I didn't walk into planting thinking that everything was going to work, there are things that I'm sure I will change including plants that will not make it through the summer or the next winter. My tastes may also grow, or some of the plants may not fit with the eventual theme of the front yard gardening area. Already I know that the lavender plants will need to be replaced. They smell amazing but they appear to be a better potted plant where I can control the water conditions more carefully. Everything in the front gardening areas are on heavy drip lines and I've read that the lavender will thrive if left more unattended.
I've also discovered that I love roses. Passionately. They are by far the most fascinating of the plants I have in the garden. They change every day. I was so nervous that they wouldn't grow when they remained unchanged the first few weeks after planting. I could not find a single website that could explain what new growth looked like, until finally I came across a photo of a newly planted rose. I then learned that new growth is red. Once I knew what to look for, I started noticing the roses were growing all the time. Because they are newly planted, nearly half of both of the rose bushes are red. Which means, that they are growing, growing, all the time. Both of the bushes have small buds, and I am watching, waiting for them to flower.
I know there is much to learn, but this is my first year. I'm slowly building my bank of gardening knowledge and experimenting with different kinds of plants. Maybe next year I'll try planting from seeds, bulbs or try an herb garden. For now, I'm trying to get the main plants for the front yard gardening area on their way to success.
Here are two photos of things I find fascinating in my garden:
Fairy Duster
I originally liked this particular plant because I noticed that it blooms in the winter. I paid special attention to what was flowering during the colder months because I wanted to make sure that my gardening areas retained some color during the winter. I also liked that the Fairy Duster was red, because it feels very holiday to me and appropriate for the season. The plant is also amazing. This picture is great because it shows how and why the Fairy Duster is named. First, the bloom on the bottom left is self-explanatory. A ton of tiny tendrils form the shape that gives the Fairy Duster its name. What is even cooler is how that happens. See the small cluster of tiny spheres on the upper right? That small cluster will EXPLODE and out will come the Fairy Duster bloom.This is how the plant spreads it seeds -they are literally shot out of the plant itself.
My camera did not cooperate in taking any photographs of the new flower buds growing on my roses, but I was able to get this shot of a few of the leaves. I noticed that the Double Delight Rose was being munched on by some critter bug. It was easy to notice at first because the missing parts were perfect semi-circular cuts. I learned this is the result of the leaf cutter bee. You can't kill the leaf cutter bee because it helps pollinate plants so is an important part of the landscaping eco-system. It's also difficult to kill anyway because it doesn't live on the plant, it merely drops by when it needs some leaves and whisks it off to build it's nest. The semi-circles are either small or large and they are basically identical to one another. I have never seen the leaf-cutter bee in action, but it would be interesting to. Although it makes my small rose bushes like odd (I'll notice it less when they are more mature) it does not harm the plant. I'm amazed that a small bee can cut such a precise shape and carry it to the nest. I'm more then happy to donate some of my rose leaves to the leaf cutter bee's home. On the bottom left and the upper right you can see the red I was talking about before. The Leaf Cutter bee has only muched on solid green leavess. New grow starts out very red and starts fading into a light pink and eventual green once matured.
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