Plant Care – Raging Rosarian http://www.ragingrosarian.com Raging Rosarian is a gardening blog celebrating, ranting, and raving about the cultivation of roses, heirloom tomatoes, and other examples of entertaining greenery. Mon, 21 May 2018 02:08:18 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/wp-content/uploads/tinyicon-45x45.png Plant Care – Raging Rosarian http://www.ragingrosarian.com 32 32 A bird ate one of my roses! Where is my pellet gun? http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/05/20/a-bird-ate-one-of-my-roses-where-is-my-pellet-gun/ Mon, 21 May 2018 02:05:15 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3942 Well here is a first. Some evil birdie snatched a nearly open bloom and snacked on it this afternoon! I know they smell like candy, but isn’t this a bit much? The remains of the rose were crumpled up in a neighboring pot… Now that is sneaky!

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]]> Late seasons, more anticipation, and lots and lots of rain… http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/05/19/late-seasons-more-anticipation-and-lots-and-lots-of-rain/ Sat, 19 May 2018 17:57:59 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3934 Being halfway or more through May, I would normally expect to see more going on in the garden. This is clearly a weird year. With most of my shrubs preparing for their third year since planting, this should be when the real displays begin. And likely they will, but the oddly late onset of spring […]

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]]> Spring Finally Arrives http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/04/18/spring-finally-arrives/ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:47:35 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3880 Firstly, I must apologize for the lack of recent posts. I returned from a work trip to Asia (which went extremely well — I could have happily spent six months there) only to end up deeply immersed at work. But at last, signs of spring are upon us. Now that the days are long enough […]

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]]> The Spring Leaf-out http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/03/31/the-spring-leaf-out/ Sat, 31 Mar 2018 23:42:42 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3872 If ever there was a sign of the degree to which I’ve been infected with rose fever, it’s in the choices I made in varieties. How else can one explain using a chicken coop heater to stabilize the ambient temperature in a corner of the garage, thereby enabling the survival of certain cultivars that, ordinarily, […]

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]]> LED Grow Light Update http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/03/11/led-grow-light-update/ Sun, 11 Mar 2018 19:24:28 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3811 In previous years, I used a fluorescent fixture (with T5 bulbs) as a grow light for my seedlings. This year, I’ve tried an LED grow light — partly just for the sake of comparison. I wish I could say I’ve seen a difference, but so far, there hasn’t been one. I can assume there is […]

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]]> More biological warfare: nicotine http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2018/01/19/biological-warfare-nicotine/ Fri, 19 Jan 2018 13:19:06 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=3559 I love evolution and phylogeny. With animals, you can see how similar traits were adapted over time given different environmental pressures or happenstances. Now that we know T-rex was feathered and mitochondrial DNA has suggested its closest living relatives include the common chicken, that trip to KFC has new meaning. With plants, it’s especially interesting […]

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]]> Zone stretching: the great experiment http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2017/12/31/zone-stretching-the-great-experiment/ Sun, 31 Dec 2017 17:28:55 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=2697 With temps dropping to the single digits, easily the coldest weather we’ve had in years (especially after last year’s non-winter), I am wondering how things look inside the garage. Clustered around a chicken coop heater in the left rear corner are my Gloire de Dijon, Papa Meilland, and the other potted plants. I now doubt […]

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]]> The nuclear weapon of organic pest control http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2017/12/24/the-nuclear-weapon-of-organic-pest-control/ Sun, 24 Dec 2017 01:34:04 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=2448 The best way to keep insect pests at bay: foul the area with something so noxious they’ll never know what hit them. Enter the cayenne pepper. In this case, you’re looking at ground Ristra Cayenne pepper from my 2015 crop. Unfortunately this particular batch happened to be so delicious to me that I chose to […]

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]]> Keeping the horses happy http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2017/12/23/keeping-the-horses-happy/ Sat, 23 Dec 2017 03:47:26 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=2386 One of the best natural fertilizers this side of dung is, well, the other side of dung. Alfalfa pellets, widely available at livestock stores, are about as good as it gets and can be used in a number of ways. Sprinkled lightly into the soil and worked in, they decompose slowly, adding a range of […]

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]]> Arrival… Because they do look a bit like aliens http://www.ragingrosarian.com/blog/2017/12/20/arrival-because-they-do-look-a-bit-like-aliens/ Wed, 20 Dec 2017 23:58:14 +0000 http://www.ragingrosarian.com/?p=2212 This happy little ganglion is actually James Galway #3, replacing a year-old plant I had to put down the previous fall after it contracted Rosette (aka RRD), a virus that terminally disfigures roses.  Thankfully,this happy critter is healthy as kale and ginger smoothie. This is a perfect example of what an own root rose looks […]

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