This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon, same bush as above Aren't October roses The Best?! I love many things about October, but roses at Halloween makes my top five! (And another reason why I love Knockout roses. Not only are they the *only* roses I have left of all the roses I have grown over the last several years, but depending on the weather, they'll bloom through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas). What's one of your top five favorite things about October?

Happy July everyone! Things have slowed down quite a bit here in the Portable Homestead garden.  The roses have finished their first round of blooms, and they're taking their time getting to a second. But the hostas, annuals and day lillies have taken over with theirs.  Slowly and surely the 'from seed' containers are beginning to bloom: Zinnias, marigolds, tomatoes, hyacinth bean climber, nasturtiums.  And the coneflowers are starting to bloom again in the raised bed.  The aphids have been formidable foes, as always, which means daily garden walks are taking longer than usual what with hosing them off the plants or spraying them with soapy water.  I hope to troll a few garden centers during this holiday weekend!  Rugosa and hostas are at the top of my list.  How are things growing where you are?  What's at the top of your gardening wish-list at this time of year! (For the week ending 7/2/15)

A sampling of what's blooming here at The Portable Homestead for the week ending 5/15/15. The azalea, hostas and bleeding heart are really taking center stage now! Another wacky weather week as well. Started off feeling like Summer and by Wednesday it was in the 40s and 50s again! And thanks to those early warmer temps, I'm dealing with rose slugs and spider mites in May vs July or August when they usually appear en force. He'll hath no fury like a gardener with critters infesting her roses! It's soapy water time...

A sample of blooms for the week ending Thursday, 4/23/15. It has been a crazy week weather wise, from Summer warmth to flooding rain and thunderstorms to frost and freeze watches and warnings! Most everything seems to be doing alright, although, whatever was iffy before this crazy weather week (like my 2 Julia Child floribunda roses!) may be done for, despite 2 strait nights of covering them for protection against a freeze. But, we'll see. The Weeping Cherries have been putting on such a show this year, I cannot get enough! Photos upon photos, of course! What's blooming in your garden this week?

Earlier this month, I welcomed my second newest rose, ' Twilight Zone ' from Weeks Roses , into my garden. This rose is a stunner! Of course I've taken oodles and oodles of photos in between enjoying its delightful scent, this is my first 'purple' rose, but unfortunately, my camera's show it more or less as being a dark pink color. So, without further a due, introducing TZ: The purple color and 'ruffled' bloom caught my attention. The scent sealed the deal. Traditional yet lighter with a hint of lemon. (But not a barely scented rose by any means). It made my heart sing! Very unique. (To me anyhow). The blooms remind me of 'old fashioned' garden roses. Some are less purple and more pink, but that's perfectly fine with me - y'all know how I love pink. Regardless of color, so far each bloom has been the size of my hand! Also a good cut rose for the mantle vase. Twilight Zone is a grandiflora* rose which ...

Yesterday I welcomed " The Sunny Knockout® Rose " (Rosa 'RADsunny'), a Star® Roses and Plants rose, into my garden. As I do with all new additions, I spent much of the day entranced with & fawning over this beautiful yellow rose! And believe it or not, this is my first ever solid yellow rose! So, without further a due, introducing Sunny: Yellow always was, and still is, a very favorite color of mine. Since I was a little girl. It's an extremely comforting color to me (although I don't have a clue why). As y'all know, I've been heartbroken over losing more than half of my roses these last few years (including four after this most recent Winter) and I have been on the look-out for this particular rose for some time now. But I wasn't expecting to see roses or find this one at the time I did. This was the only yellow Knockout amid a sea of (very pretty) pink & red yesterday morning and it stood out to me like ...

We've been in a thaw since Tuesday with temps in the 40s through Thursday and temps in the 50s since Friday! It's been wonderful having the windows open daily and going out without being layered up to the nines. So much of the snow has melted, enough I was able to putter around the yard this morning (in only a t-shirt and yoga pants!) and clean up some of the mess Winter has left behind so far.  In doing so, I found the first signs of Spring here at The Portable Homestead! The Snow Drops were a pleasant surprise for sure. These photos make this officially the first #GardenWalk of 2014! Very exciting and refreshing. This thaw has been such a welcome break. Cold and likely snow return this week. Have you come upon any signs of Spring where you are?

The post below is from my Adventures In Gardening column archives and originally appeared elsewhere on January 19, 2013. While it has a gardening theme, it is also about falling in love for the first time, although in a perhaps unconventional sense, and it seems fitting to revisit it with Valentines Day arriving a week from today. It is also one of my favorite posts that I have ever written! I've had a follow-up of sorts in the works, which covers my first brief visit to Charleston in 2012 overall. My longing to return to Charleston arrives every February and March now. One day I will get there. Until then I have my memories and my Camellias. Adventures In Gardening: Love Struck! Filed under  #GARDENWALK ,  ADVENTURES IN GARDENING As gardeners, we fall in love over and over again.  Every time we flip through a catalog, make a trip to the nursery, or take a walk in a new garden.  Often, many of these new loves get pushed out of our minds and onto the “...