She was right about that on April 15th. But wrong on June 15th.
This is another one of my saved plants. When we were removing rubbish and rocks from the entry garden we just dumped it over the side of the driveway. Pretty soon it was quite a pile stretching the length of the driveway. A Retama (Jerusalem thorn) tree started to grow. By the time it came to clean up a few years later there was no way I was going to let it go. D removed all the debris from around the tree and built a dry stack wall. This tree just grows in rubbish.
It has a pretty flower, and vicious spines along the branches. Under the stress of cold weather it will lose its leaves and photosynthesize through its green trunk and branches.
Meanwhile inside the walls, in the English garden. This photo shows the birdbath circle shortly after I planted it with three new roses of the variety Knockout last July. They were planted as a memorial to a much loved mother and a great friend. Both were Lancashire lasses and the red rose being the rose of the house of Lancaster seemed appropriate. 
They have bloomed profusely since April.
I was warned by someone that I need to cut them back without fear as they will grow quite large so I took the pruners to them the other day. What I noticed was below every hip there is a new shoot. It's not surprising that they bloom with such vigor.
Oooh! I really love the retama! I wish I had room for one, but my yard is too small for something with extra-pokey thorns like it has. I will just have to covet yours ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd your roses are beautiful, too!
I love that the retama just planted itself in your rubbish heap. It certainly doesn't look like a rubbish heap anymore, not with that lovely stone around it.
ReplyDeleteI wish my Knockout that I planted last fall would do something. I've been keeping it watered, but the heat and drought seem to be stressing it.
One of the things I did when I planted the roses was to add some sulphur to the soil. Maybe that is why they are doing so well. Unfortunately my camera does not seem to capture the color well so I don't have a good photo of when it was fully in bloom. It certainly is a non stop bloomer.
ReplyDeleteAs to the retama- yes we have a good spot for it. There is a huge one growing across the road and it sends its seeds over here in the winter. I have several but none quite so well shaped as this.
Jenny
You are proof that a real gardener can grow plants in just about anything! Rubbish piles, gravel... you name it.
ReplyDeleteCarol, May Dreams Gardens