Next up is the little low water pollinator bed that rubs between my fence and the side walk.

now some roses and perennials from the front that have survived the rough times.

Eusticia Vye

Cat’s Pajamas nepeta

Munstead wood who is barely holding on

Blue marvel salvia

Azure snow salvia

Gypsy lord iris

Un known iris

And some roses from the backyard and a Peaches and cream honeysuckle.

Princess Charlene de Monaco

Doris day

Christian, your plants look wonderful! You are really getting the hang of it.

Gorgeous, good job Christian !

Sorry to hear you had such a rough year, Christian. You have some lovely roses and perennials there that have survived the hard times. More power to your elbow!

Christian - you made it through the tough times. That's hard to do. Depression knocks you down and it leaves you lonely, sad and unmotivated. I'm really, really proud of you for what you've accomplished! Your roses look amazing!!! Your Earth Angel is scrumptious!! I love your salvias...I wish I could grow those pretty varieties. :) :) Well done, Christian!! :) :)

Beautiful! good for you, Christian. I myself hate both depression-and bindweed!

Well done! You have clearly spent a lot of time taking care of your garden -- how thoughtful of you to include a pollinator's garden too! Your Earth Angel looks like a promo shot! Just beautiful!

I hate bindwind too -- it grows with murderous abandon, only frost or brute force seems to knock it back.

Just beautiful eye candy

Welcome to the up and down world of horticulture. A coupla things: you will never be finished and we always learn more from our fails than our successes. If that sounds a bit gloomy, I can also state, with utter confidence, that gardening saved my life, restored my mental health and has been the most satisfying, nurturing, creative thing in my life (apart from the offspring). Although you may have had a somewhat stressful introduction, it is quite clear you are growing some lovely plants and will reap the vast rewards, for many years to come. Gardening is a long game...lifelong, really, so as your knowledge and experience expands, garden love will be a sanctuary for as long as you want. Best of luck going forward - we can all see you are on the road to garden joy.

Welcome to the up and down world of horticulture. A coupla things: you will never be finished and we always learn more from our fails than our successes. If that sounds a bit gloomy, I can also state, with utter confidence, that gardening saved my life, restored my mental health and has been the most satisfying, nurturing, creative thing in my life

Damn it @rosaprimula UK (Cambridge) Z8/9, you beat me to the punch as all that you wrote above describes me to a tea...tee :)

(Oh, and great work @Christian (SW Idaho USDA 7))

Christian, when we moved here it was a disaster and took 3 years to clean , clear, and fix the irrigation before I could plant anything. Boy was it frustrating to wait. Just as I got planting we adopted a 3 month old ( I was 69) and that was another huge challenge, how do I garden with an infant?

4 years later and gardening is much easier because she loves the yard as much as I do.

We can just do what we can and the plants that survive are the keepers. The weeds will always be a pain as will the deadheading. But if it's still more joy than headache it is worth the work.

As gardners we find our peace in the mundane of clipping, watering and smelling our beautiful roses even if the leaves aren't perfect lol

You have done wonders for your garden, Christian, and it seems like your garden is doing wonders for you. I too can testify that gardening has helped my mental/emotional state in more ways than I can count..

Christian, your garden is looking wonderful! I especially like your perennials and companion plants...are those penstemons that have the tubular flowers in lavender and pink? They are truly lovely.

So glad you garden is helping uplift your mental state!

Reading this thread is such a comfort to me! This season has been quite exhausting, and in some senses disappointing, while in others very pleasing. The main good thing is that we've had lots of rain; after 2 drought years this is an ENORMOUS blessing!!! I never want to criticize rain; I love it too much .We also finally had a real SPRING, with cool, rainy weather. After so many years of the hideous summer heat arriving way too early, this, too, was a great blessing. Sad o say, however, I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked-I had so many non-garden things to do (doctor and dentist appointments,a new cleaning lady,etc-all things that demanded attention and prevented me from getting out to my land). The spring flush began-so beautiful and promising!; I would've liked to be there every day but couldn't. Then, just as it was peaking, I got sick, and a long period of heavy rains began,which cut it short. Now, I'm still swamped with appointments, there is still a lot of beauty out there, but the heat has begun, and physically and spiritually I feel pretty exhausted,and it's seeming like it's all in vain, more headache than joy, etc. So it's really splendid to be reminded of the fact that I'm not alone in my struggles,not the only one who has ups and downs, not the only one who gets discouraged. At bottom, these things are only feelings, and feelings come and go. The truth is what is important!!!!!!!!

