Climbing Roses

A friend shared these luscious smelling climbers with me and I took cuttings for my 'rose baby' collection beneath my ferns on the north side of the house...Now, for next spring and to see if they 'took'!

I also added chopped banana peels to the soil around the rose bush I planted by the playhouse...Here's an article on that gardening tip.

Rose Babies

I read somewhere that you can take a cutting of a rose, plant it in the ground beneath protection of a shrub (in my case, a garden fern), place a fruit jar over it to create a mini terrarium, water around it regularly...and propagate a new rose to plant in a year or two...
So, here is the first of my little 'rose babies'. I planted four of them on the north side of the house and will wait until next spring to see if any magic occurred!
Stay tuned...

Fading days of summer...

Top to bottom: Bee Balm & Lamb's Ear, Hyssop, and blue hydrangea

To Sip on the Patio (or anywhere else your heart desires)....

White Peach Sangria

1 bottle white wine (Spanish table wine)
3 ounces brandy
2 ounces triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
2 ounces simple syrup
3 ounces white peach puree (peel peaches, remove pit and puree in a blender with a small amount of water
fresh peaches, oranges and apples, sliced

Place all ingredients in a pitcher and stir to mix. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours. Serve over ice.
Servings: 6

Children Play...and so do we...

Chelsea has happy memories of their playhouse...and loves the idea of a little cottage
garden with echinacea, yellow lantana, Stella d' Oro daylilies, hollyhock, crepe myrtle and rose bushes.

Reflections

Placing mirrors in my garden seems a fitting
metaphor for what I so often do in my gardens
...reflect.... journal.... dream.... read.

My Garden Mosaic

I haven't been up to my treehouse studio as often as I'd like this summer to make more mosaic, but I suppose that's moved on to an autumn project. I completed this urn last summer.