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Labor Day Rose

I like to put up rose pictures on holidays ... of namesake roses for the special day. Well, no surprise here ... but maybe you rose growers ought to take notice.  There's no such thing, as far as I know, as a 'Labor Day' rose.  But there are a lot of what I'd call "workhorse" roses.

 'Knockout,' a 2000 All-America Rose Selections  Winner, has been around for some time now, but it truly is a workhorse in the garden, blooming from May until frost. And it now comes in a variety of colors, from pale to deep pink, yellow, white, and probably more. If deadheaded regularly, this rose just keeps on coming.

Since Knockout's appearance, there are some other "workhouse" roses that certainly merit consideration.

The HomeRun rose, introduced by Weeks Roses, now comes in pink (watercolors) and red, and it's another disease-resistant, non-stop bloomer.  I had this rose in my own garden, and I love it because it provide color all season long.  BUT -- do not deadhead this rose if you want it to keep blooming ... it does best if you leave it alone.

Finally, consider the Drift Rose -- introduced by Conard-Pyle, and it, too, is another workhorse.  It's a great groundcover that keeps on coming ... this one is Apricot Drift, but it comes in a wide array of colors, from pale pink to red, as well as peach, coral, and even white.

None of these roses are known for fragrance, but who needs scent when you're looking for disease resistance along with steady color. 

(photo: AARS)

Happenings September 2023

Selected Events Around the Country:

Exhibitions:

Thru Oct 15, Chihuly in the Garden, St. Louis, MO
Missouri Botanical Garden
Thru Sept 17, Artist Ebony G. Patterson, Bronx, NY
Art & Nature: sculptures, horticultural displays & more, NY Botanical Garden

Events:

Sept 1, 40th Succulent Plant Symposium, San Marino, CA
9am-5pm, The Huntington, lectures & plant sale

Sept 8-10, What's Out There Weekend, Cleveland, OH
Tours of Parks, Gardens, Plazas, neighborhoods, and much more. TCLF
Sept 9, Garden Dialogues, Weekapaug, RI
2-3:30pm, Talk & Tour, Oceanfront House, TCLF
Sept 9-10 Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: CO, CT, NJ, NY
CO: Larimer Cty; CT: New Canaan, Litchfield, New Haven Ctys; NJ: Essex, Somerset Ctys; NY: Nassau, Suffolk, Ulster, Westchester Ctys.
Sept 9, "Uncommon Plants for Home Gardens," Stone Ridge, NY
10am-noon, Talk & Tour, Hortus Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, Garden Conservancy
Sept 9, "High Plains Prairie Garden," Fort Collins, CO
5:30pm-7:30pm Talk & Tour, Gardens on Spring Creek, Garden Conservancy
Sept 9, "Changing Seasons, Sleepy Cat Farm," Greenwich, CT
4pm-6pm, Talk & Tour, Sleepy Cat Farm, Garden Conservancy
Sept 9, "Land Trusts: Preserving Open Spaces," North Salem, NY
10am-noon, Talk & Tour, Baxter Preserve, Garden Conservancy

Sept 13-15, Urban Tree Summit, ONLINE and DC Area
12th Annual Summit, Lectures, Tours and more.
Sept 14, "The Politics of Plants," Boston, MA
7-8:30pm, LA Conversation, Calderwood Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Sept 14, Garden Dialogues, Toronto, ON
noon-1:30pm, Sky Garden, Talk & Tour, TCLF

Sept 16, Garden Dialogues, Salem, MA
11am-12:30pm, Garden Talk & Tour, Peabody Essex Museum, TCLF

Sept 20-21, Landscape Expo, Anaheim, CA
Sept 21, Climate Week Symposium, Bronx, NY
9:30am-noon, "Cultivating Resilience," NY Botanical Garden
Sept 21, Sissinghurst Through the Seasons, ONLINE
2pm EST, Fall Episode, Garden Conservancy
Sept 23, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: NH, NY
NH: Monadonock Region; NY: Dutchess Cty.
Sept 23, "Discovering Blithewood," Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
1-2pm and 3-4pm, Talk & Tour Blithewood Garden & Arboretum, Garden Conservancy

Sept 28-29, Restoration to Garden Workshop, Boylston, MA
9am-4:30pm, "Plants and Wildlife New England Style," NDAL
Tower Hill Botanical Garden
Sept 28-30, America in Bloom Symposium, Spartanburg & Greenwood, SC
Lectures, Tours, More
Sept 29-30, Garden Futures Summit, Bronx, NY
"How Gardens are Changing the Future."
Lectures, NYC Garden Tours, NY Botanical Garden &
The Garden Conservancy
Sept 30, Garden Conservancy Open Days Tours: Westchester Cty, NY
Sept 30-Oct 1, What's Out There Weekend, Rhinebeck, NY
Tours of Parks, Estates, Neighborhoods, Campuses

LOOKAHEAD:

October 5, Mega-Eco Symposium, Philadelphia, PA
10am-6pm, Symposium on Very Large-Scale Landscape Projects
Penn Design, Meyerson Hall
Oct 20, Perennial Plant Conference, Swarthmore, PA
Scott Arboretum
Oct 26, Ecological Landscape Alliance, Season's End Summit, Boylston, MA
8:30am-5:30pm EDT, In person, Tower Hill Botanical Garden or ONLINE.
Oct 27-30, ASLA Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN

Books: Botany, Potted Edibles

Recently, at the local farmer's market, I bought some mini tomatoes just about the size of blueberries... some of the best-tasting tomatoes I've encountered.  So it made me think I should try growing some edibles in containers on my balcony once again.  I've had luck with herbs, but everything else has been a disaster.

Now, excellent advice in this new book  (Cool Springs Press, 2023) by Pam Farley, whose website is BrownThumbMama.com.  Farley surmises that you haven't tried container food gardening in the past, so she takes you through the process for success step-by-step: container size and materials, soil, planting, watering, and much more.

Best of all, there are planting guides for vegetables, fruits and herbs that tell you everything you need to know to grow your crop successfully.

Maybe I'll just give those tiny tomatoes a try next spring.

 

I already have a couple of books on this subject, but this book,  A Gardener's Guide to Botany (Cool Springs Press, 2023) by botanist Scott Zona, is surely one of the very best.  The photos and drawings that accompany the text explain the sometimes difficult plant concepts in perfect detail, and the botanical tips throughout the book are worth the price of it alone. If you've been stumped about tendrils and stipules, xylem and phloem, girdling and grafting macro- and micro-nutrients, then this is the book for you.

And best of all, the writing is clear and concise so that you'll understand everything that might have seemed difficult in the past.

 

 

 

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