of a vase in water much like a frog sits on a lily pad in the water. R says "that's doesn't make any sense."

Check out my other blogs for today's Owosso related posts.

Hostas and Hydrangeas

The hosta beds are coming along nicely and I think this coming year will really show us what the beds will look like when all the hostas mature.The roses were doing so well until the Japanese beetles had a field day with some of them. The Knock Out roses and the Purple Carpet roses were not tasty enough for the beetles and were for the most part left alone.

Last year we put down granules to kill the grubs and I would guess that our Japanese beetle population was cut in half. So maybe if we repeat this procedure for the next couple of years we can rid ourselves of this nasty pest.

The beetles also hit our plum trees pretty hard but did not touch the Asian pear trees. We had an abundance of Asian pears (20th Century variety). These pears were the absolute juiciest pears I have ever tasted.

We planted about 23 different heirloom tomato plants. Holy cow. They grew and grew and grew. Lots of tomatoes but some never ripened or we just had an abundance of foliage and only a few tomatoes. We narrowed down the varieties we are going to plant this spring. We have decided on Brandy Wine, Half Moon China, Great White, Amish Paste, Lemon Boy, Golden Boy, Orange Oxheart, Russian Prince, Sweet 100's, and Rose de Borne.
We also planted several new varieties of hydrangeas. I was really surprised with the 2 red hydrangeas I received free from Bordine's Nursery the year before. They were only 6 inches tall and I thought these will never survive so I planted them behind some other plants. I was weeding and when I lifted a low branch this is what I saw....I transplanted them last fall. They had doubled in size from the year before so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they make it through this nasty winter. The only good thing I can say about this winter so far is that there hasn't been any of those plant killing thaw and freeze cycles. It's just been one constant FREEZE!!!!

Roses

I love roses, but sometimes they can be disappointing and nothing like the photo on the little attached tag. I purchased 8 Midnight Blue rose bushes two years ago and they have not grown an inch and have produced very few blooms. The blooms that did blossom were very fragrant and a deep dark purple but the bushes are very small and misshapen.

On the other hand, my Knock Out roses are doing great. I can't complain one bit...well maybe a little.....they just seem to be lacking in the olfactory department.

Here are a some photos of the roses currently blooming in my yard.

Midnight Blue Rose


Blue Girl (I think)


Gourmet Popcorn...a rose bush that has very small sprays of roses. Great for using as filler in your flower arrangements.

The next two photos are both red Carpet Roses

The next two photos are Purple Carpet......look at the thorns in the second photo. The leaves are dull and very corrugated not the usual shiny dark green. This rose is also very fragrant.

Louise Oldier or Odlier. Very fragrant.

Don Juan climbing rose

Unknown pink climbing rose. Very fragrant, hardy, fast grower, and lots and lots of blooms.

Last but not least...the free miniature rose that I received last year from Bordine's Nursery for being a VIG cardholder (very important gardener....don't be impressed.......anyone can say...."give me a VIG card!!") Notice all the oxalis growing around my rose bush. It's everywhere.

So there you have it, all the roses currently in bloom at 'The Gear'. Joseph's Coat and a sorbet rose should bloom start blooming this weekend.

The theme is magazines

Today's theme is magazines. Most of my magazines fall into three categories. Those areas being home/house, garden or plant, and cooking/eating.

Some of my home/house publications also cover gardening. Martha Stewart's Living is such a magazine. If you really do not enjoy spending money on magazines and wish to limit your magazine intake to a handful, I would suggest Martha Stewart Living. I have never received an ill conceived issue. The photos are spectacular. Last month's issue had photo of Martha's peonies. I now have peony envy. We have planted six or seven bushes at 'The Gear' and hope to add to them along the way. We feel that peonies are age appropriate for our home.

Horticulture is another favorite of mine. This magazine leans more towards the botanical but not completely so. All that botany I took in college has finally paid off. I can pick a tetraploid at 10 paces.

For those living in the Midwest, Midwest Living always has a garden article that focuses on the Midwest's specific gardening needs.

Quick garden update

With all the rain so comes weeds. I'm having a difficult time keeping up with the weeding. As soon as the tulips are completely died back, I'll spray Roundup. Hopefully the weeds will not go to seed before then.

Here's are some photos taken this spring.

This is a Queen of Night tulip. As the tulip ages it becomes almost black. I love them. They are very long lasting and sturdy.


I have no idea what the name of this tulip is. They were cheap...but I like them.


This is a view of the fence row area by the street. We filled it with miscellaneous tulips and a lot of very different hostas. No common hostas at 'The Gear'...LOL

I believe these irises are the variety Superstition. They were gorgeous until the storm knocked several stems over.
Last but not least. Knock out roses. Without fail, they return every year no matter how brutal of a winter. I lost about 5 other rose bushes and about 5 more died all the way back to the root. Good thing I only buy 'own root' rose bushes.

Obviously my garden didn't get the memo!

Winter seemed extremely long this year. But I kept telling myself...."just wait until all the bulbs and lilacs bloom, it will be spectacular." Obviously my garden never got the memo I sent out about having a garden blog. In the memo I stressed how important it was that they put on a good show this year. Maybe they are bashful. I did mention that I would be beaming photos of their petals all across the globe. So you can understand my disappointment when this is what popped up.That by far, is the puniest daffodil ever to sprout in my garden. Wasn't there a Christmas song called Puny Poinsettia??? How about a follow up tune called Puny Daffodil?

On a brighter note. R and I planted about 100 hostas in the large bed under the giant Ash tree by the road. Only one plant was missing it's tag. Probably some squirrel has it stashed away.

Yesterday I put all the hosta tags into my notebook. It's bulging at the seams so I will need to start a separate notebook just for the hostas. I think my last count was 174 varieties.

The fruit trees are just days away from blossoming. I did notice that the peach tree we replaced last year has very small buds. I am beginning to suspect that there is a problem with the soil in that area.

These flowers are always the first to bloom. The photo makes them appear larger than they are in real life. But at least they are not puny...they are just petite.