Welcome to my garden. We are in Zone 6. This pictorial garden diary will be added to from time to time, so for those of you who are interested, just scroll down to see the latest of what is happening in and at Home Farm Herbery in Munfordville, KY. Also as you scroll down, you will discover links to gardening articles I have written that may help you as a gardener.

Here we offer gardening tips and ideas. We also welcome any gardening news, ideas, tips or photos from your garden. email them to us and upon review we will publish them here if we think the content will interest our readers. We may even create a whole new gardening page just for you! Send to askarlene@scrtc.com

Arlene’s Gardening Diary for 2004 with tons of gardening articles. Below is a sample of some of the articles.

Growing Raspberries and Blackberries? Here is an article I wrote. , also Caring for Crape Myrtle, Deer Resistant plants and trees. “Drying Flowers” , Here’s how to make a wildlife garden., How to Make Your own Liquid Potpourri and other good stuff! ,Growing Roses ,Dividing Daffodils ,Planting bulbs. ,

February 16, 2005

Here we are the first of the year. Not much color in the garden, so if you want to see beautiful flowers, just click on the link above for the 2004 diary. Also many, many gardening articles and how to are in there.

The weather teases us with warm days and cold nights here in our part of Kentucky and the gardens are still bleak and bare. Yet I have all ready taken one of my birthday checks last week and bought 12 new roses for the garden even though last fall I said “NO MORE”!

With that in mind and the fact that most of the Cottage Garden was cemented over in 2004 so this 70 year old gal can cope with it, I spent some time trying to find the best arrangements of plants for container gardening.

Right now I have planned 3 very large pots. All will be planted with bulbs. The first pot will have 1 Dahlia “Fascination”, 1 Deum “Brilliant” and 1 Tradescantia “Perrine’s Pink”. This is a pink themed jardinair and these should flower from June through November.

Pot number 2 will contain 2 Canna “Salmon Pink”, 1 Sidalcea “Elsie Heugh”, and 1 Dahlia “Park Princess”. This is also a pink themed jardinair and these should flower from July to November.

The third pot is a blue themed jardinair and will contain 2 Astibe “Myethyst”, 1 Calla “Anneke” and 1 Agapanthus “Donau”. These should bloom from June through August. Many of my remaining large pots will contain my beloved geraniums in many, many colors and varities.

Color is arguably the most prominent factor in a garden design and often the first one considered. Good garden design involves knowing how to combine colors so that the final product has a cohesive and pleasing effect.

As an artist, the color wheel comes into play as the colors are arranged by their relationships to each other, in a progression. Violet-red to Red to Orange-Red to Orange to Yellow-Orange to Yellow and so on, in the same order as they appear in the spectrum. Most modern color wheels only contain 12 colors, while there are many more subtleties in nature However, it is a good tool to begin to train one’s eye to see the relationships between colors and how they transform and play off of one another.

While knowing color vocabulary isnít necessary to successfully working with color, learning some key terms can help one make sense of color combining. (read more)

March 1st, 2005

After an incredibly mild winter and especially February which is usually cold here, March came in like a lion, so hopefully it will go out like a lamb. Mother Nature decided to blow big winds late February 28th afternoon and then she dropped the temperature down to about 27 which seemed colder with the wind. We awoke on March 1st to see light snow flurries, some wind, the ground covered in white, and the temperature at 26 degrees. It continued to snow all day, nothing like a Northern N.Y. snow, but enough to make us turn the heat up here. Believe it or not we usually heat this whole big house with only the gas fireplace in the great room. Oh well, I am anxious for spring. We have roses to plant and patio pots to start. Also the lavender seeds need to be started in the greenhouse.

However, We are grateful for the mild weather of February because we had a lot of moving stuff around between buildings. I have just written a good article on starting your own organic plants from seed. Read more

March 5, 2005

The day is glorious and it urged me to go out and spread some mulch where it is needed. I need to keep reminding myself that we will still have cold and freezing nights yet. Some of the more courageous hyacinth are peeking out, plus lots of miniature daffodils and iris. The crocus greet us each morning also. These need little or no work. Just divide them every 3 years or so. But there are lots of annuals that I enjoy and I keep thinking about all those people in the world who keep saying they don’t have a green thumb. Nonsense. They either don’t want the work that goes with gardening or just think they can’t grow anything. I know of 16 fool proof seeds that will give you the greatest joy and with that in mind I came in an wrote this article called

Just sow and grow!

March 9th, 2005

Today was a nice bright, calm day in between a succession of blustery, overcast days. A day to dream ahead as to what to do for this season’s gardens here at Home Farm Herbery. Also to give some serious consideration to what a novice gardener with limited time and space could do with veggies. With that in mind, I came up with what I would do and perhaps it might work for you. I call this little article More easy growing ideas.

March 18th, 2005

Friday was a magical day, being sunny, bright and warm with a slight wind. I got a lot of my work, done, including my housework, errands and work for Carl. Finally, by 1 p.m. I said the heck with all this and I went outside to work awhile, ending up in the greenhouse where I started 2 big pots of Caladium, 4 pots of hanging begonias and 6 patio pots. Perhaps the gardening Gods will be smiling on me and them and the newly planted bulbs and tubers will prosper during the next few weeks. Pictures are above of some of what I planted.

