Saying Good-bye to My Favorite Rose

As if to say good-bye, my favorite rose presented me with a bouquet of all stages of bloom on one branch. I hope the new owner (the place is in escrow) has the good sense to let the rose go on bringing pleasure to the next renter. It's huge right now because I stopped trimming it when the current owner said he was going to rip it out. And nothing else is blooming on it, except that one branch, as if it was a present to me.

So I cut it off and put it in a vase to enjoy as I pack up the kitchen.

And of course I took photos of it to share with you. I paid $5 for this bush at a swap meet. Best bargain ever!

I'm moving to the desert so the garden there will be completely different than anything I am used to. But the yard is gigantic and the landlady doesn't seem too particular about what we do with it. And she's an avid gardener.

Striped Roses I Will Miss You

It's emotionally difficult that the owner is dragging his feet on ripping out my garden. So I grab photos when I can, expecting the rosebush to be gone the next time I come home from grocery shopping. It's like a slow torture having so much of my life in the control of someone else I don't even know.

Roses in Bloom

I just had to share these rose photos with you that I took Sunday. If I forgot to go in my backyard for a week or two I miss so much. I never get bored with these striped roses. Each one is unique.

When I was out driving around I spotted a glorious orange rosebush. I'm thinking about adding an orange rose to my garden now, even if the original color scheme was supposed to be a fairy garden in purple and pink. I need more yards, that's all there is to it!

Gardening in a Tiny Yard

I just spent an hour in my garden enjoying it and making it look better. First off, I take one of those trash grabber tools. I picked up about 20 things that had fallen into my yard from my upstairs neighbors balcony, including a dirty diaper, chip bags, a charcoal bag, random bits of plastic and wrappers, a t-shirt, some broken toy parts, and a tiny tennis ball which I assume belongs to their chihuahua. I used to try to give them their stuff back but they never seem to learn so now I just toss it. Except for the dog ball. I threw that back up on their balcony and made it in one shot.

Then I used the weed whacker to get the sprawling lantana and jasmine off of the sidewalk. Then I had to hand prune a bunch of the jasmine vines which are determined to be king of the garden. I watered my potted plants, and finally transplanted the spider plant that was completely root bound in his little container. Someone just gave me a hyacinth plant as well, so I watered that again. The pot is so small it needs water daily, so I really need to figure out where I want it and get it planted.

Then I swept everything I cut down into a pile. I'll let it dry a few days so it takes up less room in the dumpster and then I'll toss it out.

My roses are in glorious bloom.