Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Buds and the Bees

I'm a world renowned expert in growing roses. I know you didn't know this about me but it's true.

Now - by "world renowned" - I mean that I know this, and maybe two other people know it. But isn't everyone always saying it's a small world?? So there.

Anyway - here's the deal. At our first house, we had a nice, expansive yard. And by nice, I mean expansive. It was a very tiny house with a very large yard. And by yard, I mean a big limestone rock with 1/16" of dirt covering it. It was not exactly a gardener's paradise. There was not one green thing there when we moved in. When we left, it was a sea of beautiful St. Augustine, 12 feet of irises, a stunning clematis along the fence, and my true pride and joy - incredible roses.

I'm only indirectly responsible for these gorgeous life forms. I am at best a lucky gardener - it is not one of my spiritual gifts, although I enjoy growing things. Stamping makes you forget that there are living things around you, yes?

However, I do listen to the radio. A lot. And one day in 1998 I was listening to a gardening show and heard a tip that has served my rose friends well, and that was to put a banana peel in the hole before you put your rosebush in. This person said it creates a slow feed to a traumatized rose and has all the right stuff.

My 4H brain rebelled. I thought - SUGAR?? Won't that rot, draw bugs, grow mold? But I did it, because I didn't know any better. And in an absolutely impossible growing environment, I grew the most beautiful, healthy roses I've ever seen.

So I just did it again. And lo and behold - in one week - what do I see?
A rose.

Sigh.

I can't wait.

In other garden news - my 600 pounds of poop was apparently full of dandelion seeds. The battle begins. And apparently, this little fella didn't get the memo that bugs aren't supposed to like rosemary.


Look how pretty he is though with his fur and his beautiful sky blue stripe! (click him for a closeup)

So after all that nature, I thought I ought to reflect that in a little art, so I busted out some bees for today's Splitcoast tutorial for a pentagon treat tube. I made this one live on UStream, with a little help from my friends - Bunny and Mary Dawn and Leslie. They are actually the ones that suggested what I consider to be the crowning glory of this project, which is the pom pom trim around the back of the tab. Those ladies are SMART. And a little smart-alecky, but that's a topic for another day.:)
It really was quick and easy and fun to do. I used Nature Walk and Botanical Gazette paper. Go check out the tutorial. Completely adorable pressie that's totally do-able if you're in a hurry and have some cute candy to give away.

Like Bit O Honey, for example.

MMM.

Happy Wednesday.


8 comments:

  1. Love your pentagon treat tube and your rose story. I'll have to try the banana tip--I am so not a green thumb.

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  2. You KNOW how I feel about animals etc., so first I have to say that catepillar is beautiful!! Love his/her colors. The pentagon tube is great. That would be a great container for knitting needles for those who knit and for alot of other things too.
    I wonder if the banana thing would work for all flowers?

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  3. I love roses too. We just got a new one to plant a couple of weeks ago so we will have to try this.
    Love the container and bit o honey is my favorite candy!

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  4. mmmmmm....bit o' honey. having a terrible time finding it SOFT and not brick hard. do you have the same trouble? do you think wrapping them in a banana peel would bring about the soft texture i desire? i'm in NO WAY a gardener--have a BLACK thumb--so i'm open to all suggestions for growing soft bit o' honey.

    hugs!

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  5. yay for Spring! Beautiful work and pictures :)
    hugs
    Laura

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  6. For your weed problem ..... once you have pulled all your existing weeds, put down PREEN. It is a pre-emergent so it will kill all of the weeds before they come up. It is wonderful! You may still have a few, but nothing bad at all. You will need to re-apply every 3 months or so, but it is so worth it.

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  7. Did the closeup and he's so beautiful, there could be a whole Disney movie revolving around him.... We see him as bad for the garden but he is proof that there's a whole universe below us as well as above...(spoken like a true non-gardener! Lol.) Lovely candy box!
    *smile*

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  8. Don't you just love a lawn full of dandelions - NOT. The promise of a rose already seems pretty amazing, but oh my, I am envious of that GREEN rosemary, even with the caterpillar. I have memories of caterpillars utterly demolishing (much more than decimating) my nasturtiums a couple of years back). Our rosemary is a sad sere yellow after too much snow in the winter, and I just culled enough dead bay leaves today to last me all year.

    ReplyDelete

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