The New David Austin Roses. 19 March 24.

 Three of the new David Austin Rose bushes look pretty good.  They have plump buds with red or green growth.

Darcey Bussell

Boscobel

I forgot to photograph Silas Marner.  It's about the same.

Give Me Sunshine had the longest, palest shoots.  I had hoped that shade and cool weather would protect them.  Instead, they have dried out and wilted.

I'm still hopeful that new buds, not yet emerged, will grow and form the new bush.  The stems themselves still look good.

Rose Cuttings Update. 19 March 24.

 Today must be rose update day.

Here are some of the rose cuttings, starting by the "cut a stick in early winter / push it into the ground / mulch / forget it method".  

They seem to be taking and growing well.  Without roots, a bud might swell and make a leaf or two, but eventually it will dry out and die.  They are safer during the chilly weather of Spring, but they can only grow so much without roots.  These seem to be nearing the point where, without roots, they will wither.

Really, I think roses start almost as easily from hardwood cuttings as forsythias, willows, and figs.  

First Crop Of The Year. Scallions From Egyptian Walking Onions. 19 March 24.

 Today I harvested scallions. These were from  single clump of Egyptian Walking Onions.  They need a little more cleaning up than regular scallions, because they emerge from last year's bulb.  That needs to be removed, and the scallions washed.

It feels amazing, having a crop on 19 March.  I could have earlier, had I looked.

The row looks like this.  I think it's about two years old.

Without going into detail, I'm a lot more physically limited compared to last year.  I can't do nearly as much as before.  Over the years, I've been building a garden that is focused on accessibility.  Now, even though I can get up a bit, a lot of my gardening is done while sitting.  This row of Egyptian Walking onions is in a high raised bed.  That format helps make it possible to garden, for the physically challenged like me.  It helps so much.

The onions also work that way.  Egyptian Walking Onions are perennial.  If you don't harvest, the  clump will just keep growing larger.  Every couple of years, they should probably be dug out and replanted.  It doesn't matter much, when.  I'll try covering the ground with leaves from my pile, to keep weeds down better too.

Mini Rose Rescue Notes. 19 March 24.

 Here's one from the first group (yellow flower) that came from a pot that had crispy leaves and dead flowers.  I had cut them back, removed the dead leaves, washed off the original crummy soil, and repotted in good quality potting soil.  That was 21 Feb, so one month.  They get watered with dilute Schultz houseplant fertilizer (7 drops per quart of water) and are now outside 24/7.  I move them into full sun all day long.

This is the first with a flower bud.  It's interesting that happened so quickly.  The new leaves are larger and a richer color, compared to the few remaining original 

It will be nice if they bloom.  I check every day.

Here's the red mini that I gave the same treatment a few days ago.  The flower petal edges already had that sunburn.  They'l get cut off soon.  The plants really didn't miss a beat from that treatment.  They look healthy and vigorous.

These three plants were smaller than the five yellow ones, so I had planted them together but in a larger pot.

The better looking red one is waiting for a new pot.  It needs watering twice a day, so I better get to it.

Still looks very nice.  I think it's a newer variety.

Oops. Replanting Dahlia Seeds. 19 March 24.

 I dropped both 8-packs planted with dahlia seeds and spilled most of them.  So I replanted.

I could see that a number of seeds had germinated.  One seedling remains.  I just put the potting soil back into the eight-packs and replanted with fresh seeds.  Not that much time was lost.