No, this isn't PBS

In my personal Vegetables 101 class today I started with cover crops aka green manure since that is the first / next thing I have to do . I learned from the online UF / IFAS that summer in Florida is not the time to grow vegetables, but it is the time to grow a cover crop that will organically prepare the bed for fall vegetable planting . And then lots of googling led to YouTube videos . Some were really helpful .

I'm also excited that this green manure will be beneficial to 'Souv de la Malmaison' since no vegetable will take her place .

A bit of a disclaimer right up front . Most gardeners are not as inadequately prepared to grow vegetables as I am, so I suspect this post may be incredibly boring for some . However, I found that watching these videos really informed my brain and comforted my nerves by providing visual information almost like being there gaining hands-on experience . For one thing I learned what the "no-till" method is . Yay! No digging-in . Also, a bit of good news - one purpose of cover crops is to give rest - to the soil and to the gardener . I like that!

So if your game, grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy .

On with the show!

Improve soil fertility in your food garden with a green manure crop

Sunn Hemp for Soil Health and Nematode Management

Sunn Hemp growing in central Alabama

Harvesting Hairy Vetch in Ohio

Cover crops and compost crops IN your garden

And now...   views from the garden .

Salvia farinacea

'Le Vesuve' - Maybe he's shivering in his roots . Mama watched a video on vegetable gardening in a circular bed, but I forgot it instantly .

'Clotilde Soupert'

'Le Vesuve' vs. the vegetables

My golden NOID - I love it!

I forget .

'Le Vesuve'

Good Reading

A lot of my reading on the subject of gardening is done on the computer via Google. Since I spend so much time on the computer, most of the many, many beautiful gardening books on my shelves have basically become "picture" books and have been read very little. Only lately have I determined to do more reading in them. However, the fact is that I don't even need the fingers of one hand to count the books I have that deal with growing roses in Florida. So the reading that I am recommending here is on the internet, specifically the University of Florida IFAS Extension website. You name it, they've researched and written about it.

When I start delving into the documents of UF IFAS, I am usually quite astonished at all the stuff I didn't know or was wrong about. What do they say, "Knowledge is power"? Well, in order to be an empowered Florida gardener, knowledge is crucial. Gardening, especially gardening in Florida, is not just digging in the dirt and dropping in a plant. After all, how many plants do you think really flourish in sand? Like any other endeavor, a little study is helpful.

So I thought I'd pass on a few examples of the good reading available online, courtesy of the State of Florida.

Nematode Management for Bedding Plants
Nematode Management for Perennial Landscape Plants
A Word or Two About Gardening
Rose Culture
Hillsborough County Garden Almanac

The first two are similar, but they include important lists of plants and their susceptibility to or tolerance of nematodes. (Interestingly, roses are only 'susceptible' not 'very susceptible' and 'will grow satisfactorily'.) The third article concerns rose growing in Miami-Dade, the fourth article is on roses in general in Florida, and the last one is a really cool one - what to plant and when throughout the year. Even though it's about the Tampa area, I think it's useful to many of us, and those with more or less cold probably already know the adjustments they'll have to make.

So cuddle up in front of your computer and expand your gardening mind with some good reading.

Repeat after me...

Chinas, Teas and Noisettes. Chinas, Teas and Noisettes. If you're a warm-climate rose gardener, those rose classes are meant for your garden. Did you know that Shanghai, China and Jacksonville, Florida are almost on the same parallel - latitudinally speaking, within a few minutes of each other? Explorers and merchants of the late 1700's brought Chinese roses (R. chinensis) back to Europe. They were the first repeating roses ever seen by Europeans and are responsible for the genetics of reblooming roses. The one I am fondest of and the first OGR in my garden is Louis Philippe, also known as...drum roll, please. The Florida Rose! It seems to be impervious to the nematodes in our sandy ground that cut short the life of most other roses. Its smallish globular flowers are deliciously scented. They remind me of Cherry candy and never fail to make my mouth water. The outer petals are red, but the petals toward the center are pink with a touch of white. All my roses are favorites, but he really is my favorite, I think. Louis Philippe is such a cheerful rose, never giving me a moment's trouble. I just love him.

About a year and a half old, maybe 3' tall x 4' wide

Two years old in March, 2009 preparing the first spring flush

The shocker is that this bush is now as tall as the 6' fence and about as wide. (It's too cold to take his picture now!!) You can see his foliage is beautiful and healthy with no spraying. Chinas have a very twiggy structure, shooting out thin canes at all angles. They really only need to be pruned for size since they cycle through flush after flush even without deadheading, typically dropping old leaves after a bloom followed by a burst of new red growth which turns a fresh green and then on with the next flowering cycle. It was a little scary the first few times he dropped leaves. I thought he was dying. As Louis Philippe has gotten older, he doesn't defoliate nearly as much between blooms but stays nice and bushy.

Every week with these roses has been something new. Looking through my photos, I am amazed at how different they looked a year ago and two years ago and even from spring to summer. I have another favorite China, but that's tomorrow's post. Oh, did I say 'another' favorite? Told ya.