Weeds and roses

I didn't make much headway this weekend on new landscaping because I devoted myself to the painful task of weeding. Since I haven't mulched yet this year—I'm waiting for the free mulch pile to return (I have a lot of square feet to cover)—I have weeds coming up everywhere. Three days of weeding and I only have one section left to do. By the time I finish the task this week, I'll probably have to start over! ARG!

But the weeding gives you time to survey each of your plants with thoughtful devotion. And I discovered that many of my roses are afflicted with blackspot, a common rose disease. Upon research, blackspot tends to thrive in wet, cool weather—we had 10 days of 50 degree rainy weather before our beautifully sunny week last week. I had to go buy a rose-specific pesticide at Home Depot today, which should nip it in the bud. (Pun. HA!)

And speaking of roses, I would have never guessed that my bushes would actually be in bloom for Memorial Day, but my red and pink mini roses are all flowering! My large roses bushes have several buds ready to pop in the next couple days. It's amazing what a week of sunny, warm weather will do for a garden.

Another high point of the weekend—my herb seeds are growing. Despite the herbicide I sprinkled in the garden, my dill, cilantro, basil, parsley, and chive seeds all germinated. I wonder how long it will take for them to actually be big enough to harvest for cooking?