"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

January

"January is the quietest month in the garden.  ...  But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening.  The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants.  The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."
Rosalie Muller Wright
How true Ms. Wright's words ring in the statement above.....
January is also the time for planning.....getting inspiration from seed catalogs that 
will soon come in and from garden books full of wonderful ideas.  
I have always loved miniature roses.........
Although nothing is blooming outside.........on my 
inside windowsill, this small pot of miniature roses
is still blooming and growing taller.

This was purchased in this whimsical container before Thanksgiving.
I am thrilled that it is doing so well. I need to transplant it to a larger 
container, but it seems to be happy at the moment.......so I will wait .
One of my "plans" is to somehow, create a miniature rose garden.
But where?..... is a the biggest question......as these little roses do not
seem to grow well when the Texas heat comes along. 
Any suggestions?  I will try anything that you tell me works! 

I was also able to find a few small colorful succulents for 
my garden collection.  I hope to keep these growing successfully......
and I hope, as they grow, that they keep their colorful appearance. 
I  am starting to plan more (dry climate)gardens with heat tolerating plants like cactus and succulents.
These plants seems to do well in the summer.........but seem to have 
difficulty in the winter.  Another thing to ponder.
January is also a great time to take inventory of your tools, fertilizers and 
other garden helps. 
Now is the time to till up your soil, (if not frozen) and to expose it to 
the helpful freezing to eliminate eggs of many insect pests.
I think this year I am not going to work on garden spaces for flowers,
instead I want to focus on the natural landscape plants that are growing here 
on the land.  I plan to make garden spaces and paths among them.
This will reduce the time of dragging a water hose everywhere, since the 
plants that are growing here naturally only rely on the rain that comes.
And it might reduce my frustration with pests like insects and rodents.......
since it seems, they only like to eat flowers and pumpkin plants and seem
to leave the natural plants alone.
Not sure if I can resist not planting pumpkin............this is yet to be seen.  
So tell me..........are you already pouring over garden and seed catalogs?
What do you hope to grow?  
I would love to hear!


11 comments:

The Wykeham Observer said...

I'm looking forward to the seed catalogs. I must admit I have no expertise in roses. I plant them and they do well, but don't over-winter generally. If they do I consider it a bonus, and just assume any new one I buy will be just an annual. So I just buy the cheaper ones. I like your idea to make paths and enjoy the native vegetation. If that is nurtured, I'm sure the native birds will be happy. Philip/MN

Granny Marigold said...

I have not had any success with miniature roses which is rather sad because they're so dainty. I've tried growing them outside also on a covered porch but still they slowly fade away.
I'm wondering which of my perennials will have made it through the winter and if they didn't will I replace them or find hardier plants. I want to pay attention to what thrives in my area instead of getting carried away by lovely pictures and descriptions on tags at the plant shops.

Nancy J said...

We gave the three roses in pots to a friend, as Hugh's skin does not like scratches. All my bulbs and small plants I had potted up will get placed or planted over the next few weeks. A row of Gossamer Grass by the fence, some day lilies in front, then shorter plants to frame the lot.Hostas, Winter Rose, the Japanese maple will all stay in pots, maybe moved to my favourite terracotta ones. I guess it makes gardening a lot easier to plant to suit your conditions.I love Peonies but it is too warm here.

Henny Penny said...

Well, I had not thought much about planning the garden yet, but after reading your post, I am suddenly wanting to. Maybe a gardening catalog will arrive in the mail soon. That is such a pretty collection of tiny little plants. I've never had any luck with miniature roses, I love them and am always tempted to buy one when they're in the stores. Hope you find a way to create a little garden of them. That would be so pretty.

Sally said...

I don't have a garden perse', but I do love flowers. The problem here at this place; the grasshoppers! At first, one of the neighbors told me to put 4 pennies in plastic and you know what? It actually worked the first two years. But, I guess the pennies caught on and I've been doing the grasshopper stomp since then. It really saddens me because I've always have beautiful flowers at other places I've lived. Flowers just brighten our day, don't they?

Good and happy days I hope for you!

xoxo

Prims By The Water said...

Oh how I wish I could plant roses in my yard. Alas living near the state land it will only encourage the snakes to come in and shed their skin. Had to remove the barberry shrubs we had because of the snakes. I HATE snakes. Love your whimsical snowman pot. Really cute! Janice

Anonymous said...

Hey Kathleen, it is me Vivian; this is the only way I could email you; am locked out of my yahoo acct. I will work on it next week from my laptop here at the library; did not remember your email address. I have a phone, can text and send pictures, am writing you a visit and will mail out on Sat. with details.
Love this post and what you are doing;;;;;;; I miss you.
love and In Joy

Anonymous said...

Kathleen, I don't see that my first post went through; I am trying again

Debra said...

I have successfully killed every miniature rose plant I've tried to grow. I don't know why they don't like me. I do have some wonderful antique roses here. Two of them I don't even know the names of, and there's a third that I think is Eglantine. I love them all, but especially my old moss rose. The stems smell beautiful while the flower itself has no scent. The nice thing about them is they are very hardy. I have been getting catalogs but I'm saving them for a time when I can really pour over them...I do have plans to make my garden bigger.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

The roses in that whimsical planter were lovely to see, Kathleen, as you may know we enjoy snowmen! It was lovely reading the poem and of your plans for planting this new year. As you know, we no longer grow anything, although I do have a couple of bamboo plants that are slowly reaching for the ceiling! Sending you our Best Wishes in the New Year and look forward to continuing our friendship in 2019!

Connie said...

Pretty roses and the succulents are so lovely. I like your plan of working with the landscape you have there. Makes good sense. Happy New Year, Kathleen!