So much to tell, I haven't kept up with it all (and I can't keep up with it all!)
The veggie garden is all in, I still have to mulch the paths, still need to buy a bit of landscape fabric, I'm hoping I'll be able to get free mulch from the town pile, we'll see. The lettuce is in and it's lovely, but of course I've got way too much! I've got to start more so I'll have it when the maters come in!
Most of the work has been on the borders and the herb garden. I'm furiously weeding that herb garden, I really need to mulch it, but I want to use cocoa bean hull mulch, I like the look of it, and I can only afford two bags or so a week, so it's slow going. I need 2+ bags per quadrant, so I'm hoping I only have to buy eight more bags. In the meantime the weeds are winning! I won't post any pictures until it's done!
Mom and I went down to Carver, MA, to
The Rose Man. What a wonderful place. It's new, just last year, so they are still building their display gardens, but they have roses! I'll let you wander through that link to see the extent of their offerings. I bought a Rose de Recht, which is a nice deep pink, Christopher Marlowe, a David Austin, that is a lovely pink that opens to a creamy yellow center, and Abraham Darby, a climber with apricotty colored blooms. All of them are rebloomers, and all are very fragrant.
Christopher is planted in my front border, and he looks as though that's just where he belongs. Abraham will go next to my arbor, but that spot is tough, I'm going to do a soil replacement, 2' deep, 2' wide, I've lost two roses there and I want a rose by that arbor!! I think the real problem is the road salt in winter, I'm planning on blocking the whole front fence to protect all of the plantings (a first after 31 years here, finally smartening up!!) Before I plant Abraham I have to remove a poppy that I have no idea what I'm going to do with, and a nice little medium nonbearded iris that I'm going to have tons of (look for it in the Buy/Sell/Trade soon, all I'll want is postage). I think I'll slide the poppy over, put back some of the iris, then put the Rose de Recht in on the other side of the iris.
While I was at the rose nursery I passed by a nice Therese Brugnet rugosa rose, and I commented I had one growing in my herb garden. The woman advised me that rose would grow to 7' by 7'!! Ooops! That can't be in my herb garden! So, where to put Therese? Well, my old shady border that's now in full sun is due for a revamp, out back. I've got two big goatsbeards,
Aruncus dioicus with a sad rhododendron between them. Once I took a good look at the rhodie I realized what was wrong with it, it was riddled with borers. I was going to transplant it, but I can't infect my neighbor's collection with borers, so into a big bag it went - a sad end to Blue Knight, planted in 1982
Anyways, once that was done I ripped and tore all the woodland weedy stuff that had grown in between the stones behind the garden, turned in lots of nice well-rotted manure, limed the area, added Rosetone, and Therese is nicely settled into a spot where she can really stretch her legs. I've already planted Rosa Mundi and the Lancaster Rose out in that border, in different spots, soon it will no longer be a shady border, but a rose border!
My problem with roses is they can look so bad from insects. Supposedly the old roses are hardier, but I haven't found that to be really true. I do have an insecticidal soap spray I'm planning on using on them, at least I can keep the aphids at bay. Didn't I find a rose chafer on one of the new roses today - damned things!
So in the place of Therese in the herb garden I put Clotilde Soupert, but I've just found out that might grow to 6' by 8', but it's supposed to be a slow grower....we'll see. I can always move it if necessary! Update: I've just wandered the web a bit, it's a polyantha rose, so it shouldn't get that big. We'll see, I'll take the chance!
Finally, I planted a Zephrine Druhin rose next to my porch. That's a thornless climber with lovely flowers, it blooms all summer long, I can't wait to sit out there and smell it while I'm sipping my tea! Oh, but before planting that there I had to expand that border, it runs along the house, it was way too narrow, so I pushed it out another 15", gives the rose enough room and more room for impatiens, I love them along that side, in front of the astrantias and hellabores.
I've been a bit set back by the shingles. I didn't realize how sick they can make you, never mind the pain. I had had a headache for two days, what I thought was a bug bite turned into horrible raised blisters, and I was running a temperature of 102! I'm so thick headed I didn't think I was sick, I thought I was just run down and a bit depressed, but I was really ill all weekend. I've had neurological symptoms, a blinding headache, weak and wobbly, blah, blah, blah, since last Thursday. I'm on all kinds of meds and can finally sleep a bit. If anyone ever tells you shingles hurt, believe them - they're terrible!
Ok, enough whining. No matter what I still find a way to get my fingers in the soil, just not as vigorously as I want to. Everything will come in its own time, right?
Ann, I'm stunned in admiration. :bouquet
I thought you had a upper deck or balocony you were photographying from 
Please Be Careful 
Aww shingles are awful! I hope you feel better soon. 
The roses appear to be sitting on plates made of the hop leaves (OH! how I wish my camera was working). The rose is a real 'tuffie' & pushes through the lively hop (I cut it back if it gets out of hand).