March 30th, 2005

I am finally get some of the dead wood and leaves out of the gardens. I hired Kane today and he mixed the soil and manure which has gotten to heavy for me to do. He filled up all the raised beds that needed to be filled and I will be able to plant them now. This past week I was able to remove some of the rose bushes that didn’t make it through the winter. Two of them were antique ones that had been doing their thing for a few years, but for some reason decided to give up. More on Roses.

This time of year always reminds me of the poem we had to learn in school when I was a child. William Wadsworth says it all here.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

He sees the daffodil flower as a representation of everything sprightly and jovial. The sight of the dancing daffodil flower leaves such an imprint of cheer and glee on his mind that whenever he sits gloomy, he finds inspiration and joy from the memories of the daffodils. The smile of the daffodil flower almost becomes an inner voice which drives away his loneliness.

Here are some good tips regarding daffodils. Read More.

The grape hyacinths, daffodils, large hycinths and a few tulips are up all over the place. The colors of spring and easter are blooming in the gardens. The Forsytha is trying to blossom and all the Cleveland and Bradford Pears along our drive way are getting ready to burst forth and give us a fine look of a European Allee!

March 31, 2005

I planted some African Violets in those new double pots I was given as a gift awhile back. The bottom pot is glazed and the insert is glazed on top to match the bottom, while the bottom on the insert is unglazed in order for the water to be absorbed into the insert as needed. While African Violets will tolerate the relatively dry air found in most homes, they prefer fairly high humidity. To help increase the moisture in the air, place your African Violet pots on a layer of pebbles in a shallow, watertight tray with water. As the water in the tray evaporates, it will raise the humidity around the plants. Add water as needed, but don’t let the water come in contact with the bottom of the pots.

I did some repotting of what was left of the Christmas Rosemary after I pruned it beyond recognition. Annual repotting (either in the early spring or early fall) helps to freshen your plant’s soil, restoring organic matter and nutrients. Plus, it allows you to upgrade your existing pot to a larger size to allow for root expansion and growth. National Repot Your Plant Day is April 3rd or 6th depending on which line you read on the Miracle gro site. Regardless, repotting is important.

I repotted the cherry tomato plants and here is one of them as you can see. I put some stakes for them to climb up and putting an inverted clay pot on top of the stakes not only gives some charm, but avoids having to tie the stakes together.

I forgot to put vermiculite or perlite into my top soil the other day when I did some patio pots. Hopefully those bulbs and tubers will still survive. Believe it or not, those little white specs in your potting soil are actually a mineral called perlite. They help improve aeration and prevent soil compaction so roots have room to grow. Signs of a plant in need of repotting: if plant is “rootbound” (roots winding around inside of pot), roots are growing out of drainage holes, bottom leaves are turning yellow and dropping off, potting soil is faded and crusty.

I usually do not have a lot of inside plants around, simply because indoor plants in terra cotta pots need more frequent watering than those in glazed or plastic pots. This is because the clay is porous and will draw moisture away out of the soil. A good thing to remember when repotting, choose a pot that is only 1 size larger than the existing pot. For example if your plant is in a 5″ pot, repot into nothing larger than 6″ pot. A pot that is too large can lead to over-watering.

I finally got all the roses into the ground. I hired Luke Kenny to do the digging and hauling and he did an excellent job. I also hired Savannah to remove a lot of dried stuff out of the garden beds and she did a fine job also. More on Roses.

We lost 3 of our antique climbing roses and we replaced them with 4 new ones.

April 3rd, 2005

I planted 2 small raised beds of snow peas and 2 of French radishes. I am having a heck of a time finding either seed for Roma Tomatoes (plum tomatoes) or even plants.

April 4th, 2005

We drove out to Miller’s Nursery this am looking for Roma tomato plants. They have them, but would not sell for about 3 weeks yet. I am glad to know where to find them. While there we picked up 36 assorted geraniums, 12 wave petunias, 6 spikey type plants I never can remember the name of and now all I have to do is get them into the patio containers. We also order all the window box plants and will pick up in 2 or 3 weeks.

April 5th, 2005

I got the onion sets in on Tuesday and reworked a new Mediterranean herb bed and got 6 new lavender plants in. I had started them from seed and nursed them throughout the winter and they are a good size. Hopefully, Mother Nature will smile on them and take it from there. Read more for Growing and Care of Lavender.

Again, as every Spring, Linda’s 3 cats raise havoc with the newly planted veggie beds. They love to do their stuff in that new soft dirt and dig holes to cover it up, thus losing all the seeds that were just planted.

Here is a good article for planting a vegetable garden.

April 6, 2005

I got quite a few patio pots planted and arranged out in the Cottage Garden today. Working in the greenhouse always gives me great pleasure. We got the water hooked back up today at the well house and it was a lot nicer than hauling buckets of water. One of the hoses needs to be mended, but that can be done quickly.