Your roses and plants are looking great Christian! Job well done!

Well said, bart bart!

Dear Christian,

As a depression sufferer from my early teens, now in old age, I have a first hand understanding of what you have experienced. Your candidness shows a brave soul inside an inspired gardener. I will pray for your continued wellness. Prayer changes things.

Now, if my Earth Angel will one day look half as good as yours I will be ecstatic. How did you get such a magnificent bush going in such a short time? Amazing!

Your choice of salvia varieties shows that your knowledge base in perennials is extensive. I can just imagine the beauty of the end results of your gardening pursuits.

If I may suggest that you give Major Wheeler Honeysuckle a try. It lacks fragrance, unfortunately, but what it lacks in fragrance it makes up for in flower production, vigor and aphid resistance. Aphids and powdery mildew are the bane of Honeysuckles almost across species and cultivar lines, but Major Wheeler kicks these bums to the curb.

Be strong, continue being brave, and trust Our Lord for all things. He will do it.

Moses

bart bart,

You have an encourager's spirit. God bless you!

Moses

Fellow Roses Forum Friends,

If you need your inner being 'batteries,' recharged, this is the forum to fill up. God bless you all!

Moses

Christian, if you never accomplish anything else in your garden, that Earth Angel is a lifetime achievement. Others have commented on it, and you obviously have loved it, and it loves you back. I've seen a lot of EAs, but yours is one of the *very* few that lives up to its potential. Good job!

Gardening can be overwhelming at times (a lot of times! lol), even without battling depression, but the secret is to divide those seemingly monumental tasks into smaller bits that you can finish and get a sense of accomplishment from. Make a list, and strike things off as you get them done. It's amazing how satisfying it is just to cross something off, no matter how small.

Like Moses said, this forum is your best place for encouragement. I know that when you're depressed/overwhelmed sometimes being social is the last thing you want, but trust me, we're JUST what you need, lol. You can unload or rant here anytime you need to. If nothing else, we've got wheelbarrow loads of empathy and sympathy. We've all been there!

bart bart,

I’m glad to here this thread has brought you some comfort. Im sorry to hear you have had a rough spring, may your summer be better. As gardners we to often forget that like our gardens we have our down seasons and our triumphant seasons. The lows arent indicative of who we are and our ablities but are situations that happen upons and we cant control. We have to remember the lows highlight the highs.

@Moses

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement, I am quite proud of my selection of perennials, flower gardening is my favorite form of gardening. So much so i got an associates degree in horticulture. I have lots of plans to fill my front and backyard with perennials, I definitely need to find a good space for Major Wheeler, I want to provide hummers with plenty of food sources. My hardy dinner plate hibiscus are looking like they will be providing me a huge late summer display.

@Moses and @fig_insanity Z7b E TN,

So for earth angel I think most of my success comes the fact that I work at a local lawn and garden store here in the boise area. We carry a product called Tomato Boom it is mostly alfalfa meal with rock phosphate and some other trace minerals all my roses get a couple cup fuls every spring and fall, on top of that we have another product called thrive which is a low nitrogen feed if anything it seems to encourage healthy micorbial activity in the soil and provide micronutrients, i apply that after using the tomato boom. Outside of that our low humidity high desert climate and alkaline soils seem to keep most diseases at bay.

here is Kiss Me Kate, she was planted at the same time as earth angel and summer romance she gets a western/southwestern exposure and her flowers have suffered more from the weather.

