For Many It Is Time to Begin Winter Pruning !!!

It is that time again, winter pruning!! Honestly, I do not like this chore, but appreciate Spring blooms that benefit from cleaning up the rose bushes. Roses that were recently purchased as own root bands or one-gallon plants are exempted from this practice, but bare-root roses, and established own root rose are included, however receiving different pruning. Here's a great demonstration video for winter pruning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uMbXpDOfno

The Roses are Slowing Down - A Few December Blooms!

Mlle. Sombreuil

This rose is the tea rose, not the climber just known as Sombreuil. I received this own-root plant in September and right now, during December, it has multiple blooms that actually open. Due to the beauty of the bush, blooms, and heat tolerance, it could become one of my favorites.

Barbara Streisand

This rose is know for its beauty and fragrance. I purchased three at a local garden center a little late in the season. The blooms on the plant when I purchased it were lovely. Right now one of the plants has black spot. To put this in perspective, Las Vegas is the driest major city in the country. If it has black spot here......

Spanish Lavender

Lavender thrives in mediterranean and warm, dryer climates. Despite this, I have a horrible record of keeping Spanish Lavender alive. I have found it difficult to balance the watering needs, especially using timed drip irrigation. I have tried another strategy with the plants purchased this Fall. Hopefully I will be successful.

Love Song - Unfurling

This is one of my favorite roses. Love Song has gorgeous lavender blooms and is very remontant. It is covered with blooms, is not leggy and has nice foliage. 

Angel Face

Angel Face is very heat tolerant. The color skews towards mauve with dark green healthy foliage. It almost always has blooms.

Blush Noisette

This bush has a nice rounded shape, is very heat tolerant and almost always has blooms.

Nantucket

This is a new plant. Thus far I really like the salmon pink blooms.

Young Lycidas

My Young Lycidas plants are still fairly young and I hope the bush will grow out of its awkward form. The fragrance is one of my favorites and the blooms are gorgeous. 

Pensioner's Voice

I have two rose/flower beds that run along the sides of my house. One is a hybrid tea/floribunda bed and the other is an Austin bed. I call them my box of crayon colored beds, and what would a box of crayons be without orange??? Pensioner's Voice is one of two orange roses I grow. This rose is quite beautiful in person. I only wish to have photographed it in time to capture its beauty.

Neptune

This rose appears so similar to my Fragrant Plum that I wondered if it was mis-labeled, then I remembered the true lavender coloring it had at the beginning of the season. The coloring is quite interesting. I keep forgetting to sniff  the blooms. Fortunately I did not stick my nose in it this day as it has a little visitor. I often wonder how many people have sniffed rose blooms only to inhale something other than perfume???

December - Making a List and Checking it Twice....

From now until President's day, is the prime bare root rose planting season. If you are in zone 8, the ideal time extends through March. Many of my rose selections are made based upon on-line research and images. Regan Nursery, an on-line vendor of mail order bare root roses is my "go-to" source. Regan has a great selection of modern roses including David Austin English roses, shrub roses and a small selection of Old Garden Roses. For those of us in warm climates, Fall is the ideal time to plant roses growing on their own roots. Many of my Old Garden Roses like tea roses, portlands, hybrid musks etc., were purchased  for my garden earlier this year, and planted during early October. One of the biggest challenges is determining what will successfully grow in one's climate. In warmer climates, just how large will the rose bush become at maturity also requires research, as many of the figures on-line do not account for growth in areas with a longer growing season.

Well, I made the list and checked it dozens of times! These roses will be my new arrivals in January:

• Yves Piaget... a very peony like bloom on a medium pink rose
• Dee-Lish... this one is also a pink rose that is described as having "old fashioned" blooms
• Princess Alexandria of Kent... this David Austin rose is reported to become very large in warm climates with the added bonus of being heat tolerant and having gorgeous blooms
• Bolero... I am replacing the ones left at my previous residence. These white blooms are highly fragrant, the bush has a good repeat and it is very attractive.
• Olivia... this David Austin rose is new. Austin described it as possibly the best rose they have hybridized. It is a pink rose, and with that comment, was enough for me....

Hopefully, I will be posting images of all of these roses in the Spring. I can hardly  wait!!!

How to Select Trees and Plants for Hot, Dry, Climates

In planning the new yard/landscape, after planting beds were planned, it was time to make tree selections. Because the summer is extremely hot, I wanted trees that did not require large amounts of water. I also wanted those where the size upon maturity, would not encroach upon the neighbors's yard or have root systems that would choke out anything that I would attempt to grow in the vicinity of it. 

In hot Southern Nevada, the SNWA is an excellent "go to" for trees and plants that grow or even thrive in desert climates. I was able to select trees and plants based upon all of the criteria listed above. 


Here's a link that you may find useful:

http://www.snwa.com/land/design_plants.html

Been Gone For A Little While

It has months since my last post; wow, time flies! I have been busy, busy, busy, building a new home, moving, and creating a new garden. My new property is also in Las Vegas and I am beginning with a blank slate.

If you find yourself trying to create a garden from "scratch", here are some tips you might find helpful:

1. Get  professional soil testing  to determine exactly what will be required to ready your planting areas for what you want to grow.

2. Draw plans, find the plants you want to use, and lay out copies of the images on paper or a computer desktop to look for color compatibility.

3. Get professional opinions or designs for your yard space

4. In dry areas, have irrigation for plant watering, and timers installed. Have the  irrigation lines marked with flags so digging etc.  does not sever them etc.

5. Add hardscape elements and anything required to improve or maintain drainage

6. Research plant selections to determine plant requirements etc.

7. Plant trees and evergreens first, they often take the longest time to mature

8. Plant the right plant in the right place, and be aware of actual mature sizes for plants; especially in warm climate areas with long growing seasons

I hope these tips are helpful!  I will post images soon!!