Choice Morsels

  Thanks to a garden club, I've learned how to better care for my rose bush and this year it's thriving! It's thick, bushy and covered in blooms! This is a Julia Child Floribunda Rose. I selected it because I wanted a smaller size rose for my front flower bed and this one grows a max of 3 feet tall and wide. I learned from the garden club the proper time to trim a rose and that's what has made it so bushy. Roses here in Northwest Florida need to be trimmed and shaped the week of Valentine's Day, Feb 14.  The right time will vary from growing zone to growing zone in different places where it's colder, but the correct time in any zone is evident when leaf buds are showing along the stems with even a few small leaves beginning to pop out. The other important thing is buying some Rose Food and fertilizing according to directions.  Tons are dark blue Bachelor Buttons are blooming adjacent to this yellow rose, so the show of blue and yellow is quite striking!  

Today's Garden Pic is a nice shot of one of my Julia Child roses. I saw the Western sun was putting a glow on the upper petals from behind and ran in quick for my camera! Named after the famous chef, I chose it because of it's restricted height: 36 inches. It's located in my front bed.  

A Photo of something new I added to my front bed this year: a  "Julia Child" rose. This shot is from earlier in spring, but it's continued to bloom. It's a yellow rose that often blooms in clusters of 2 or 3. It's a floribunda with full, well petaled heads. It's presently in a growth stage for a fresh round of blooming.    Among my 4 O'clocks, this peppermint colored one is one of my favorites. It's usually a mix of white fushia-spattered blossoms and solid fushia blossoms. I found a young one and moved it today back to the area near the Night-Blooming Jasmine. (Here in the South where the ground doesn't freeze, 4 O'clocks become perennials, returning yearly from root.) Finally, my newest garden addition: a gardening kneeler/seat. It's pretty cool. It can be flipped this direction to sit on or flipped upside down to serve as a kneeler and the legs become handles to help get up. It's...