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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Everything That's Right



 Harvesting giant sweet potatoes and finally growing carrots longer than my finger 


Finding a spot for the pink clematis that needed to be moved
(It's been pruned hard and planted next to the fence post so that my neighbor and I can both enjoy it.)


Sheffield Pink mums


Good friends who understand why yelling and cussing at rocks is necessary when digging a huge hole for a rose you never thought you'd move.


My Sceptre d'Isle rose needed more sun so I thought I'd just pop it out of the ground and move it into a sunnier spot. But the roots went down almost 2 feet and took me almost 3 hours to excavate and replant. It was dark by the time I finished filling each hole but it's done. All is well.

48 comments:

  1. I like your mum and white geraniums! Did you grow both the sweet potatoes and carrots in pots?

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    1. Thanks! I grow all my veggies in pots since I don't want to surrender any space in my flower garden for vegetables. The sweet potatoes did extremely well! Pots are perfect for carrots since you don't have to worry about rocky soil creating crazy carrots.

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  2. I love your curved garden bed Tammy, I'm glad you managed to move the rose intact. Sometimes when you go to move something, you really don't know how big a job it's going to be until you start.Funny you should mention cussing, I was yelling and cussing at the wind yesterday, trying to take some more photo's, didn't work, but made me feel better.

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    1. Some of the rocks were so wedged into the clay soil, I could barely get them out. Cussing at them didn't help but it made my neighbor laugh and helped me feel better. :o)

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  3. I hope your gorgeous rose will appreciate the hard labor you put into moving her to a new home! I am always so excited if I dig into good, deep, friable soil, but usually I hit hard clay and rock, which must be amended and conditioned to give most plants a chance. I have never grown potatoes, but I have tried carrots, always with pitiful luck! I need to know your secret!

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    1. Carrots are easy in pots because the soil is loose. Just be sure to thin them so they're not overcrowded. I dug up a wheelbarrow's worth of rocks. Ugh!

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  4. Oh, yes, I would say the Sheffield Pink Mums are something that's right! They're lovely. I'm partial to peach-colored blooms for some reason. And I'm glad you got your Roses transplanted OK. You grow so many wonderful things in pots, Tammy! It's truly inspirational!

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    1. I'm very partial to peach colored flowers,too. :o) Sticking something in a pot is my default solution. Plants love the perfect drainage as long as you keep the pots moist enough. I'm trying to make my container garden more xeric so I can water less. :o)

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  5. Tammy, I can understand how the hard work was moving your pretty rose! When I moved my conifer I was surprised the roots it had. I love the color of your carrot, I've never had this one.

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  6. That's an impressive sweet potato. Definitely a motivation for me to try growing these in future. It's good to hear they can be grown in pots.

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    1. I couldn't believe how well the potato slips took to the potting soil. I think it was because the soil is so loose. They were super easy to grow.

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  7. Just spotted your link on Kelli's bloglist so popped for a peek! Just love the flower photos! I'll read more posts later.

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  8. You've got good excercise in your garden by digging and planting. Have a great week, Tammy!

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  9. That is a sweet potato? It's huge! It's beautiful when the garden provides food for us.
    The pink mum is an ahhhhh

    Moving roses or clematis, ack I'm always afraid to move them and after your 3 foot digging I remember why!

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    1. All the digging was a pain in the butt, literally, but it's worth it. I'll have a fuller rose bush with more flowers. :o)

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  10. Two feet down and three hours later...I am all admiration at your perseverance and determination. My carrots look like runts in comparison with yours and that is one good sized sweet potato! The mums are very, very pretty. I admired them on Laurrie's blog as well. They are definitely going on my list for next spring.

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    1. Sheffield Pink's are super easy to grow. Once I started that hole, I just had to keep going. It became a challenge. It looked like a grave, it was so big! But I think my rose is already happier. :o)

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  11. Three hours of digging!!! That's devotion for sure. I hope that rose appreciates all the aches and pains you're feeling today. I'm sure it will thrive in its new location and repay you with plenty flowers :)

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    1. I don't think Miss Sceptre was as thrilled with the the move as I was. She impaled me numerous times with her thorns. I had to prune her purely out of self-defense. But when I checked on her today she was happy and snug in her new spot, which is only 2 feet away from her original spot!

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  12. "I thought I'd just pop it out of the ground and move it".

