by Leslie Cox; Sunday; May 14, 2017

I hate to complain about the weather but…well, I do really have to talk about it. Much of what we do in the garden hinges a lot on the weather.

For example: I only just seeded my eggplant and peppers on the 7th. It has been so much colder than normal, I pushed past my normal indoor sowing dates for these heat-loving vegetables. Should have started them two or three weeks ago for our area.

But the squashes, zucchini, and cucumbers I sowed at the same time were pretty well on schedule. Lots of prayers were muttered for warmer temperatures right around the corner as I pushed these seeds gently into their soil-filled starter pots. Hoping it happens before the seedlings get too big. Prostrate seedling growth does not work too well in the limited shelf space under my grow lights.

I also sowed some broccoli and cauliflower on the 7th, which normally I would have already done in mid-April. I am really behind for these vegetables…just do not know where those weeks disappeared to. But since I was in seed sowing mode, I went ahead and put some of these seeds into starter pots. I do have a heat mat on part of my grow light shelves and as of this writing, it has already cut down the number of germination days by about half. We will just have to see how much the later sowing date impacts on overall plant performance and production. An experiment to be sure. Let’s hope the weather is about to turn towards normal.

Out in the garden…whenever the weather allowed in between torrential rain squalls, and I mean squalls…we tackled more pruning. (Our in-laws who live not too far from us had hail on three occasions in those same squalls. Unbelievable!) John took his grub hoe to the run-away rugosa roses in the remaining part of the hedge I had not attacked earlier. My lapse was just for that very reason…it was a grub hoe job.

I know I have said this before in other blog entries, in other years…there are times when I lament my Rosa rugosa hedge. It spans across almost the entire 80-odd feet (24.4 m) at the front of our property and every year it requires pruning, thinning, and removal of wandering stolons outside of the boundary I allow for the hedge. It takes a number of days to accomplish these tasks in an already hectic spring schedule and subsequent hours spent in the first aid removal of multitudes of tiny thorns.

But…and it is a very huge “but”…that same hedge always, always redeems itself as soon as the first blossoms break to release their scent upon the breeze. Hugely florific, these roses will bloom from late spring into fall, as long as I deadhead the spent flowers. I know. More work on these roses but this job I do not mind in the least because of the rewards.

I can still recommend to anyone asking that this is the rose to plant in your garden. All of the rugosas in my hedge are in the Pavement series which were developed especially for the Autobahn in Germany. They are planted along this highway, hence the Pavement name. And yes, they are bullet tough. Mine are planted in the skimpiest of sandy-gravel soil right at the very edge of our road. I do not water them very much at all as we are on metered water in our area. So, because of the water costs, these roses only get two or three soakings throughout the entire season…including through the last three drought summers we have had. And they have still thrived beautifully.

Need any further encouragement to get one of these roses? They are bullet tough for pest and disease resistance as well.

Just one word to the wise…plant this rose in the toughest area of your garden. This is what it has been bred for. If you give it pristine billing in your landscape setting, it will become a thug.