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| Falling in Love roses with Veterans Honor roses. |
I have one or two helpers for gardening because I learned why people would rather mow than plant quirky, interesting, and beautiful plants. Mowing can be done sleep-walking; gardening is a physical and mental challenge.
"The Last Rose of Summer" can empty the tear-ducts of a bill collector.
Most people want to prune their roses at this point, but that will spur tender growth during the first frosts - a bad idea. This is the time to cut "the last rose of summer" and let the bush go to seed and fall asleep. Note the contradiction - the last rose should be left alone, but it is often the grandest bloom of the year, irresistible.
Garden nostalgics have several plants doing their best at the end of the season. Cat Mint is still blooming, proving blooms for humming birds and insects. The domineering Beauty Berries burst with fruit for the oncoming cold season.
Most plants are becoming dormant here, completing the process of going to seed. My two Rugosa roses should have big, fat hips for birds to enjoy. They are the best hips for flower arrangements.
Some people entertain the notion of evolution, but I wonder how if they simply consider timing in the garden. Everything happens at just the right time for birds, insects, moles, and everything else.
I have faced the grim fact that the South is not the place to plant winter bulbs, since they thrive in bone-chilling winters. Nor is it good to plant anything in the fall, which rabbits see as fresh, tender growth when they are most hungry.
However, I found garlic family bulbs thriving in the garden and providing flowers when others are scant. One reason is the general dislike of the garlic aroma and taste, defeating the destructive instincts of rabbits and squirrels.
If the garden and animal population were as impulsive and difficult to predict as my horticultural work, nothing would be left. But they are guided and managed by an Unseen Hand, no matter how foolish my efforts might be.
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| California Dreamin is enchanting. |
