I'm Feeling Rosy

Remember those scraggly rose bushes in the back yard retaining wall bed? They looked like this when we moved in...

Pretty pathetic, right?

Well, I trimmed them back a couple weeks ago, just to see what happened. I figured if I killed them, oh well...I can always put something else there in its place. So I got out my pruning shears and started cutting...just removing the brown, dead stuff and stems that seemed strangely out of place. I also mulched with a little mushroom compost.

It seems my efforts have paid off! I started noticing new growth almost right away. Here's what they look like today...

There's definitely still room for improvement, but baby steps, right? I think I'm actually going to have to figure out something to do with the larger one (maybe a trellis?). It's starting to arch overhead rather precariously. I have no idea what kind of roses these are. If anyone happens to know, an ID would be very much appreciated!

Do you grow roses in your garden? What do you do to care for them?

Oh! and in other news (though still on the rose theme), one of my students gave us a  lovely housewarming gift. And how appropriate is it that her name is Rosie?

Green Beans in the Ground

Ok, I know my average last frost date is technically not till April 15, and I may regret this later, but I just planted some of my green beans. I used a bush type (Blue Lake 274) so that I don't have to put up another trellis (I've already got one by the peas). This way, I can use the space inside the arc where the peas are planted efficiently.

As fast as beans grow, hopefully I'll have some bean sprouts soon!

With this consistently unseasonably warm weather, have you planted anything that you normally would wait to plant until later in the year?

More Composty Goodness and Some Planting

Another tub of compost showed up at my house on Saturday courtesy of my lovely friends who say they currently have WAY too much of it.

Not sure what I'm going to do with all of it yet (though I'm sure I'll find something!), but I put some of it to work as mulch around my baby blueberry. First though, I had to drag it up the hill to the back of the yard where the garden is. I've definitely had my exercise for the day!

In other news, I got my nasturtiums and peas planted! My next door neighbor stuck two tomato cages in the garden yesterday, so I decided to use those as a trellis for the peas to climb. I'll have to build another one that spans the end of the raised bed later, but for now, I feel like this is a good start.

My nasturtiums went in as a companion to the tulips I potted a few weeks ago, and also in a colorful coffee can I had saved to use as a container, and poked some drainage holes in. Maybe a little strange, but it works, right?

Lesson Learned....always stake your tiny greenhouse!

Ok, I finally got around to setting up my little greenhouse in the backyard, only to come outside this morning to find it flat on its front, blown over by the wind. I had potted a few ranunculus tubers yesterday and put them in there, so of course, there was a giant potting soil mess. Major FAIL on my part.

Fortunately, Home Depot is not far, and a quick trip for some stakes seems to have taken care of the issue. I suspect once I get more stuff in there, that will help as well, but for now, it's ready to roll.