A gardening disaster!
November has been a gardening disaster. It's been my teaching job - work, work and more work. As I've worked to finish all my commitments for the school year, the roses are blooming, the lawns are growing daily, the edges need doing, and I have barely noticed.
Fence-Line Roses
Sunday 23rd November
This weekend is hopefully the last one which keeps me from my garden - although yesterday I grabbed a couple of hours and ripped / pulled out forget-me-nots which are now in their seeding phase. The roses everywhere look amazing - I am really scared to approach too closely, because I've not sprayed. I know that there are two or three with rust, and so I will ask Stephen to help me today. It's Dublin Bay again - strange, it has a reputation for good health, so I think I might hack a few offending branches off at the base.
I am embarrassed to even report the date - it's the 23rd of November, and I haven't written anything for November. I haven't actually done anything in the garden to write about!. All I can say is that this will never need to happen again, as in THIRTEEN working days time I will be officially retired. Then I can work during the week, and get some law and order back into this silly garden.
Rose Update
Mutabilis is now half as high as the upstairs balcony, and its translucent pink flowers are shining in the sun as I write. The big brown flax which sits beside it has two huge spears which will soon be in flower. The wood shed roof is a blaze of pink, the sleep-out windows are framed by a mass of pearly white Moonlight and the crazy red/yellow climber Masquerade. The latter is a rusty rose, and today it must be sprayed - or else!
The pergola is covered with a much bigger version of Crepuscule than last year, and the big red at its end is flowering well for the first time. The rugosas near the glass-house are absolutely beautiful - particularly Agnes - as are those over the water race near the hen house. My goodness - it is a beautiful time of the year, such a pity to have missed out on the growth so far. But it's time to start afresh - no need to panic (just get that rust spray organised!)...
Gardening Plans
Today I plan to remove some more old forget-me-not growth and check out the iris patches. They are stronger and more in number than I ever imagined - stunning colours, so many flower heads. These irises were planted I think 3 or 4 years ago, and this is their first amazing blooming show. I think it's time for some photographs. Hopefully when I return I'll be feeling less panicky and more centred!
Cecile Brunner Rose
Right - after two hours of frenetic pulling I have come in to sit on the patio with a refreshing cup of tea and pick the biddibids off my shirt and trousers. I can hear our resident bellbirds singing (chiming is a better word), and look forward to seeing them drinking from the flax flowers. Visitors from England came a few weeks ago and were delighted to see one doing this over the water race. It drank right in front of us without fear. So now I am going back outside to water things (I have belatedly weeded my vege garden and planted two tomatoes from pots), and take those rose photos before I blink and they all go bald with rust.
Hey! None of that - this morning Stephen did the rounds with the spray for me - a little late for some, but hopefully it will stop the spread of rust. I had forgotten in the hurly burly of school overwork how much I enjoy pottering in the garden listening to the sports radio. I am very lucky that in THIRTEEN working days I will be free from all those ghastly commitments!