Some of you may recall, that this Spring I started a new rose bed project. Here is the original pic



Here is the pic I took this morning. Seems to be coming along nicely in spite of wind, plague, etc.

Now. How would you like to see the pictures?

Spring



Late Summer

Here's another shot of the bed, but showing the datura.

They are doing great Caro - good job. I think you have magic soil like Terry's. That looks like a lovely spot for a rose garden. What side of the house is it on?
My 'French Lace' from that same source has been blooming bravely.

Just look at the size of that datura - don't you love how the buds have a lavender tinge in this cool weather? In fact ,, anything is just wonderful during a cool rainy August here! Is it really 72* out there?... or maybe some datura got in the salad bowl?

Hopefully the datura did "not" get into the salad. Yes, it is nice and cool today, although to our Brit friends, this would seem a warm day. One of my friends is mailing seeds from her datura which has purple flowers. Since I'm not so good with seeds, I'll share them with you if you will let me have a couple of plants should I need them. :-)

The lovely yellow datura from last year didn't come back from the root or from seeds. That was disappointing.

I think the hoppers spared this rose bed, because since the plants were so small, the baby poultry could pick the hoppers off the plants and eat them. That's my only theory on that.

Oops. Forgot to answer the exposure question. The rose bed has a southern exposure.

Okay, I’ll lend you a shovel to dig um up ;-)
The chicken theory sounds good. Or maybe they just don’t like roses very much. (?)
Moggy is very depressed – she can’t find any grasshoppers to bring into the house since they seem to have gone into hiding during the rain. I’m having to let her rip into me instead. Maybe the rainy weather will slow down the damage at your place.
Can you believe - it was 108* on this date last year. This Seattle weather in August must surely be a hallucination - maybe from all this datura talk!!!
The double purple one has never survived a winter here - even the last three extra-warm ones. I took 2 into the greenhouse last yr - they croaked, being even more tender than their Brugmansia relative, which did recover the open door accident. My column is on the white Datura stramonium in tomorrow's paper - therefore a strollie soon.

This rose is not in the new rose bed, but it was planted early this Spring. The only reason I bought it was because of the name, the Peter Mayle Rose, since I adore his books. It bloomed early on, and the hoppers didn't munch it too bad, but the color on the blooms is so pretty, I thought I'd share.

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I seem to be having difficulty posting this week.

Have to say your soil looks much better than mine Carolyn, but then it is a long time since I saw any of mine. I do miss digging, it's very theraputic to see nicely turned soil. That is one real bonus of having a veggie patch. (Not that I'm saying your rose garden looks like a vegetable patch Carolyn) Phew.... that was a close one...lol

I'd say that 'save' was a clever way of digging yourself outta that one Terry ;-)
Anyway,,, what I think I'm seeing is decomposing mulch and another locust survivor. Wonder if the grasshoppers just like the flavor of some roses better than others? I notice they don't care too much for nut grass either :-} I know someone who gave up the n g battle and decided it was a 'well adapted' Texas-tough plant - and is using it as a nice green 'ground cover' :-0
Well, that's his excuse for giving up the fight!

I wondered if you would notice that nut grass. Actually, there is just that one little patch in that bed, so not out of control. I did manage through much back breaking labor, to "almost" eradicate the nut grass in the large rose bed last year. And, you are absolutely correct, the hoppers don't eat it. They ate all the Lirope, but didn't even so much as glance at the nut grass.

And Maggie, I am going out to look for signs of Lycoris as soon as its daylight. Boy! That really makes me mad. Mag's Lycoris are in full and beautiful bloom, and as of 2 days ago, mine are nowhere to be found!

That "soil", Terry, is just what Maggie said, decomposing mulch. The soil here is clay, and I add thick layers of mulch several times a year. I get it by the truckloads and then shovel it into the various beds. The beds have really improved, and we actually have earthworms, which were nowhere to be found when I first moved here.

The Lycoris is next weeks column subject , so I'll have some pics of it on the comestrollie eventually. Glad you came when they were in prime Caro. Yours are probably just a few days behind mine. The rains seem to trigger their bloom dates. We may have gotten an earlier monsoon than you down there, or maybe yours are planted deeper than mine.

Carolyn, I would use an overdose of Corn Gluten meal on the nut grass you have left over....It will rot the crown and the top will die.....Then wait for that other nut to come up and hit it again.....It does work......Good luck.....

Hey David! Didn't mean to ignore you, just didn't see this post until now.....a month later. Usually, I just hit the "last day" option under "Discussion", and have found that sometimes I miss things. I will try the corn gluten meal in the "new" large raised bed, which is loaded with nut grass. Anything other than waging another nut grass eradication campaign along the search and destroy lines. See how I'm adapting to this military lingo? Oh, and David. Thanx for digging up those plants for me AND loading them at Peggy's last week.

Last month when I posted the photos of my new rose bed, I thought it just looked great. What a difference a month makes. Check this out.

Now that is a handsome scene! What kind are they Caro?

Francois Rabelais. They were mail order. The first bunch croaked. The replacements didn't miss a beat. I'm quite pleased with the result. The idea is to have a rose hedge beneath the windows. Looks like it might work.

Looking at the before and after pics reminds me I must add more mulch.

Forget the roses, I want that brickwork.