For You, My Love

OK, I'll admit it.

I'm a sap.

Really -- truly -- I'm just a big baby in extra medium men's size clothing. I sometimes wonder why I am not like other men -- perhaps it was the way I was raised without a father -- I'm just not sure. I may look like a "big guy." But inside -- I'm just a softie.

I demonstrate this in so many ways -- from hanging bird feeders in the yard to entertain or tease the housecats to no end -- or think of new and imaginative ways to please the wife that is Venus.

One of the events that I look forward too every spring is the first rose of the year. Springtime roses are the best in my personal opinion. This is when buds are at a peak size and burst out in a glory of color. They also make for the best cutting roses -- if you can get to them before the spring rains spoil that short moment of beauty.

Such an event took place this past weekend. I knew we were in for a whale of a storm the coming week. Some of the rose bushes scattered about the backyard were just beginning to flower. So why not get a bud while the getting is good -- right?

I found this gorgeous white with green-tinges John F. Kennedy (JFK) rose in the deepest -- most remote -- part of the backyard. Why did I put it there? Well -- it was a transplant from the first home. It had not done all that well during its first six years -- and to be honest -- it wasn't one of my favorites. But -- since it was in a line of rose bushes that we were removing from the old home -- it had to go somewhere.

So -- I found an out of the way corner in a part of the backyard that nobody really visits -- dug a small hole and that's where the JFK went.

Imagine my surprise when it not only flowered the following spring -- but produced an overwhelming display of force that I had never seen out of this particular rose bush before. By all accounts -- it should not have done this well. I didn't amend the planter hole much -- the bush was right next to the house and a fence. It didn't get a whole lot of sun. It didn't get a whole lot of water either (just a single drip emitter).

Today? The JFK is a showpiece of the backyard. And it produced the first -- perfectly shaped rose -- of Spring 2010. The stem was perfect -- about 15-inches in length. No other roses were developing off this stem -- and the rose had just barely started to open. Perhaps two petals had unfurled at the point where I cut it and brought it inside.

The timing really could not have been better. The wife was showering. Her eyes were closed. After putting the JFK in a simple bud vase and filling it with water -- I placed it right next to a bathroom sink that the wife uses. When she finally emerged? I had already "left the building," and she was greeted with a single hybrid tea rose.

One week later and that rose has now unfurled completely and is still putting on a grand show in the dining room.

There will be other roses this season -- that much is sure. The center-piece of the backyard? The Floribunda called Scentimental? It's nearly as high as the fence now -- it's just loaded with buds -- but is still a week away from flowering. Other nearby bushes are also starting to show some color and a few buds have opened here and there.

But nothing is putting on quite the show like the old, reliable, JFK.

This is for you my dear Venus. Rest assured my dear wife -- this is just a start. I will continue to remind you of your dazzling beauty -- and my love for you -- all summer long.

Blogging: Easier Than Digging Post Holes

File that one in the "No Duh, Sherlock" department.

I just hurt all over. No -- not from the project pictured to the right. I hurt because of the project that I tackled AFTER creating that little rose and flower garden. Digging post holes is no darn fun. Digging post holes in muddy clay soil is REALLY no fun.

And I still have one more to go....

But -- I digress. Although my thoughts remain with a very ill gardening friend -- life goes on. It must. Flowers will flower. Roses will bloom. Peaches will grow. Heirloom tomatoes will ripen. Life happens. Katie would have wanted it that way.

But -- to honor our friend and beautify the yard at the same time -- Venus and I completed a project over the weekend that we call "Katie's Spot." Katie will like it because soon -- this spot will be full of flowers -- which matches her flowering personality. Perhaps -- if I'm lucky -- I can get Katie to weed it later this summer (fat chance!).

I've been meaning to tackle this project for quite some time -- but there were always other "pressing duties" that needed to be taken care of first. This hybrid tea rosebush -- Blue Girl -- was transplanted from our old home (now a rental) to the new backyard three years ago. I put it in a side yard -- hooked up some irrigation -- and there it sat.

Sure -- it looked pretty. But it was all alone. Hybrid tea rosebushes need company -- they really do. No -- they don't get lonely. No -- they don't have "isolation issues." The plain fact is that hybridizers have put so much work into the top of the rose -- where it flowers -- that they've kind of ignored the bottom.

This is how it looked earlier this year when I pruned back a lot of last year's growth. Compare the photo to your left to the one above. Quite a big difference eh? Now imagine that soil filled with a mix of perennials. It should put on quite the show.

Another point to consider is that the bottoms of hybrid tea rosebushes can get kind of ugly as the summer wears on. The first leaves to emerge on a hybrid tea rosebush are at the bottom. Those are usually the first to catch some sort of disease or be eaten away by some bug. They drop -- and sometimes the bottom of a pretty hybrid tea rosebush can look bare and ugly.

So why not beautify the area with some "Rocklin Rocks," a little bit of bark, some Coreopsis, Butterfly Flowers, English Daisies and other selected perennials? The flowers serve a double purpose. Not only will they look pretty and draw attention to the showpiece at the top (the actual roses) -- they also serve to hide that bare spot that invariably develops at the bottom of the rosebush.

And the rocks? We call them Rocklin Rocks for a reason. Why? Cause we got them in Rocklin -- that's why. A few years ago -- when developers couldn't build homes fast enough -- giant bulldozers turned over acres of soil for new housing subdivisions and new commercial shopping centers.

Have you ever tried to dig a hole in a Rocklin backyard? They call the place "Rocklin" for a reason. Chances are -- you're going to hit big boulders the moment the shovel hits the soil line. Venus and I would find piles and piles of these rocks during commercial building efforts -- and just help ourselves.

They make for an attractive border, no? And the best part is -- they're FREE. That's a good selling point for frugal folks like us (you can also substitute the word "cheap" in for "frugal").

I have a feeling that Katie will like the arrangement because:

1. Flowers match her flowering personality

2. Roses smell good

3. It's not a lawn (Katie doesn't like lawns)

Next week's project? Installing my acre-sized lawn!