April 9, 2005

The temperatures are in the low to mid 70′s during the days. We seem to be getting a couple of days of April showers and a couple of days of bright sunny days. Perfect! Today I was able to get 4.5 hrs. in the garden and that is pretty good for this old girl. I found 2 climbing Tropicana rose bushes in my travels and 1 climbing Peace and I got them planted this a.m. Also got all the front flower boxes cleaned out and replanted with some of my favorite annuals, Zinnas, Nasturiums, Alaska Shasta Daisy. Also put in some cock combs. Plus I was able to make up some more container plants.

The countryside is busting out with color. Our orchard is blooming. Here is one of our trees. The Forsythia is in all it’s glory. The Dogwoods will be popping out soon.

In the early evening we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy the peace and solitude of this lovely place. We toasted it with a bottle of champagne and ate left over cold pizza. After this hour or so interlude, Carl went back to finishing up arranging the new tool shed and I went back into the Cottage Garden for another hour or so of work.

April 10, 2005

Another glorious day! I was able to get all my inside chores done between 6 am and 8 am and get myself into the gardens. Today was the day to clean out two whole sections that had the creeping weeds in them. They look so much better.

Afterwards I was able to get into the greenhouse and start pots of cilentro/corianda, spicy bush globe basil, cinnamon basil, lemon balm, oregano and some Rutgers tomato seeds I found among the packages of herbs. All the herbs are annuals except lemon balm and once the plants are large enough that perennial will go out into its own section of the Mediterranean herb beds.

The patio pots of cucumbers were taken out of the greenhouse today and set about the Cottage Garden. I finally found some Roma tomatoes and got 2 patio pots of them set out, plus 2 hanging baskets of large cherry tomatoes.

Carl got the big wind chimes repaired and put back into the pergola and he leveled up the rear pond and put the fountain fish in. It is lovely to hear it again. He also repaired one of my garden hoses that had weakened over the winter.

I can see that the Lilac bushes are getting ready to burst into bloom. Several Lilacs were planted in 1999 here at Home Farm. The one at the end of the rose arbor is very big, while all the others are 1/10th the size. Here is some information on planting Lilacs.

The Azalea bushes are also getting ready to burst into all their glory. They love the shady side of the house and do well all down the arbor. Here is some good information on planting Azaleas.

April 11, 2005

Another bright, beautiful day and I cleared out spaces in the Cottage Garden for annuals. My most favorite annual is the Zinnia as you can see from last year’s picture. I put in loads of those, plus some Alaska Shasta Daisies which are a perennial. Also put in some English daisies, Lakesspurs, and I have some Delphinium seeds soaking. However, I don’t know whether I can get in before our predicted heavy rains for the next two days. Read more about Zinnia care and planting.

Someone asked me the other day whether or not I had ever grown Ranunculus and the answer is no! However, we do have some great information on the Growing and Caring of Ranunculus.

April 16, 2005

I am plugging away at the garden and getting more and more weeded out and new annuals and perennial seeds put in. I hired Savannah and Luke Kenny for 3 hours on Saturday morning and they helped me get a lot done. We got a good lick on the Asiatic and Oriental Lily area that had been evaded with spearmint and peppermint. What a mess. We got 2/3′s of it cleared out and I cut the bottom off of 6 large plastic buckets and dug holes. I set the buckets in the holes and filled them up with good potting soil. I then planted delphiniums in those pots. When I was done, I put fine wood mulch around the pots and in the cleaned out area. Hopefully if there are any mint roots still left in the area, they will not be able to invade the delphiniums because of the plastic “walls” around them. Do yourself a favor. If you ever want peppermint or spearmint, put it in large pots. Never in your garden. The correct potting soil is most important for patio planters or any kinds of pots. Read more.

I then finally got my old favorite wheel barrow filled with dirt and planted red, white and blue wave petunias in it.

April 20, 2005

I got some zinnas planted toay in the Cottage Garden. A good companion to Zinnia in the sunny garden — and one of the few plants that’s as easy to grow! — is Cosmos. Now, the only trouble you’re going to have with Cosmos is deciding where to put it, because it’s so good for your vegetable garden (it attracts the “good bugs” that eat pests and keep your veggie plants healthier and stronger) that you’ll want it scattered throughout, yet you also need a big, colorful stand for the annual beds, where butterflies flock to it by the dozen! Luckily, Cosmos is economical and there’s plenty to go around! Cosmos actually grows and blooms better in soil that’s a bit dry and less than rich, so don’t overdo it preparing the soil. Scatter the seed for a natural look (you’ll thin them when the plants come up) or space the seeds about 9 inches apart in full sun. They sprout in about a week, and grow like Topsy! I love the pastel colors and the way they sway in the breeze. I ordered some today, plus some perennials.

Victorian Flowers are often thought of as just roses. But they are much, much more. Read more.

April 21, 2005

Another bright, beautiful day. It was time to get around and prop up all the long rose cames from the climbers. Carl had made me a neat long metal rod with hook on the end and I can basically do this chore now without getting on any kind of ladder.

I borrowed Glynis’ electric weed whacker and Carl’s longest extension cord and got in the all the places the mowing crew misses. For years I have been digging in the cracks of the stone paths, or hiring someone to do it. I have poured gallons of vinegar on those cracks, weed killer and who know what else. I give up! I will just weed whack those paths from now on.

