My day lilies are only just on the verge of blooming. I've got ROSES on my mind!A week ago today we were walking in the rose garden on the grounds of Blenheim Palace near Oxford, UK. While we were staying in Germany, we learned that roses love Salvia. And sure enough, all around the edge of this gorgeous rose garden was a thick border of Salvia.
We have one rose bush in our garden. We got it as a gift, in memory of our dog Bess, a year ago May. It was hit hard last summer, and again this summer by "rose slugs." (Not really slugs, but caterpillars of the sawfly wasp.) Not only do we hate using chemicals on it, the chemicals don't seem to have worked very well.
So, one of the first things I did when we got home was hit the half-off perennial sales at the garden store and get a couple of Salvias to see if they can help. Then AJ went back and got two more that we'll plant this evening. (It sure is good to be home again and puttering in the garden!)
Do you have any tried and true ways to help roses thrive? Let me know. And stop by a wrung sponge and let her know what's going on in your garden this week!
That is a lovely photo of the rose garden. I am always thrilled to visit places like that. My own roses never do that well - I'm not attentive enough I fear. One thing I do know is they don't like crowding. They seem to do better when kept pruned. You have to feed them and keep a jump on the pests. Thanks for joining the tour!
ReplyDeleteYou so have to go to Barbara O'Connor's blog, and check out her recent blog on the mysteries of gardening -- some great salvia pictures from her garden!
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