Friday, July 24, 2009

What I Learned - Day 4

Thursday's Master Gardeners class was divided between in-depth coverage of landscape design and antique roses. The first half was a real education on the principles of landscape design - which told me everything I've been doing wrong - and the second half was pure pleasure - on one of my favorites. During the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more on the two speakers of the day - both of whom were great.

Three tips from today:

Don't even THINK about putting in a plant until you've designed a bed. Those of us who've passed a plant in a nursery that we just couldn't resist, only to have it sit in a pot for a year (or two) until we figure out where the heck to put it, are good examples of impulse over planning.

If you love bulbs, as I do, you need to do your homework to see which ones are suited to Southeast Texas. Southern Bulbs is a great place to start.

We all owe a big debt to the Texas Rose Rustlers, who, decades ago, began taking cuttings of old roses found in the South. If not for them, we might have lost many of the hundreds-of-years-old cultivars that now are available through years of propogation. William Welch, whose book is shown here, is one of the pioneers.

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