April 22, 2005

Starting raining early this am. We were given a tornado watch warning early this am and we even had a hail warning. The rain stopped by 9 a.m. and has been overcast all day. The temp had dropped from 69 to 50, but has gone back up to 74. I got a lot done in the gardens today. I planted 2 full beds of jumbo sun flower seeds. 3 full beds of zinnas. I was able to get the last to the weeding done in the Oriental and Asiatic Lily bed. I put down some weed block and loaded it up with mulch. I hope that helps get rid of a lot of mint that has invaded that area.

Boy’s in Blue! If you have someone you don’t like just give them a couple of packages of spearmint and peppermint and suggest they plant them in their garden. What a pain in the neck that stuff is. I keep checking my hanging baskets of begonias. Pretty slow.

The prediction for the next 5 days is colder here and going down to 32 degrees tomorrow night. Have we missed a whole season here? I hope not. The fruit trees have blossomed and the geraniums are up.

I was also able to get a lot of work done down in the Mediterranean herb beds.

If you live in zone 6 here are some tips for April gardening chores.

Cut back leggy Begonias in July and August for more flowers in September and October. While it’s too early in some areas to plant tender annuals, beds can be prepared for this year’s gardens. Transplant most annuals after danger of frost has passed. Mulch beds to reduce moisture loss and keep weeds from germinating.

Harden off annuals about a week before planting them in the garden. When buying annuals, look for plants with full, compact and healthy green growth. Turn the container upside down and remove the plant to make sure that the root system is vigorous, but not matted. Unless you really need to see bloom color, try to purchase plants with buds, but no flowers. Ask if the plants have been hardened off. If they have not been hardened off, you will need to do this before planting them.

Try using seed strips to make less work during spring planting. Rip or cut black and white (only) newspaper into one inch long strips. Using a glue made of 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup water, dab on just enough glue to adhere seeds to the strip at appropriate spacing. Roll these strips up and store in a cool, dry place until planting time.

Use fresh potting soil when planting containers. Fertilize annuals regularly according to product directions. Make sure the plants are not in need of water, or the fertilizer could burn them. Annuals need about an inch of water a week, either from rain or irrigation. Try watering once a week, soaking the soil to a depth of six to eight inches.

Trim plants overwintering indoors and start hardening them off. Plant flowering annuals like Floss Flower (Ageratum), Coleus, Geraniums, Impatiens, Begonias, and annual Salvias after danger of frost is passed. Stake tall annuals while the plants are still small. Cut flowers for fresh arrangements early in the morning.

April 23, 2005

Temperatures dropped today to unusually cool weather and high winds. Dropping to 31 tonight. We moved all the patio pots into the greenhouse and put an electric heater in there for over night. We turned off the next day, but kept the containers in there another day.

May 1, 2005

We are still experiencing very cold evenings, so everything is staying in the greenhouse. We missed bringing two patio pots of cucumbers in and they got wiped out.

May 5, 2005

Carl got out his propane propelled gas thrower and took to all the paths since the patio containers were still in the greenhouse. This baby does the job, but it is an overkill even with it turned down to the miniumum. I have such mixed emotions about this “garden tool”.

I love bringing the flowers inside! Whether it be a large or small arrangement, I just love making up something to make the inside of our home as beautiful as the gardens are. Arranging flowers is easy. Bring a splash of spring inside with fresh-cut flowers. Just don’t limit yourself to a predictable vase. Instead, try a large pictcher, a dainty teapot or an antique jar for a unique floral display. Read more about the Art of Floral Arrangements.

May 6, 2005

The past 2 days have been very warm and the evenings down to the mid 40′s the projections are for evenings in the 50′s so we brought everything out of the greenhouse again. The iris are starting to pop out. The smaller iris down the end of the raised beds have come and gone. However, the bearded iris are just starting to show. The dutch iris on the pergola side of the bunkhouse are being very perky and pretty this season.

We have two mighty peppers all ready in our patio pots. Also the rose arbor down along the side of the bunkhouse is enjoying the beauty of all the azaleas that blossomed, plus the bleeding hearts, both white and red, and the forget-me-nots.

I love holiday floral arrangements. Here is an article about Thanksgiving Floral Decorations.

May 8th, 2005

Mother’s day found us catching up on all the outside chores before the predicted rains come in tomorrow. I got several other patches cleaned out, and replanted. Trimmed some more trees and rose bushes. Carl and I got the last of the fertilizater stakes in the remaining part of the orchard we did not finish up last week. So the whole orchard is done.

I planted the 3 cyclamen in the rose arbor and put the pointseittas outside. These are from Chritmas and still in full bloom! The roses are starting to bloom all over the place now.

Amaryllis are easy to grow. Read more.

May 9, 2005

I got all the window boxes filled today. I get our flowers from an Amish garden center called Miller’s and little Mary Miller was telling me about her friend in Ohio who is an artist. That artist’s parents was a friend of Dave Thomas and Dave asked them to design the Wendy logo and to invest in his restaurant. They did the logo, but declined the investment because they thought it would never get off the ground. How little we know! At any rate the boxes are done and the Bearded Iris are coming up all over the place. The Clematis is starting to pop out all over the place. The strawberry patch has gotten away from me this year. We will be lucky to get anything. I don’t know which is in there more, weeds or berry blossoms. I could not get any help in to weed this out for me.

