Mothers' Day roses...
Newly Painted Forest Gnomes
Yippee! Non-Gardening Partner and I are off to visit a rural rose nursery, on instructions from lovely world-wandering Daughter of Moosey. I am getting a somewhat rosy Mothers' Day present. Yippee for Mothers' Day, I say...
Saturday 12th May
This is the gift that goes on giving. For I have just ordered the roses, thirteen of them (hee hee), and now I have five or six weeks to plan things properly. And to look forward to the nursery ringing me up - it's late autumn here, the perfect time to buy new roses. I haven't bought any new David Austin roses for years!
Great excitement, and huge thank-yous. I am a lucky, lucky mother - considering that I gave Daughter of Moosey six garden gnomes for her latest birthday. Oops...
A List!
Now there must be a rose list, but I'll do it with commas, otherwise it will look far too long and scary. Not that lists of new roses can ever really be too long. I am trying not to let lists rule my gardening life, but today I can certainly make an exception.
Mothers' Day Roses
- Striped Roses: Grimaldi, Henri Matisse, and Camille Pissarro, for now.
- Climbing Roses: Awakening and Sir Edmund Hillary.
- David Austin Roses: 2 Windermeres, Lady of Megginch, Strawberry Hill, Munstead Wood, Darcey Bussell, Tea Clipper, Lichfield Angel
Back to earth - all the painted garden gnomes have now been transported in the wheelbarrow and popped gently back into their garden spots. The far edge of my pond is alive again, with the sounds of fishing, snoozing, lawn-mowing, and quiet chattering...
- 'Little is still very satisfying, gardenwise.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
I spent a couple of mellow hours doing assorted little things in the garden. But 'little' is still very satisfying, gardenwise! I shifted the Crab-Apple tree Barbara Anne into the Glass-House Garden, and planted my recycled Whisky Mac rose at the back. A clump of lolly pink Phloxes were dug out - they're going by the Pergola with the other summer perennials. And they'd jolly well better not get mildewed over there!
Glamis Castle Rose :- This rose only looks gorgeous in photographs, I fear.
In a mental rose-haze I raked up four more barrowfuls of gum leaves and finished in the gloom poking at my bonfire. I just couldn't stop thinking about my new roses, where to plant them, what they'd look like, and so on. In my mind they are already big, beautiful healthy bushes, blooming with much joy...
I liked the rose nursery owner, who seemed to know a great deal about roses. She too has given up on Glamis Castle (a disgraceful performer in my garden) and won't stock it. Out of my five recycled Glamis Castles, two have already been thrown on the bonfire. Maybe the others will follow. This rose doesn't seem to believe in growing leaves for me.
Sunday 13th May
I don't know whether I am ready to go apres-gardening and write up my journal - maybe not just yet. I have had THE most uber-random day. First I wandered past the Pergola, stopped, and decided then and there to trim the dahlias and dig out the Eucomis (too floppy, better in a pot).
Golden Tribute Rose
Roses Replanted
Then I replanted roses Pat Austin and Golden Celebration in the sun, added a third unknown recycled rose (a deep red), and planted the lolly-pink Phlox. And then, feeling the warm sun beaming down upon my face and tickling my arms, I decided to paint the back fence. As one does.
My paint is a deep nose-bleed red, not a subtle fence colour. Do I like it? Well, I do. In summer the climbing rose Crepuscule (apricot) and the Gerbe rose (pink) might have other ideas. But my red fence will always look gorgeous with the greenery, and some of my new striped roses are going to be planted on its sunny side (like Camille Pissarro, yellow and nose-bleed red - the perfect match).
After a quick cup of coffee I collected a huge load of firewood - the path leading up the 'hill' behind the pond now terminates underneath the Chestnut tree. I'm turning the garden further on into a quasi-wilderness shrubbery. The wood lengths were being used as path edging, and I found other piles of logs needing chain-sawing (thanks, NGP).
+50The trailer full of firewood went off to Son of Moosey's, and Rusty (a country dog) had his first experience of a city dog park. Concrete dog-agility things - ladders, tunnels, and platforms - are much different from streams, ponds, paddocks, and sheep (at which Rusty practices his 'Border Collie' stare.) Actually he was a bit hopeless of the obstacles - and why go through (or up) something to get to the dog biscuit when you can go around?
Prunus Leaf on Red Maple
Monday 14th May
I love my autumn garden. I sat on the cottage verandah with my morning cup of tea watching the dull yellow Prunus leaves fluttering down, like golden snow. The gnomes over the pond were being industrious and - well, gnomish.
Too Many Gnomes?
Fact: I now have so many (too many?) gnomes (with several sets of brothers) - I've stopped giving them individual names. It's become quite a memory game, remembering them all. Hey! This is good practice for the rest home, and much more fun that trying to list the names of Rudolph's reindeer...
Hee hee - the online auction site that I check out for retro gnomes is offering me a real treat. Four 'real' German gnomes are for sale. These terribly expensive chaps are even categorised as 'garden sculpture', with starting bids of $80 each. Each! They are not for me. I'd much rather rescue a concrete fishergnome with his face peeling and the top of his hat broken off.
Red Garden Fence and Gate
Much Later...
I've painted another large piece of the fence, plus the little garden gate which leads into the pond paddock. Unfortunately my five dollar tin of nose-bleed red paint is now finished, but I'm sure I can get some more. I do like the colour - it's cheerful, and 'out there'. Like me. Ha!