SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER

It’s still January in Oregon and raining like a son of a gun. Great choice, dry but cold or a little warmer and wet, wet, wet. So it’s time to start planning for the yard. So it’s time to put away the political history for awhile and concentrate on the yard. Gotta plan now, can’t do much digging until March or maybe April. Especially since it’s been so wet. Trouble is, if you wait until you think it's time to do something, it's too late and you're playing catch up all year.

 

We plan to pull the roses. They’ve been in that one garden since we moved in and that’s over thirty years ago. They are looking might puny. So pull out the variety store specials and replace them with a couple of really good ones. There are some interesting companion flowers that can be planted with them. Delphiniums, daisies, lavender, alyssum, there are some good possibilities. I think we’re going to put a climbing rose on one of the trellises, something else on the other (not sure what) and string the beans between the trellises and the fence.

 

I’ve been leafing through a book called The Northwest Herb Lover’s Handbook by Mary Preus. She has some really good ideas for themed herb gardens and some good directions on preparing the beds and what goes well in each location. It isn’t all going to happen this year. There is also a small selection of recipes, some fantastic photos and detailed backgrounds on about fifty herbs that grow well in this part of the country. The descriptions include how to use them in cooking and for healing. Surprising how many common plants from dill to lavender to thyme that not only smell and taste good but can help keep you healthy as well. I’m looking forward to being mom’s garden apprentice.

 

This rose is called Don Juan. It's a dark red climber. But they don't show the foliage, darn.

 

 

 

And this one is called Compassion. It looks pink in the picture but the description describes shades of apricot, copper and gold.

 

 

So, I guess a trip to the Rose Gardens near St. Paul is in order around Memorial Day. It's a beautifully shaped bloom, but I guess I'd like to see it doing it's thing before we plant it. Either that or somebody got their pictures mixed up. If this isn't what the website says it is, then I want to know, because it's really pretty.

 

Oh, and the pictures are from The Heirloom Roses website. They have some beautiful gardens, too.