It is the time of year to think about bugs, especially the ones that eat all your plants. Instead of pesticides, think about plants that attract good bugs. Read more.

Kentucky’s state flower is the Golden Rod and I did not realize that it is also the state flower for Nebraska. To find your state flower click here.

While on the subject of state flowers, I decided to check out National flowers. Read More.

May 12, 2005

Today brought us the much needed showers for the gardens. The roses are great! They are starting to pop out all over the place. The peonies are also coming into bloom.

May 15, 2005

This past Thursday brought us the much needed showers for the gardens. The roses are great! They are starting to pop out all over the place. The peonies are also coming into bloom. Not only do we have Iris that looks like the one above, we have orange, pink, rust, black, and all kinds of colored Iris.

Does anyone know what this flower is? This is the 3rd season for it growing in one of my plant boxes and no one seems to know what it is, including me. The bumble bees seem to love it. It has blue flowers and they resemble sweet peas. However, they grow straight up very tall on stalks resembling stocks.

May 29, 2006

I finally got the last of the flower seeds planted down along both sides of the entrance to Home Farm. I planted a mixture of annuals and perennials. Plus loads of sunflowers.

May 31, 2005

Daily, the gardens prove they are living, changing pictures. Daily, the weeds let us know they are enjoying the gardens also. We have had a week of great weather. However, we will need watering soon. The patio pots require 2 waterings daily.

We have had our first tomatoes today from our patio pots. The cucumbers are all blossomed out. The herbs are going beserk. More about Container Gardening

The last of the lilacs bloomed this week. Many roses have come and gone and in the rose arbor that one antique rose on the side of the gift shop has come around the arbor trellises and across the front of the Bunkhouse, those making some of those climbing roses about 30 feet long at this point. The picture does not show it well with my little digital, but the whole front of the bunk house is ablaze with pink roses.

The old wheel barrow is pretty patriotic for Memorial day. We still have Iris and the rust colored ones are late bloomers giving us their beauty. The California poppies are showing off again. Everyone’s yards are ablaze with flowers. The cornflowers are popping up along side the roadside.

Here are some tips for things to do at this time of year in zone 6.

Transplant most annuals after danger of frost has passed. Mulch beds to reduce moisture loss and keep weeds from germinating. ï Harden off annuals about a week before planting them in the garden. ï When buying annuals, look for plants with full, compact and healthy green growth. Turn the container upside down and remove the plant to make sure that the root system is vigorous, but not matted. Unless you really need to see bloom color, try to purchase plants with buds, but no flowers. Ask if the plants have been hardened off. If they have not been hardened off, you will need to do this before planting them. ï Try using seed strips to make less work during spring planting. Rip or cut black and white (only) newspaper into one inch long strips. Using a glue made of 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup water, dab on just enough glue to adhere seeds to the strip at appropriate spacing. Roll these strips up and store in a cool, dry place until planting time. ï Use fresh potting soil when planting containers. ï Fertilize annuals regularly according to product directions. Make sure the plants are not in need of water, or the fertilizer could burn them. ï Annuals need about an inch of water a week, either from rain or irrigation. Try watering once a week, soaking the soil to a depth of six to eight inches. ï Trim plants overwintering indoors and start hardening them off. ï Plant flowering annuals like Floss Flower (Ageratum), Coleus, Geraniums, Impatiens, Begonias, and annual Salvias after danger of frost is passed. ï Stake tall annuals while the plants are still small. ï Cut flowers for fresh arrangements early in the morning.

June 6th, 2005

The weather has been in the mid to high 80′s for days now with threats of 30% thundershowers in the early evenings. I wish they would come. Glynis helped me move many of the veggie patio pots and containers into the rose arbor and other semi-shade places yesterday. The KY sun is just too much for them even with watering twice a day. Hopefully this will help, especially when Glynis has to deal with them for 3 weeks while we are off to Spain for a holiday.

Today Carl brought in a big handful of ripe, red, warm, juicy, freshly picked raspberries. They were the first of the season and were a glorious treat.

June 7th, 2005

I finally got my little wind breaker fence finished for one of the rose gardens. Carl attached some of my bird feeders on the posts. The birdies keep thinking they are bird houses and try to get in. I will not fill them until the winter.

We are getting more cherry tomatoes each day and even the containers of Rutgers are full of green tomatoes. We are enjoying fresh peppers also.

July 8th, 2005

We are back from out trip and are just as exhausted as when we left. The gardens grew many tall weeds while we were gone and Kate, Marty, Lucas, and Savannah Kenny came over this Friday afternoon and cleaned out the whole back patio as a special treat for us. There are no special words for thanks to these guys.

We have tons of basil and here is some info on freezing fresh basil and some recipes.

July 29th, 2005

The heat broke the other morning for a spell and it was just cloudy enough for us to get out and do some serious weed whacking! The North gardens had gotten quite crazy again. So I said to Carl just do everything. My gardening days are numbered anyway. At least it is a lot neater.

