Thorny Bannisters

Don’t do this. I didn’t have the heart to remove it but was scared to death someone was going to sue me over thorn attacks. I get hair brained ideas sometimes and figured I would attach it to a trellis somehow grow it up over the top of the porch. The canes would not cooperate at all and this is what resulted. I knew it had thorns but it wasn’t suppose to get so close to the bannister either. 

These are Don Juan Climbing Roses and just beautiful but the thorns are brutal. I planted them both at the same time and  they grew at equal rates. These pictures were taken at my former home and I will not be planting a Don Juan at my new home. I just didn’t like it when it wasn’t blooming. It had few leaves and the thorns looked uninviting. I would plant it along a split rail fence if I ever purchased one. Now that would be  a beauty. 

What could possibly be wrong with this you ask? 

This! This is a full time watering job! These super plants by Proven Winners are incredible bloomers. They require fertilizing weekly with a weak water soluble mix to keep them looking this good. You’ll be watering regular 2 to 3 times a day in the heat of summer. Flush the pots with lots of water to remove built up fertilizer salts about once a month. Let the water run for awhile and that will do the trick. Extra salts cause the root cells to collapse. 

I will still grow these wonderful ladies but there will be more dirt in the container and maybe less plants. It would probably be more successful to have these on a drip system. They do better with a slow drip than a watering all at once. 

I had some success last year with a 2 liter coke bottle inserted so that a slow drip was created. I stuck a very small pin hole in the top and one in the cap at the bottom. It would use all that water in one day and then I’d refill in the morning. Additional watering was required but at least it never dried out.

Drying out a hanging basket is the number one reason that the baskets never reach maturity. The one above was babied all summer. I didn’t have to deadhead because Proven Winner petunias are cultivated that way.  Don’t let these super plants get thirsty. 

This is pretty I know but look at that Pineapple Sage in the top container. Was I nuts? I grew another Pineapple sage this year in my vegetable garden and it was about 4×4 feet tall. I did transplant this to my garden and it didn’t like it. It did not like the roots being upset. I found out also that it likes a moist well drained spot just like I provided for it this year. I use to look out my kitchen window at this poor little root bound victim and then go give it a drink…..about 4 times a day. 

These are all live and learn experiences. You get a bit better every year. One reason I like reading garden blogs is their communication about mistakes. New gardeners need to know that we still make them. You also need to know that I’m going to continue to make them because I like to experiment and push the limits of what a plant can or can not do. 

But always and I do mean always, your soil must be tip top and amended properly or you won’t be able to experiment at all. You’ll forever fight those growing conditions unless you just learn to amend properly. 

I am nuts about the tall verbena called Garden Verbena. It grows on a tall stem and adds lots of character to the cottage garden. It’s on my must have list this year and it will reseed. In fact you’ll be picking it out so it doesn’t take over. But I think the good far outweighs the work.

Chop, Chop, Chop

All summer long they bloomed and bloomed, never needed deadheading, were resistant to disease, and the deer didn’t like them. My beds are amended with lots of leaf mulch, Espoma Plant Tone and Rose Tone,  mushroom compost( at least a yr old), and fine bark chips where needed to break up the clay soil. The roots of this plant are very fiberous. They need loose well amended soil to thrive. They will grow to their mature height in one season. I rarely have a problem with aphids or other rose diseases. I have chosen not to use any pesticides or insectisides as the butterflies love my envy zinnias that grow near by.

The fist year these roses are planted they will most likely get top heavy. When that happens, I cut them back to about a foot above ground so they will bush out better. As you can see from the picture below. These got top heavy indeed.

When cool weather set in and  the perennials had been long removed except for that Whirling Butterflies Gaura to its right, I cut back the rose bushes back drastically. I guess that was around the first of Octoberish. Just yesterday, I snapped the pictures below and we’re already seeing new growth. We’ve had a mild winter and much needed rain in my Piedmont NC zone 7 garden. Take a look at the new shoots. Sometimes in a mild winter, I’ll get new blooms in March. It has even snowed on this rose with no worries. That’s my vegetable garden enclosed in the windows. It’s asleep right now.

The Knock Outs above are double reds and I also have Rainbow which I’m not too crazy about. Rainbow, in my garden, acts like a big ball on a stick. Imagine that if you will and then you’ll see how it flops too much. It is still pretty and covered in light pink blooms with orangish centers.  You can find more information on the Knock Outs and their many varieties at the Jackson and Perkins website here.