Bloomin' Bust

It seems I'm back at square one. While I'm enjoying large, beautiful blooms, the rose bush stems are still dying when I don't deadhead right away. Why not deadhead right away you say? Not that easy. Usually my two year old 'helps' me with my gardening. A sharp blade is just the type of thing I need to keep a precocious kid like him away from.

Even more disheartening, one of my miniature rosebushes is deader than a doornail, and the other one is hanging on by a thread. Once thriving and blooming without dead stems (the miniature rose bushes don't seem to be affected like the others), this phenomena occured two days after using Bayer Advanced All-In-One Rose and Flower Care.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/rose-flower-care/products/all-in-one-rose-flower-care

This product promises insect and disease control and fertilization for six weeks. Sound too good to be true. I've used this on my other rose bushes in the past (I know, there seems to be a trend developing), and other flowering bushes which are doing quite well. So what's the problem? As Paul James would say, I'm stumped. On the bright side, my roses are free of insects, although they do suffer from black spot. One out the three, hmmmmm. Way to go Bayer!

I'm considering drastically pruning the roses back and essentially starting over. Not the best idea during the growing season, but I'm sick of looking at anorexic rose bushes after all the time and money I put into them. Perhaps I'll also e-mail bomb the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University until they decide to assist me.

Nesting

Recently, carpenter bees have infested our yard, and began attacking our fence and other wooden structures. For those of you unfamiliar with these pesky creatures, they drill into wood to lay their eggs. Since too many carpenter bees + too much wood = big money problem, I decided to follow a few that seem to have set up house (hard to believe I occassionally have this much time on my hands), scope out their nests and inform my husband who has a master plan to kill the eggs and fill the holes.

While following one such bee to one of my birdhouses, I was surprised to discover that a bird made a nest inside. AND there are four beautiful tiny eggs. (I'm a city girl at heart, so to come face-to-face with any bird egg not found in the dairy section at the grocery store is a wonderous experience.)

I raced inside and grabbed my camera. I know, I know, what I did next probably wasn't the smartest idea, but I just had to document it. Plus, I figure if I didn't touch anything, it would be fine. Because of the height, angle and my fear of getting too close, the pictures aren't the best, but they sure made my day.

Isn't it amazing how quickly bad experiences can segue into good ones through the beauty of our world. In my mind, this is no coincidence that today is Earth Day. I pray we all do our best to protect these little eggs, and their little eggs, and their little eggs, and their little eggs...

Photos Finally

May not look like much yet, but can't wait for summer when my babies are in full bloom.

Lantanas and irises were added to the area on the hill. The other photos shows the addition of two miniature rose bushes.

For those of you who've never dug up grass to create a flower bed (and to those of you who have), pray for rain. Pray-for-rain.

Point of View

I'm only now realizing that these scenes, so inspiring and attractive in person, seem insignificant in pictures?

Anyway, bought red rubber mulch to highlight the spot on the hill today. Soon as I can figure out how to install the border in the rock hard soil, I can mulch and upload [hopefully] a knock-out image.

The area on the north side has already been mulched and bordered. Also added two new miniature rose bushes, since I seem to have the most luck with them.

On to the pictures!

Theory

The good news is, spring is here. The bad news...unfortunately Auburn is not on board. That's ok though. I've been researching and talking with folks and suspect that the surrounding grass (and weeds) have been fighting with the rose bushes for water and nutrients. And so far, the roses haven been losing miserably.

This morning, my husband, a friend of ours and myself dug up everything surrounding the rose bushes, in order to mulch for water retention, and to effectively fertilize. I also cut back sickly looking limbs to make them look healthier and to encourage lateral growth.

Whether my new theory and efforts work, we'll just have to wait and see. But, I'm trying.

No News

Haven't heard back from Auburn University yet. Will follow-up with a call on Monday.

Progress

Today I e-mailed the Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at Auburn University to ask if I could mail a few clippings of my rose buses to them, to see if they can determine the problem with my bushes.

As soon as I hear anything, you'll be the first to know.