melissatwa's Journal, 04 Oct 20

Thank you all so much! I think it is impossible to take bad pictures of pretty flowers! John, I don't do anything really that special. I use a garden variety, three in one, systemic fertilizer for Roses. I don't even have a brand I prefer. Just whatever is on sale! I use a good organic mulch, and I feed them Epsom salts every couple months. The hardest thing is keeping them healthy in a damp climate. I use a rather potent antifungal concentrate for spraying. For the powdery mildew that wants to grow mid summer through now, I have another concoction I mix up of potassium bicarbonate. Mostly, I think I just have really good rose bushes. I got eleven of my 13 from the same old guy at a local farmers market. It matters that you start with a quality bush! I am so very thankful for my flowers. They are a stupid amount of work sometimes, but I love the colorful rewards!  

Thank you, Princess! ❤️ I was needing some control! 😁 I still have a way to go to get back to goal.  

Beautiful, as always! Melissa, I think your cooler weather helps your gardens to flourish. The gardens in Wisconsin all seemed to be on steroids when we were there. Our Georgia heat isn't as helpful. I know you have to pay special attention to your roses cause the damp weather can wreak havoc with them. You seem to have figured out how to deal with that, though. I so enjoy your pics & understand how you feel each flower deserves it's own day in the spotlight.  

Oh, SherryeB, thank you so much! ♥️ You surely understand! Having seen photos of some of your beautiful flowers and garden, I know you experience the joy growing pretty things can bring. I have very limited knowledge of gardening except for trying to keep my roses. Ask Chris's! I've managed to kill the dogwood tree we tried to clone, and bulbs he said will always grow turned to mush under my watch. Finally, a willow tree he started and gave us was gobbled by deer and is barely surviving after I've fenced it in! But, my motion detector sprinkler is still working to guard my roses! 😁 Anyway, thanks so much! And, post more pictures of your amazing property!!!  

It's lovely to live surrounded by so much beauty, and even more when you have grown it with your hands. 

Beautiful, are those delphiniums? I can’t seem to grow them 4 have died. 

Thank you, Eva! I can't make them grow, but I just do my best to tend them! ♥️ cc81004, thank you! ❤️ I would LOVE to have some delphiniums, but these are a plant called Monk'sHood (wolfsbane). The picture here doesn't do the flowers justice at all! They are a rich, true purple and apparently extremely poisonous! They are new to me, and I'm surprised they are blooming so late in the year.  

They're all so beautiful! 😍🌹 

To pretty for words and your are absolutely rite 

So many beautiful colors! And a drop too!