Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Feb. 28

The photo above, of a Lady Banks' Rose not too far from where we live, is a repeat. But I thought the flag was appropriate for today. And the flag is up over the rose bush again, too. This is a prime season for lovely flowering shrubs and small trees. This rose only blooms once a year, but it stays in bloom for several weeks, and it is worth changing your traveling route a little to see it if you have one in the neighborhood. We have several in our neighborhood. Not all this big.

Wee Kreek Farm Girl first alerted us that this rose, Rosa banksiae, both the yellow one and the white one, grow in the desert, including a record-setting huge rose in Tombstone.

It's not hard to find conflicting information about this rose on the interwebs. On the North Carolina State University page, the yellow cultivar is classified as "white". Well, it's buttery, but it's not white. Though most people can't detect a fragrance from the yellow rose. Most of the other information seems OK, and there's a wonky general video about roses, too.

Many sources say that the white cultivar is fragrant, like violets. I haven't ever been able to detect a fragrance. But this rose is recommended for Central Texas, too. I think the individual flowers on the white cultivar are more distinctive than the ones on the yellow cultivar, but people seem to grow the yellow one here and the white one in Southern California. Don't know why.

Some of the roses on the plant I photographed are bigger than a quarter - not "dime-sized". Here's a close-up, with some skinny rose hips.

Though early European plant explorers were known for their derring-do, I think it is true that this rose was found in a famous Chinese nursery. The wild form is single, on an even bigger plant.

Here's a photo and information on the white cultivar.

The rose I photographed is hanging over a fence, with the actual plant and a protective dog on the other side. Wonder if one of these would look nice with AZ Deplorable Moron's cactus?

Or with 40 Miles North's freeway daisies?

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

Sock Monkey passes a message along from his daughter: Leftists are trying to cancel Baker Creek Seeds even though they are aligned with many leftist ideals (vegans, etc.)

My daughter sent this to me and asked me to pass it on. She is a talented gardener. I am not. She has used these folks for years with great success.
They put Bible verses in their seed catalogue this year, and did fundraising for a Christian charity in Ukraine. Because of that, there is a concerted effort on reddit and bluesky to get people not to buy from them.

What a bunch of bigoted dopes.

Baker Creek specializes in heirloom and open-pollinated seeds, including seeds sourced from third world countries. They have a lot of interesting plants - veggies, herbs and flowers. Check them out.

See the blossoms and immature seeds on the dill? Perfect for pickles.

Lots of corn varieties for different uses

Interesting advice

Single zinnias would probably be even better for attracting pollinators (if that is your goal). They also have those at Baker Creek.

Gardens of The Horde

Anything going on in your garden?

Living in the North? Here are some seeds to wintersow.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Feb. 21

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:00 PM

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