Winterpast is in full bloom. A correct watering schedule is a beautiful thing. With everything getting the correct dose, I have little plants emerging that weren’t in sight last year. In fact, remembering July and VST’s memorial, the yard is more luscious and green, now. Far more than last year. Hence, the rose blooms are here and gone, requiring the tedious but rewarding task of deadheading.
Deadheading encourages more blooms in the garden, by removing any blooms that are dead. With my scissors in hand and the trash can at the ready, I bend and snip away anything withered. The results are stunning. Last year, I wasn’t sure if the roses would ever bounce back. With a severe pruning and the correct amount of water, the results are amazing. Blooms, well shaped and intense in color, are abundant.
My dad loved roses. As a farmer, he had no extra minutes in the day. But saving minutes from each day, he tended his favorite rose garden in the front yard. He made sure the roses had the proper water, fertilizer, and insecticides. Being in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, the soil was the richest in the world. His roses were magnificent. Every day from Spring to Fall, my mom had one fresh rose sitting in a vase by the sink. He would bring her this rose over breakfast and give her a morning kiss. Just the way it was.
His favorite rose was called a Peace Rose. This rose was the palest of yellows with a hint of pink at the base of the pedals. It had a oily rose fragrance that was rich and full. These roses were so large they could fill a dinner plate. When I moved to Winterpast and began with my own roses, I searched everywhere for a Peace Rose to add to my collection. Things change over the years, and unless I wanted to order one online, it wasn’t to be found.
Then, the strangest thing happend.
Like everything else, the roses struggled in 2020. They hadn’t been groomed, partly because I had a million other things going, like moving it. They also weren’t all getting the water they needed, because the sprinkler system needed adjustments. But, late in the summer, this one struggling rose bush was almost ready to bloom for the first time. Not really paying attention to things, when I finally noticed the variety, I was overjoyed. For there, the one little bloom told it all. It was a Peace Rose! In my very own back yard.
If you are given a miniature rose bush remember that they are as hardy as their bigger cousins. When the blooms are done, plant it outdoors. With the right water, fertilizer and care, they continue to grow.
Along with deadheading the roses, be sure to top your bulbs after they’ve finished blooming and dry back. They need to be dug up and separated every few years, for a fresh start. By doing this, your bulb stock increases and you have more flowers all over the yard. I have a beautiful crop of Iris bulbs that need to be moved. That project will be on hold for a bit, do to the latest little problem.
I have a major sprinkler line break. I started digging yesterday in the front yard. Long ago there was a lush, green lawn in the front, since replaced by white rock. Under this white rock, garden cloth, black plastic, and remnants of the sod of yesteryear, there is a major leak. With a shovel in my hand and a song in my heart, I must leave you to dig, rather like the human mole. I worked on it a few hours yesterday. Perhaps today, I’ll reach the source of the problem. Thank goodness I’ve located the break. It’s just a deep line that will take patience to unearth.
Have fun in the garden. I hope you’re lucky enough to have an apricot tree that is producing fruit. Pass the fruit and keep deadheading!