Hamilton Court and Palace

My sister and I got a chance to visit Hamilton Court in England, it was amazing. This is my favorate type of garden. I loved the roses they were at their peak when we were there. They used a lot of the David Austin English roses in the garden It was interesting to see how different they grow in the cool clement of England verses the harsh Utah clement. For example Golden Celebration in Utah grows to be a 6 foot rose where as there they used Golden Celebration as the small roses at the from of the garden bed. I love, love box wood and ever greens. What a delight for the eyes. I immediately remember seeing this garden in several movies

Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point

I love to go to Thanksgivng Point in the spring. They have the tulip festival. I love to take my grandkids to enjoy the beauty of nature and roll down the green hills. I love the promise the spring is coming soon and even though in Utah we can have a beautiful day like this we are not surprised to get a good snow storm within a day or two of each other. I love pink tulips I guess you can tell.

Roses from New Zealand.

Can you believe I got these beautiful pictures of roses in the middle of winter? Gabe had an assignment to go to New Zea land for work. It wasn't even a thought that I could go I had missed so much time from work helping Brandi. I had to smile when he brought back his pictures because he thinks it is so boring to visit gardens (which is one of my very favorite things to do). How can you visit a garden and not be in aw? I am not sure what kind of roses these are but I love them and thought I would share and brighten someone elses winter up.

What to do in Febuary in Utah gardens

• Water broadleaf evergreens to prevent leaves from drying out during periods of bright sunshine or wind.
• Position plastic barrels or bins under gutter downspouts to collect spring runoff for supplemental landscape irrigation water.
• Force budding branches of forsythia, cherry, plum, eastern red bud, and lilac into early bloom by placing them in water and a bright, sunny location.
• Start indoor seeds for planting outdoors following the last threatening frost.
• Prune trees late in the month before buds start to swell.
  

This check list is provided by UTAH Style magazine

The Rose Society says
FEBRUARY: This is another catalogue looking month, but sometimes we have a break in the weather the latter part of the month and if the ground is not too soggy and muddy and you are brave, dormant bareroot roses may be planted. The earlier they get into the ground the better in general. Be careful with this though and keep a close eye on the weather forecast, because if there is a bad cold snap, you will have to protect them or they may be greatly damaged or even die.

For your established varieties, if there is snow on the ground, it may be heaped up on the rose bushes bases as it is nature’s best freeze protecting mulch. It also gives some of the needed water. Don't forget to water if there is no snow or rain.

If there is a late February warm snap, this is a great time to clean up leaves, weeds and dead plant material that you missed in the fall. Throw all of this material on your compost pile. You don't have one? Start one. EVery good gardener MUST have a compost pile. It is also a good time to walk around your garden with a pencil and paper and list the major tasks that you want to accomplish this season. The garden is much more bare at this time of year and you can see the structure of things better. This is also the time to plan where your new roses will actually go, and which ones have to be moved.

Garden tools should be sharpened and oiled, handles sanded and generally made ready. Be sure your secateurs (garden clippers) are in good sharpened condition. Change the blades if they are old and worn. It pays to buy the best here if you can afford them: Felcos.