Garden chores...

A kinda humid and warm November day. I spent the morning taking care of my roses, which I've been neglecting the last year or so. Not a good idea. During Noel, I got a bit of blackspot which got much worse than I should have let it. I had some serious defoliation, and I decided to do a major pruning on all my roses -- cutting them back into bounds, removing all the twiggy growth (a tendency in both the Chinas and the Teas), opening up the centers for improved airflow and blooming, and some selective cane pruning to encourage some growth. They were a mess. I feel guilty. I ended up with two huge piles of cuttings. The roses look better, but they'll take a long while to recover. I ended the ordeal with a long, thorough watering and some foliar nutrient spray.

My vegetable garden has now expanded into my old butterfly garden, so I also moved a Russelia rotundifolia and a 'Forsythia Salvia' (Salvia madrensis) out of that bed into pots, in preparation for my new low-water butterfly garden in the front yard. Both of these were still in full bloom, but my garden plans wait for no plant!

Let's see... what else. I moved a 'Hamlin Orange' (on Flying Dragon rootstock). I needed a path to get to the top of my vegetable garden, and the tree was in the way. I was careful, having cut the roots about a month ago, and I don't think it even noticed.

Oh, and I finally brushed dormant (Volck) spray onto my Flordabell peach. It's small enough still to make it easier to brush than spray.

A garden update in pictures

My first 'Miniature White' cucumber... I planted these at the end of August... They're supposed to bear in forty-nine days. Not too far off. Healthy, low, bushing plant. Plenty of vigor. Lots of blossoms, though it took weeks of male flowers before it started to fruit.

Forsythia Sage. Very striking & attractive to hummers and butterflies.

The kids' salad garden continues to grow.

Salvia 'Anthony Parker', a (presumed) cross between S. leucantha 'Midnight' x S. elegans (Pineapple sage). I'm told it gets to be three feet by four feet farther north, which likely means a good bit larger down here. I hope it's a less unruly than 'Indigo Spires'.