What have you done today in the Garden?

Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous Hybrid Perpetuals with the tall, elegant Tea roses. The Hybrid tea is the oldest class of Modern garden roses. Hybrid teas exhibit traits midway between their parents, being hardier than the often delicate Tea roses, and with a better ability for repeat-flowering than the more robust Hybrid Perpetuals.


"Ingrid Bergman" variety of hybrid tea rose
Hybrid tea flowers are well-formed with large, high-centred buds, supported by long, straight and upright stems. Each flower can grow to 8–12.5 cm wide. Hybrid teas are the largest and most popular group of rose, due to their elegant form and large variety of colours. Their flowers are usually borne singly at the end of long stems which also makes them very popular as cut flowers.

 

For you Pac!

 

I've started forsythias several ways, including in water. They all seem to work. This year, I want to force about a dozen, then keep them in water until they grow roots. Then they will be added to the forsythia privacy hedge I started 2 or 3 years ago. Some of those are almost as big as I hoped already, but there are spaces to fill in.

My fastest method is to bend stems over and bury part in the soil. By the end of they year, those are usually a nice plant. I also had some that grew from pruning that I just left lay in the grass.

 

Logan, I don't know which roses grow better from cuttings, but I have done it with some hybrid T and floribunda types. Also shrub and climbing roses.

Today, I pulled out more fencing. One small section remains. I was to tired to finish.

 

I have tea roses, but no idea which type they are. They are lovely when they bloom...

 

Thanks Daniel, your doing well with your re designing.

 

I have been cleaning my house and doing paperwork today. I am also hanging around waiting for a phone call from my Mother. She had a severe fall last month, --no broken bones, but they thought perhaps a stroke--and she is rehab for a few weeks to help her strength. She will be 93 next month. She could not have the MRI because she has a pacemaker. She lives with one of my nieces, but little great niece has been sick so they could not visit her a few days.

It is a gorgeous day out there though.

 

Finished removing the fencing from that mini orchard. It opens up the yard a lot. The grass needs mowing, it's a bit disheveled. But no one else will see it, so why burn the gasoline? It's not a fire risk, given the recent 6 inches of rain. When it grows out a bit more, yes.

Back to my main garden. I laid some sheets of cardboard and covered with tree leaves. Much more remains to do. Also covered some container garden soil surfaces with leaf mould from last year. That way, no bare soil, and no weeds.

I moved quite heavy container rose - 25 gallon container - to a better location. David Austin rose, Vanessa Bell. It was very heavy and I regret it but I'm also glad it's done.

I collected apple scion for grafting in late winter. I want to replace most of the espalier tiers that have red flesh apples, with ones that I like better. That's the lower tiers of three espaliered trees. I want varieties that are vigorous for me, so the first variety will be Akane. These red flesh apples (Redlove varieties) were promoted as the best thing since sliced bread. In reality they are small, hard, and as sour as lemons. They actually do have red flesh and pink flowers. I think the lower tiers will need vigorous varieties, so maybe Akane, Porter, and Jonagold.

I also have some super-dwarfing rootstock (Budovsky-9) to play with. Last year, I removed underground shoots from one of the minidwarf trees and stuck them into the ground. They grew, and I don't want to waste them. My plan is to grow container-ized miniature apple trees using those rootstocks. I don't know yet which varieties. Something not too vigorous so maybe Jonathan and Pristine.

 

@AAnightowl i hope that your mother recovers quickly and your great niece.

 

You are still doing serious work there, Daniel. Y’know, I could read about what you do there all day long. Such interesting stuff. What an amazing chap you are.

 

I was busy this morning but got into the garden about 1.30 pm.
I cleared a lot more leaves and pruned off the dead wood on one of the acer palmatums. Mostly lower branches of different sizes. Quite a bit dies off in the Autumn, for most you don't even need secateurs, you can break it off.
The lost branches are always replaced by new one at the top and there's lots of new buds showing. I've two more to do. I might do those on Sunday. Finished at a quarter to four as it was getting quite dark.
Two of the back fence concrete posts and two double concrete base panels are being replaced tomorrow morning. This may damage a bit of my "bamboo forest," how badly I don't know.

 

@Logan thank you. Mother is doing pretty good for almost 93. Great niece is much better and back in school.

I did dig up some peppermint to move or share this week, and this morning I bagged some for a friend. I also took a few rosemary cuttings to be sure I still have some in the spring. I saw a video from Epic Gardening, and he puts his rosemary starts in moist soil. I have done them in water. So I did some of each. I hope they all take roots. I have some cuttings trying to root from my Walker's Low Catmint to see if they will take also. I know weeping willows make good rooting hormone, and recently heard that aloe vera is also good. I put a piece of aloe in with my catmint to try it.

Another friend showed me where lemon seeds will sprout well if you poke them into a banana. I will try that when my lemon seeds get here.

I have heard that rose cuttings will root well if stuck into a raw potato? Maybe I will try that this winter. Have any of you tried these?

I was given a small pointsetta for the holiday, but I have never had any success with them. I know they NEED 14 hours of sunlight per day from a local nursery that raises them, and--they grow wild in California. I put it in my sunniest south facing window, that is the best I can do for it.

 

Thanks Sjoerd. Thats a big compliment from you! I could read about your gardening all day, as I think everyone here can.

I hope they all grow AANightowl. Especially the rosemary. That is one of my most favorite scents!

Your maples are always beautiful Doghouse!

As for me, today I did more cleanup in the main kitchen fruit + vegetable garden. The weed grasses had aggressively grown along the mulched areas. More cardboard to smother them, topped with tree leaves. Looking nicer. I moved another 25 gallon half-barrel planter to its new location and topped off the potting soil.

That led me to look at roses on line, the expected occupant for that location ( Thanks @MIKE ALLEN for inspiring me!). I like the looks of this shrub rose, "Top Gun"



Or this one, "In Your Eyes"



I don't think either is listed as fragrant. There is still a long way to Spring, so ir's just looking for now.

I also collected more scion for grafting, this time "Jonagold". I'm not sure which others I'll collect next.

 

That's good news.

 

No it's fake propagation of roses, i always watch this guy with his rose farm.