Weekend In

So this long Memorial Day weekend has not turned out to be an outdoor weekend as for weather.

I did manage to pick up some flowers to make a couple hanging pots.

I have all but 4 stepping stones painted now and I've been sealing them so from that perspective I have been productive.

I can't complain about rain, last year we were in drought status and until this much needed rain came, we were headed back into that status again.

I have had some nibbles on a few of my roses from our rabbits or deer or both. I'll have to re-apply but I got some organic Repel All spray which I have used in my garden in the past and works well. I also fertilized all the roses I have so far with Neptune's organic fish fertilizer. The remainder of this week looks sunny and next weekend hot and humid. I'm hoping it will just cause my roses to grow like crazy.

 Caribia is the first rose bush to bloom, can't wait to see it open!

Here's some stepping stones I have finished.

More progress

 So I got stepping stones 2&3 painted this weekend!

Also got to another section of the garden. Certainly can't say it's finished but it's definately coming along.

AND I got my topsy turvy strawberry towers put up....just need to find a topper for each of them

Still lots more to go and anxiously waiting to get some roses. I have 6 more bushes coming this week. 

Happy Mother's Day

 It's been 15 years now since I last got to have my mom with me on Mother's Day and that last one was rough. She was declining rapidly health wise and passed away just a few weeks later.

I owe it to my mom for my love of gardening and bird watching. It was when she was sick that I started tending her flower gardens.  I think she would be very pleased with my rose garden project.

I spent this past weekend, including Mother's Day, working on the garden. I'm making progress but of course...there is still way more to go. 

I've got all the bare root roses planted at least and more roses should be shipping this week. 

A couple pics of my progress so far. The white plastic is my pond; I covered for now so water and debris doesn't get in there before I'm ready to officially set it up!

Of course, I had hand scketched a plan of the garden but have made changes (multiple times) as I have progressed....realizing in the process I may have been over zealous in the quantity of roses I ordered....I am barely going to fit them but I believe I can get all of them in there...32 rose bushes total (30 different kinds).

Can't wait to see which one blooms first!!

Front view of the garden. This will be the entrance....have blueberry bushes and rhubarb here; I also decided to put one rose bush on either side out here due to space and how many roses I purchased. 

White plastic is the pond. This is also where I plan to add fairy houses and such...as well as some roses...of course!

Tired and sore but loving this project!

 So I've learned a few things the hard way. One....don't ever touch a screw that you just used an electric screw driver on! Ouch!!

2nd...i will never use Spar Urethane to seal my decorative pots again.....it coated them all yellow and to make it worse I had applied the first coat with a sponge applicator....ugh...it made drips.

You know...its all okay. So my garden won't be perfect....it will be unique and mine!

So many times I hear people say they are afraid to try gardening; I look at it as an adventure...just like life. So you make a mistake, but you can learn from that. I killed my first Orchid.....was afraid to get another one; but I recently did. Looking up info online, I am gonna try a different potting medium. We will see.

Part of my mission with my garden is to recycle and use as much as I can of what we already have. The back fence doesn't look the prettiest so I added some lattice that was left over from previous project. By the time our grapes fill the back fence it won't matter. Plus, soon we will have rose bushes a trellis and bench. 

Here is how I left it when I finished for today

The front where you see fresh mulch is actually just outside the garden. We've had blueberry bushes and rhubarb there for years. But you can't have a shabby looking entrance into a rose garden, so I am dressing that up.

Got my 5 yards of mulch and soil today.

Still alot of work to do! Oh, I purchase a set of 5 roses that were selected by the company I got them from. Figured it was a surprise. They got delivered this week and the selection they sent is wonderful and look how amazing the roots look

I also mixed, by hand, 4 bags of cement to make my stepping stones that I plan to paint. I have one finished that had been just sitting in our garage.

Can't wait to start painting the rest!!