Our plum trees and grape arbors are loaded with fruit which we are sharing with the Japanese beetles. We do not spray with pesticides or the more expensive organic sprays which we can no longer afford and since we no longer can, jam or jelly it, that is fine with us. The black berries came and went. Even though there are a few stragglers. We had raspberries, but they never got into the house when Carl the picker went to gather them. Of course after the weed whacking fiasco of the strawberries, the only kind we had this year were the kind we bought at the store.

August 17th, 2005

It has been hot, hot, hot! However, I am very grateful that I am still above ground to complain about it. I started taking a medication that prohibits one from being out in the sun, so I am gardening at the crack of dawn each morning and am still working on patches of weeds.

August 19th, 2005

Got some roses moved and planted and some weeding done.

August 21, 2005

Got some lavender planted and some weeding done. Working in half light is limited.

August 23, 2005

Planted all the fall mums, and of course more weeding.

August 25, 2005

Ditto with some bulbs I accidently pulled out while vigorously weeding. Replanted some lavender plants.

September 21, 2005

Been too hot to do anything outside except water everything and pull a weed here and there. However, the weather is breaking as the nights are getting cooler. All the antique roses came today and we leave to help my brother George tomorrow. So I got 4 of the climbers planted. Planted the Don Juan, the Reve d’Or, the Claire Jacquier, and the Awakening. I also was able to plant one of the shrubs Archduke Charles. Planting them is not just the deal. Clearing out the places they are to go, preparing the soil, planting, watering mulching, etc. Very hard in my old age. I put the rest in wheel barrows with water to hold them until we return on the 26th.

The Reve díOr is a Noisette from 1869

French for “dream of gold”, this lovely, graceful climber lives up to its name with ease. Nearly thornless it is useful in close quarters. It is especially recommended for use on porch pillars, where the pendulous, globular flowers can be seen and appreciated more easily. Once trained up and established ëRÍve díOrí will display for its admirers a wealth of large, loosely double, buff yellow roses with a rich Noisette perfume. It blooms all season, but we enjoy its fall performance best. this one climbs from 10 to 19 ft and is a fragrant repeating rose good for zones 6 to 9.

The Awakening is a large Flowering Climber from 1992

This rose was lost in commerce but has since been introduced by Peter Beales in 1990. It is a wonderful sport of ‘New Dawn’ exact in every way save for twice the number of petals. The pale pink blooms are large and show off nicely against the glossy, leathery leaves. and is good from zone 5 to 9 growing 12 to 20 feet with a great fragrance.

The Claire Jacquier is a Noisette from 1888 and is a vigorous climber to 20 feet, this rose bears clusters of yolk yellow buds that open to blousing, double, cream-colored blooms. The rapid growth and lush foliage combine to make this a lovely climber.

The Archduke Charles is from Prior to 1837

Thomas Rivers called this rose “changeable as the chameleon”. The full, very shapely flowers open with crimson outer petals and neat pink centers, then darken to solid crimson. The heat of the sun speeds the process: what appears to be a bi-color hedge in spring and fall will be all red roses in mid-summer. The neat, erect bush and constant bloom help make this one of Antique Rose Emporium’s most popular varieties.

The Don Juan is a large flowering climber going from 10 to 16 feet and is good in zones 5 to 9. A very fragrant repeating rose.

September 27, 2005.

We got back yesterday and was too pooped to plant! However, everything looked good in the wheelbarrows. I was able to prepare the area and plant the Cramoisi Superieur, and the Martha Gonzales, both a China shrub.

China roses is one of the East’s greatest revealed secret secured by western civilization was neither gunpowder nor printing but the everblooming rose. These new roses brought with them two characteristics heretofore unknown to the west: yellow flowers and remontancy. One of the best pink forms of R. chinensis to pass into European hands after 1752 was know by many names including Old Blush or Parson’s Pink China. Until the introduction of China roses, the Europeans knew just one species with some bloom in the fall. The rest of their roses were spring bloomers. Understandably, they were quite excited when the reblooming trait of these roses was bred into many of its descendants which include Bourbons, Noisettes and Polyanthas.

China roses can become large bushes at maturity and are likely to live a very long time. They are used as hedges, specimen plants and in borders. Chinas can tolerate heat that makes them well suited for growing in the South.

The Cramoisi Superieur is from 1832

This fine old rose has velvety, rich crimson flowers with a silvery reverse and a deliciously fruity fragrance. The double, cupped form of the blossoms is distinctive, keeping with the rounded shape even when fully open. Like all true Chinas, it is very nearly everblooming in a warm climate. The leaves are small, neatly shaped, dark green and very healthy. The plant has an upright habit and, if left unpruned, will slowly grow to over five feet tall and equally wide. ëCramoisi SupÈrieurí or ëAgrippina,í as it is sometimes still called, is one of the old roses that can often be found in country gardens of Texas and the South. It is a valuable and beautiful landscape plant that provides almost continuous color.