    Ha.

    Ha.

    The pink rose was worth moving, though. It really is beautiful. And of course I love your Sheffield mums : )

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    1. I'm an eternal optimist! If it's remotely plausible than I'm convinced it's possible and off I go... :o)

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  13. Pop it out of the ground and move it. Maybe you could try that with something a little smaller next time. Like a daisy perhaps.

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  14. Wow, you have really inspired me to try growing vegetables in pots...wish me luck.
    You have accomplished lots of work in your garden, and it all looks very lovely.
    Keep on keeping on.

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    1. Pots are the best! You don't have to worry about rotten soil. Just make sure the pots are big enough and have moisture retentive soil. :o)

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  15. I've never grown sweet potatoes. I think I will try!

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    1. They were super easy! Plus, the vines were lovely. :o)

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  16. You sure picked some wonderful times to move things. Love those Mums.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Fall planting is my favorite time. I don't have to worry about a heat wave frying the plants before they get a chance to settle in.

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  17. I am inspired. Next year I might attempt to grow a carrot in a pot. And I will puff up with pride and be as likely to eat it as I would be to eat my parakeets (braised, I think). And I imagine it being much admired -- it's amazing how stunned folk are whenever something edible sprouts in my garden. Like the basil. That really wowed this summer. I grew it in a pot on the steps, and received many complements and comments like: What is that?

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    1. I had hideous basil this summer! It was growing in front of a window receiving full afternoon reflected sun/heat, which was the same as being planted on the face of the sun. I pitied it but not enough to do anything about it. It acted as my sun sponge and hated me for it so it repaid me by growing pathetic leaves out of spite. Now we're even.

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  18. Young lady, I'll thank you to stop that cussing immediately! Did you hear me? O.K. missy, you'll be going to time out right this minute! As a punishment, you are sentenced to three hours of digging a thorny rose! :) Glad that the move was successful.

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    1. Ha ha ha! I have battle scars from the rose! My arms look like I fought a bobcat and lost. :o)

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  19. Check out that sweet potato! I thought it was a turnip when I first looked. Good job. I feel the pain of moving that rose. I did a similar job with a lilac this spring and had to call in for back up.

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  20. It reminds me of a turnip, too! I was really surprised by how round it is. My lilacs are huge. It would take a small army to move them. But I should have put on body armor before tackling the rose. I'd be less scratched up! :o)

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  21. If a person is going to cuss and discuss, it should definitely be over trying to dislodge a rose's 2 foot root! You go girl. It is a beautiful rose and worth the effort. And of course one can never have too many PINK blossoms. :)

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    1. I agree! My garden is very pink and girly. There's no conceivable way someone would walk into my garden and ever imagine a sweaty Cromagnon planting away. :o)

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  22. I have never moved a rose bush but I have dug out big yews by hand and the same principle of talking to inanimate objects applies. Nice pictures, very tempted by Sceptre D'Isle.

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    1. Sceptre d'Isle is a keeper! It's very disease resistant and quite tough. I had to dig out two huge yews that were acting as giant turnstiles next to my front porch steps. Fortunately, they had wide shallow roots that came up easier than the subterranean claw that was holding my rose in place.

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  23. I've never had good luck with carrots. When I get them thinned out properly and growing nice the moles come in and eat holes in them! I bought a mole chaser last year which seems to work great so I am looking forward to trying carrots again next year. Potatoes are always fun to grow. Next year I am adding a bunch more heirloom flowers and plants around the vegetable gardens to attract more birds and bees!
    ~Rob

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    1. Try the carrots in a pot! That way you don't have to worry about rocky soil or voles. Just be sure to thin them. 'Blue Fortune' agastache is a big plant but it attracts pollinators by the truck loads. So do coneflowers. :o)

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  24. What a big fat sweet potato!! Yum. I admire your fortitude on digging out the rose bush, that is a deep root system!

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    1. I knew if I gave up that it would irk me every time I walked past the rose next summer. So I just kept digging. :o)

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  25. Oh what I would give for a neighbour like you. The joy of pink clematis every time I walk out of my house, free, gratis, painless.....

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  26. WOW !! You have ambition like nobody's business! Roots 2 feet deep ?!! I'd have been weeping like a baby! Great veggies too! Sweet potatoes, ummmm! There's a 'Scooby snack' waiting to happen!

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