Bart - You've had a challenging spring...one filled with hope but also with lots of worries and stress. I hope you can relax soon and enjoy summer. Blessings. :) :)

Fig - well said. :) :)

Christian - my goodness...what a bountiful rose! She loves what you're doing. :)

I had stopped posting on the rose forums when my garden of around eighty or so roses and various companion plants was completely destroyed by ground squirrels. My physical weakness has become life-changing but I've somehow made peace with that, and have now taken a leap of faith and will be planting a few roses again although the ground squirrels are, alas, still with me. Christian, I so admire your beautiful salvias and wish I could grow them. The ground squirrels gobbled them up almost as soon as they were planted which I didn't expect, but there are a very few plants that they seem to like less and I'm concentrating on those. As much as loving roses I love the people who post about them here, who are so unfailingly kind and supportive. You can't beat a combination of roses and heartfelt friendship.

@ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9

im sorry you lost so many roses to ground squirrels I’ve never dealt with them. i wonder if extraordinarily pungent plents would be safe from them, perhaps something like russian sage?

I hope your new endeavor into roses will be succesanf you will find ways to keep the little buggers at bay.

Ingrid - I read that squirrels hate the smell of coffee. Don't know if it would work though.

Impressive!

Gorgeous, gorgeous roses!

Unrelated to the garden but here are some pic of chicks i just hatched for my mom and sister.

I also picked up some more perennials at work I’ll post them tomorrow.

Look at those cuties!!!

How incredibly sweet ! this has become one of my favorite recent threads to read - thank you Christian .

What breed of chickens are they Christian? That was wonderfully kind of you to hatch out some chicks for your family.

@rosesmi5a the little yellow guys are Wheaten Marans the little chipmunk looking ones are Silver Ameraucana.

Here is a photo of my Wheaten Marans hens I kept from my old flock.

Here is a photo of a Silver Ameraucana hen from the breeder’s website(Gypsy hen)

Abe darby

Savannah

Kiss me Kate again

my new perennials some Marshmellow Daisies, some Daisy May Daisies, and some more Cat’s Pajamas nepeta

Christian - awwww...I love looking at different varieties of hens/roosters. I really like the look of your Wheaten Marans. :) I love pink roses and yours are so pretty. And I love daisies. :) :) Do you have to support your Abraham Darby?

Christian,

I had a pet Bobwhite Quail I hatched from an egg, along with the others in the clutch. He was tamer than any cat or dog. Ruben lived for 9 years. His memory lives strong in my mind and heart. He marched to the beat of a different drummer to say the least. When he did whistle he could blast you out of the room!

You downsized Christian, that's all. One day you will be glad you did!

Moses

Ruben sounds so cool Moses.

My son used to bring his white rooster " Bigfoot " into my bedroom to wake me up. We loved him , he was rather small but brave . He stood in the doorway of the henhouse and defended his harem against the barn cats, weasels and coyotes. Miss him now at the thought.

Christian -that is an exquisite photo of Abraham Darby.

Christian, absolutely stunning Kiss Me Kate! And baby chicks

It doesnt get much cuter than that

Your garden is thriving

Chicken are awesome

we manged to keep some pet dwarf chicken for some time, as a project with the neighbours, and i was blown away by their friendliness, inqusisitivness and how fast they picked up on stuff. the conditioning went bowth ways ;-)

gardening, as long as you take some failure as learning opportunity (and dont take it personal when some new fungus killed your lovely new fruit tree or some such) it is so good.

I am dealing with my father getting on, he fell several times, I moved far away years ago, am busy, blahblah, travel a lot right now and organise by phone, and every time I step into my alottment it feels so good.

please keep those chick pics coming,

all the best

Lin

Moses - awwww...a pet bobwhite quail. What a unique thing to do.

Berrypie - Bigfoot. :) :)

Lin - dwarf chicken. I didn't know there was such a thing.

Christian, would you please add your location (nearest population center ) and zone?

you can add it as part if your name. it gives your garden a context.

it is wonderful things turned out so well in your small slice of paradise. I M imagining that if you feel a little blue you can just inhale the fragrance of a rose.

Continue the great work!