The Martha Gonzales is from 1984

Bright scarlet, neat single flowers open flat to decorate a bushy shrub whose neat foliage has a dark red tinge. This is a handsome plant, and due to its size serves as an excellent choice for a low hedge or border. Our original cuttings come from a Navasota gardener, Martha Gonzales, whose display of ëMrs. Dudley Crossí, ëOld Blushí and this rose could be seen from blocks away. ëMartha Gonzalesí has become very popular with area landscapers for mass plantings and large drifts.

September 28, 2005

I got a whole area cleared out and found and removed 3 roses that did not make it. Redid several roses on the south side where the pergola is. Then I was able to plant the Mutabillis, another China shrub.

The Mutabilis and is prior to 1894

This most interesting rose was once sold as ëTipo Idealeí, and it is ideally suited to illustrate the typical China trait of darkening with age, instead of fading. Nowhere is that trait more visible than in the flowers of ëMutabilisí, whose single petals open sulfur yellow, changing through orange to a rich pink and finally crimson. Bright, silky flowers of all these colors will often be on display at the same time, looking as if a group of multi-colored butterflies has settled on the bush. This aspect earned ëMutabilisí its common nameñ”The Butterfly Rose”. A healthy, well-branched shrub, ëMutabilisí will easily grow to 6 feet, making a fine specimen plant whose showy flowers are accented by the bronze color of the new growth. This is a very popular rose due to its distinct coloration

September 29, 2005

Great day for working outside. I was able to plant the Old Blush. which is from 1752

Also known as ëCommon Monthlyí, ëCommon Blush Chinaí, ëOld Pink Dailyí, ëOld Pink Monthlyí, and ëParsonsí Pink Chinaí, the myriad of names of this semi-double hybrid of R. chinensis attest to the friendly familiarity with which it has been grown for over two hundred years. One of the most common of old roses, it is also one of the most valuable, for it has passed on its incredible blooming prowess to countless cultivars during the history of hybridization in the West. ëOld Blushí has medium, semi-double, lilac pink flowers in loose clusters. They flush darker pink in the sun and are followed by large orange hips. It blooms so steadily that it is not a very good cut flower: the blossoms drop quickly to make room for their successors. The bush is full and upright in habit, growing slowly to over 5 feet, with neat, healthy foliage. Perfume is soft, but fruity and pleasant. Whether used in a hedge (which can be spectacular), as a specimen, or in a border, ëOld Blushí should be treated simply as a flowering shrub and not fussed over.

I planted the Arethusa which is Arethusa a China from 1903

Arethusa fills a real niche – a vivid apricot colored rose with China-like growth tendencies. The blooms are well formed and are produced freely in sprays throughout the growing season. Good fragrance and foliage are but a few of this roseís attributes.

September 30 2005

It was very cool this am. So cool last night I had to shut all the French doors and windows about 6 pm. However, it was a grand garden morning and I got out in to the Northwest rose bed which had become buried in weeds during our Spain trip. I was able to clear out about 1/3 of this big area and will tackle the remaining in thirds the next following mornings. These are all hybrid tea roses in here and one big bush.

October 7, 2005

Now that the weather has cooled down a little I can get around outside better. I have replanted many of the small mum seedlings into larger containers and put out by the bird fence in front of the NW rose garden. I also got the larger mums repotted and they are looking good. I love the fall.

October 10 2005

I have been harvesting chocolate mint tea, thyme, broadleaf sage, lavender, and whatever else is growing out there. The drying has started and each year I try to find an easier and quicker way to dry them out.

October 13 2005

I am finally able to get back out into the large NW rosebed which has had 3 ft of grass growing among the roses since we left and returned from Spain. A big job here. I was able to get the last half of it completed. Then I was able to mulch them all up for the winter. It looks great out there now.

October 14, 2005

We are getting Indian Summer days and nights. I was able to get out and tackle the most western flower bed. The moles have just about eaten all the tulip bulbs that were in it. I have replaced a few and have added an assortment of daffodil bulbs, but nothing like the hundreds we started with a few years ago.

We haven’t had any rain in about 8 days, so I find myself watering what needs to be watered, i.e. the window boxes, patio containers, mums, and all the roses which are giving us their best and final shot with tons of blossoms all over the place.

While watering I got to thinking about a plant called Witch Hazel. It is an interesting and fasinatating tree. Read more.

October 15 2005

A beautiful, bright, sunny morning. Great temperature to be working outdoors and I took advantage of that and cleaned out to two most western flower beds. I should move those calla lillies that I found hidden among the tall weeds. The one lilac bush is really taking off and about 4 feet high. I planted about 6 of them 6 years ago in various places and 1 of them is very big and tall. I have to keep cutting the width back on one side. 2 others are good and sturdy, but 3 of them are there, alive , but nothing to crow about. Must be the area soil.

October 18, 2005,

Another bright and beautiful day. This morning I cleaned out the old tulip beds and planted bags and bags of mixed tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, and some giant allium bulbs. Lots of hard work. Hopefully, the moles won’t dine on these this winter and we will see wonderful rewards for our efforts.

