Herbs and Roses

                                                  'To plant a garden is to believe in
                                                                   Tomorrow'

                                                                                      -Audrey Hepburn


    I was hoping to have a post before the long week-end but as it turns out the long week-end has come and gone and here I am.
  
    It was a beautiful week-end as promised and I am happy to say I accomplished quite a lot. The beds are mostly weed free, the soil is turned and a few lucky beds have fresh soil.

 I also managed to do some flower shopping and bought quite a few new plants. I bought several tomato plants such as Early Girl, Grape tomatoes, Heirloom and Brandywine Red. I managed to buy most of my herbs but couldn't find Rosemary and Basil, apparently they were out. How, I would like to know do you run out of Rosemary and Basil at the beginning of summer and the long week-end. Really!!

Solar Lilies

   I was also looking for Borage, which I am learning is difficult to find. It has a stunning blue star shaped flower that can be used in drinks as a coolant and the leaves can be used in salad (they taste a little like cucumber) The plant itself grows to about 20" tall. If you are lucky enough to come upon this herb give it a try, just remember to harvest the leaves while they are young otherwise they will be a little hairy.
 If you don't want to use any part of it, it is worth growing just for the beauty of it and the bees also love it which is an added bonus.


 I had a birthday this month and was lucky enough to receive some lovely gifts for the garden from family and friends. I lost several pieces of garden decor last year during fall clean-up so it was just what I needed to give some new life to the yard.  The pictures I have attached are some of those pieces.

 I think the last few days of sun and rain have been perfect for the plants, they seem to be thriving. It is actually perfect weather for anything newly planted.

Garden Fairy

 Speaking of which I planted a rose garden on the week-end. I already had the garden but it was becoming overgrown with Lilies, Irises and Hostas.  I had a climbing rose in the garden already so decided to put in three roses instead of the Hostas and Lilies. I left the Irises because for one they are ready to bloom and two I think they will complement the Roses even when they have finished blooming.
  I bought two Hybrid Tea roses (red and white) and one Old Fashioned rose (peach). The Hybrid Teas have long stems, perfect for cutting and all have large blooms with a strong fragrance. There is nothing quite like the scent of a rose and always triggers memories of childhood for me.
 I was discussing roses with an acquaintance today who mentioned that he puts epsom salts in his soil around the base of the roses. If you find that your rose leaves turn yellow the epsom salts will add iron and apparently help with keeping your rose leaves green. I plan to give this a try so will let you know if it works.                          

 Before I sign off for today, if you are dividing plants or just discarding ones you no longer want think of putting them to the side of the road. You will be amazed how quickly they will disappear and it is nice to think of your plant surviving in someone else's garden.

 Happy gardening.