Peonies – May 2024 – Gardening Zone 8a

May 19, 2024Leave a comment

Within these last couple of weeks of May, my peonies have exploded in hues of pink and divine aroma! Peonies are once-blooming perennials, which seems like a juxtaposition. The luscious, fragrant blooms last a few weeks while the foliage remains a vibrant, shiny green until late fall when they need to be cut down so the plant will rebloom the following year. In my gardening zone of 8a here in Maryland, peonies bloom typically in May.

What can we learn from the peony? Our talents and giftings take time and maintenance to cultivate; moreover, they aren’t necessarily meant to be showcased all year long but rather in an appointed season.

~ The Blooming Blessings of Snow ~ 7 Weeks

January 31, 2024Leave a comment

Within the month of January, my garden located in Maryland’s gardening zone 8a experienced some wild weather – including a few inches of snow, and minor coastal flooding from relentless rain (Note: My garden was previously zoned as 7b – I just discovered it was upgraded to 8a in 2023 due to climate change). The cold, white flakes arrived after a two-year snow drought, and I delighted in the beauty. I recently learned snow nourishes soil because falling snowflakes capture nitrogen in the atmosphere (as does rain), and deposits the nitrogen into the soil. Nitrogen is required for healthy leaves and abundant blooms. As an added bonus, the layer of snow also insulates the roots of our rose bushes from frigid temperatures, ironically, similar to how mulch insulates our beloved plants. I’ll take those blooming blessings!

Since the snowfall and a brief warm-up, which melted all the snow, I’ve noticed daffodils or crocuses have already broken ground. Clearly, they are just as eager for spring as I am. Have you noticed the sun lingers more and more in the evening, winter sky? In just seven weeks, it will be officially spring! With the added benefit of the snow this winter, may our gardens burst with luscious, vibrant blooms!

‘New Zealand’, a fragrant pink Hybrid Tea Rose.

Compass Rose

February 4, 2019February 4, 2019Leave a comment

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Thankfully, in Southeast Texas roses seem to grow all year.

No matter what course I find myself navigating, whether it be in the valleys of Central Pennsylvania, the crabby shores of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, the salty air whipping around my Myrtle Beach condo’s balcony, or now while living on a sailboat along Galveston Bay in Texas, my love for roses continues to bloom. It would seem this obsession only grows the more I age and experience as does my desire to share their enchanting beauty and hope. Although I no longer have numerous rose bushes flourishing in a garden for my garden these days consist of containers on the cockpit of my sailboat, I still smile (border line drool) over photos of roses or rose catalogs. Through it all, I wander the aisles of garden nurseries or even the garden sections of Walmart, Home Depot, and the like dreaming of potential roses I could acquire and eventually share.

Relatively new to the liveaboard lifestyle, I find myself still making a way to enjoy roses for I purchased a “body bag” rose for just $6 recently. The Grandiflora known as ‘Arizona’ will be an experimental rose for me as she grows in Texas’ high heat and humidity partially shaded from the scorching sun by my sailboat’s bimini (awning type of structure over the cockpit).

Full Sail, hybrid tea

In hindsight, perhaps I should have purchased ‘Full Sail’, a fragrant white rose with a nautical theme or ‘Ebb Tide’, a lovely purple rose.

Nevertheless, this new lifestyle and new gardening zone presents many new exciting challenges. While getting used to living aboard a small yacht and showering in a marina, our dock box is already full of not only fenders (bumper pads for your boat) and boat cleaning supplies, but potting soil, gardening gloves, and pruning shears as well. At first, my husband protested our boat being transformed into what could be appropriately labeled a “BOATanical” environment, but now he is getting on board even wanting to grow tomatoes on our boat. He is easily influenced. 😉

Compass Rose design

Soon, we will officially change the name of our sailboat. Initially, I liked the name of ‘Sailvation’ to represent our faith in addition to sailing, but lately, I have been thinking ‘Boatanical’ or ‘Compass Rose’ (the navigational compass on nautical charts) are equally, if not more appealing.

Whichever name or destination we choose, it’s become crystal clear, I will always be rooted in a love for roses.