October 22, 2005

Since we do not heat the greenhouse, most things die in it during early January. We decide we needed something economical to heat a small space that might give us some organically grown tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce during the winter. We came up with the idea of a “greenhouse within a greenhouse”. A covered hot bed heated with two 100 watt bulbs. We are in the experimentation stage and will let you know how it goes.

October 24, 2005

This day finds us winterizing the outside watering systems or in other words, draining and shutting everything down. We are at that stage where there might not be a frost for week or it might just come on tomorrow night. The roses belie this fact and they are giving us their last bit of glory.

October 25, 2005

Today we brought about 80% of the patio pots and containers into the greenhouse. We hate to see these lovely geraniums leave their posts thoughout the gardens. The zinnia are still strong, plus the repeating roses, and the cannas are going crazy by multiplying by the hordes. We even had one yellow Iris decide to rebloom again! Each side of the pond accidently got 3 bulbs 2 springs ago and now they are just about blocking out everything.

We will leave the containers of mums out as long as we can. We have many in the ground that have really outshined themselves this year. We will be shutting down the ponds this coming weekend and taking the fish fountain out for another winter. Each time we think it is the last, it seems to survive another winter by being on the screened in patio. Now I will have to go around and collect dozens of ceramic and eathernware garden items and store them away from the winter rain, snow and cold. This way they will not crack or break. So should you have similar decorations in your garden, live in zone 6, then this is the time to remove them or they will crack and break this winter.

October 28, 2005

We had our first light frost during the night. It did not hurt the roses and flowers remaining.

October 29, 2005

We had our first heavy frost and all the flowers are gone. The mowing guys came to finish up today and we told them that was the last of the mowing until next April.

October 30, 2005

Second heavy frost and daylight savings time so it was light when I woke up at 6 am. I guess it is green house gardening time now.

November 7, 2005

Our hot box inside the greenhouse seems to be doing well and the tomatoes and peppers are blooming.

November 17, 2005

We woke up at 5:30 a.m. today to 25 degree weather. We have had a month of Indian summer along with a tornado that wiped out 83 homes, 11 business, 1 school, and 2 government buildings in our little village of Munfordville. However, it looks like the nights are going to be cold from here on out.

November 19, 2005

The hot boxes are working really well with just the 2 – 100 watt bulbs and everything is flourishing well.

November 20, 2005

This morning we started out with 66 degree temperature and by 8 am we had 72 degrees temperature and winds about 50 mph. Blowing everything straight out and took the ends of the green house roof off. By noon we lost our power. Our phones don’t work when the power is off so we had to run into town and let them know. It came back on about 3 pm. The rains finally came and the wind finally calmed down to about 10 or 20 mph. Boys what weather. Jeff and Pam’s American flag is in tatters.

When I went out to clean up some of the garden that had been flattened, I discovered that we had lost one whole side of the greenhouse roof and have a hole in the roof about the size of two bath tubs! Oh well, next spring we will deal with that. We will probably lose all those tomatoes and peppers in the hot bed experimental project I have going on.

December 6, 2005

We had our first snow flurries and icy roads. The leaves are off all the trees and what little water is left in the pond fountains is frozen. The bird feeders need to be filled up faster now as many of the birds are coming back again. The seed catalogs are starting to come in again.

December 13, 2005

Yesterday at Lowes, I came across all their $5.98 bulbs marked down to $1.00 a package. I picked up 1 package each of Lord Lieutenant Anemone, mixed colors of miniature Iris, Mixed colors of Dutch Iris, Puschkinia Libanotica, Dutch Iris Elegant Beauty,Calla Lilies Aethiopica, purple sensation Dutch Iris and 2 packages of mixed colors Freesia. Most packages had 20 to 28 bulbs in them.

Today , since it was warm, but overcast outside, I planted them where Buck (the now missing dog) had pulled up a whole bunch of weed blocker. I just laid them where I wanted them, poured four 40 pound bags of top soil on them, spread it out and then poured a couple of bags of mulch on top of that. So we will see what we get in the spring.

I also picked up a big bag of Paper White Narcissus and I will try to plant them in a shallow bowl and see whether or not they do anything for me.

While wandering around that section I came across a whole shelf of plants marked down and some were pretty weary. However, there was about 8 or 10 perfectly good Cyclamen plants in 4 inch pots with lots of good color, leaves, some flowers and tons and tons of buds all set to go. These were $3.98 and marked down to 25 cents each! Oh well, I could not resist that bargain. So I bought 2 white, 1 pink and 1 purple. Today I repotted them all into one big pot and they look lovely in the great room.

I do not have much room for inside plants and would usually put this in the center of our dining room table. That space is taken up by a beautiful pointsettia that Glynis gave us for Christmas. This one has been sprayed blue and is really an eye catcher.

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Home Farm Herbery offers Gourmet Blends of Organically grown herbs and spices.

What we don’t have Mountain Rose Herbs will.

Come and stop in for a visit or email us at askarlene@scrtc.com to share gardening stories or tips.

Do you have any information or an article that you might think would interest our readers of this page? If so, email it to us at askarlene@scrtc.com and put the words GARDENING ARTICLE article in the subject line. Upon review, if we think our readers would like it, we will publish here.

Do you live and garden in zone 6? Then check out our tips on things to do this month.

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