lunes, 6 de junio de 2016

In a Vase on Monday - The Garland and Pierre de Ronsard

With temperatures of 90ºF/32ºC, the roses in my garden have an increasingly shorter shelf life.  It's time to get them inside, where they will last a few days longer.

Here, I've used The Garland and Pierre de Ronsard in an antique Sure Seal mason jar from my grandmother's house.  It's actually my favorite "vase"!


I'm linking with Rambling in the Garden for this week's In a Vase on Monday meme.

lunes, 30 de mayo de 2016

In a Vase on Monday - Great Western

Well, it's Monday, so here's what I've got in a vase right now.  I'm linking with Cathy for her weekly meme.  Do stop by.


Great Western, a gift from a gardener in Germany


One of my favourite rose scents

viernes, 20 de mayo de 2016

5 Years

Just five years ago this week, we moved into our new home in the country of rural LaMancha, full of plans for the future and garden dreams.

Move-in day, 2011
(Five years later, my boys don't even fit in this car anymore!)

We had bought the house lot several years earlier, which had been farmland and had not a single tree growing on it.  There was not a speck of shade to speak of.  As you can see, I had my work cut out for myself.

The lay of the land, before retaining walls and grading


Planning a garden from scratch is quite an undertaking, especially for a newbie.  After years of reading gardening books, magazines and blogs, it was finally time to put all my ideas into practice.


Many mistakes have been made, of course, such as thinking that fruit trees could grow in clay and hardpan under a brutal Spanish sun.  Not so.  There have also been other delightful surprises, like the fact that seemingly delicate antique and English roses work wonders here.  Who knew?!  Coming from New England, gardening with LaMancha's soil conditions and climate has been (and still is) a slow learning process.


Many new plants still need to fill in


A new terraced seating area and stone path around the Fraxinus rubra have been added.


A happy view from my kitchen window


The view from the front door


So, after five years, it is time to take stock of my garden's progress.  While many projects have not yet been begun, and several others have not yet been completed, I feel good about what has been accomplished, even though I know that much work still lies ahead.


Oh, the projects...


Let's sit for a while and ponder them, shall we?