Very impressive frosty photos both! It was a chilly -7.9 this morning so everything is frozen solid here too, but the sun melts the frost by lunchtime.
On a different topic, it’s Smudge Sunday so here’s a portrait of her looking far more innocent than she is:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Very late best wishes to everyone … ( still January) it has been really busy and I had zero time to even think about roses etc. (I had COVID mid December , followed by the flu , mother in law needs surgery this month and the two boys took the rest of the energy.) Finally , I have found last week some time. (45 min to work in the garden. Chalke the ground) and today I finally placed on order for bare roots not the largest order but here it goes
baron girod de l’ain the Scentimental Silas Marner
Sorry about this longer than usual post, but here is the latest update on how the new border is getting on up here in the Styx.
Well I must say, I loved all your 'frosty photos' and feel blessed to say that up in the frozen North of Aberdeenshire the thaw finally started yesterday and continued through the night at a balmy 3°C. Ah, the tropics!
This morning it allowed me to go out and have a good crack at the new border to get ready for the rose planting. Unfortunately, the farm where I get my horse manure is 1/4 mile up a farm road that is still like a skating ring, so I need to wait till next weekend to do the 'sh*t run' as we un-euphemistically call it.
I took all your advice on board and used the turf to mark out the new path, giving myself 50-70cm out from the wall for the roses. Under the turf had not been frozen so there was a bonus for marking out where the Mme. Alfred Carriere and Zepherine Drouhins are to go. In picture 1. you can see the canes used to mark the positions. The short ones marked with tied rope at the top are the roses and I have spaced them 2 mtrs apart. The end canes just mark the start and end and are not marked. The three high canes that are marked (in-between the rose markers) are where the clematis is to be planted.
Picture 2. is a close up of the right hand side of the border and shows better the depth to the path and our soil type. I have just dug it over (it was compacted and had not been turned for over 10 years) it will be getting a deep top dressing of garden compost, that I will be digging in, along with a mulch of the horse manure. My delight was compounded with finding three worms, where none had been seen before!
I will dig the holes for the roses during the week, ready for the planting and I will be using a compost and manure mix for this (along with an overturned bit of turf a la @Marlorena 's advice) using DA Mycorrhizal Fungi.
As usual, any advice or thoughts are most welcome, as I am fairly new to gardening proper and this is my first ever new border project. Do you think the new roses will be OK in water until next weekend?
Like you, @pitter-patter , I am also interested in the pruning of standards. I bought 2 x DA Princess Anne standards last year (so they still need to go through a full season) and planted into two big square Victorian planters that I have put on either side of the front door. These were planted in November 2022.
Take care, and I hope the thaw works its way down to you all.
Posts
My frost is a bit softer.
On a different topic, it’s Smudge Sunday so here’s a portrait of her looking far more innocent than she is:
@Mr. Vine Eye
Your 2nd to last pic looks like a bird in flight, even the eye and a beak.. I'm trying to figure out which bird..
oh dumb ! lol, I think it's an artificial one is that right?..
Yes it's a metal wind turner type thing with another bird at the other end.
I do usually hibernate this time of year, something went wrong..
it has been really busy and I had zero time to even think about roses etc. (I had COVID mid December , followed by the flu , mother in law needs surgery this month and the two boys took the rest of the energy.)
Finally , I have found last week some time. (45 min to work in the garden. Chalke the ground) and today I finally placed on order for bare roots
not the largest order but here it goes
baron girod de l’ain
the Scentimental
Silas Marner
Happy to be back !
Great to see you again, some nice rose choices... hope you've got over those nasty health problems..
Still no thaw here... I was going to prune Tottering today but gave it a miss..
Well I must say, I loved all your 'frosty photos' and feel blessed to say that up in the frozen North of Aberdeenshire the thaw finally started yesterday and continued through the night at a balmy 3°C. Ah, the tropics!
As usual, any advice or thoughts are most welcome, as I am fairly new to gardening proper and this is my first ever new border project. Do you think the new roses will be OK in water until next weekend?
Like you, @pitter-patter , I am also interested in the pruning of standards. I bought 2 x DA Princess Anne standards last year (so they still need to go through a full season) and planted into two big square Victorian planters that I have put on either side of the front door. These were planted in November 2022.
Take care, and I hope the thaw works its way down to you all.