Fun Find for my garden!

I'm always amazed at what some people discard to send to the dump! Look at these wonderful concrete bench supports that were in a pile of rubbish and broken stones that I found last weekend. I asked a workman what they were going to be doing with them and he said they'd be hauled off for trash. If I wanted them, I could just back my car up and take whatever I liked!














Originally, I was going to put a board across them to make a bench but I think they look cute without it. They seem to create an "entrance" to the side-yard garden. I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep the metal trellis' on the outside of supports to grow a vine of some sort on.

I'd love to know what you think!


I also have to add this to my growing list of things I need a small SUV for! My son thought I should trade in my old one for a little car that got better gas mileage. My reply was, "but how could I carry home things I might find such as wheelbarrows or bark mulch?" His answer was, "well, how often do you carry home a wheelbarrow?"

Check out this cute little one :-)

I found it this spring in an old barn for a bargain price!! If you look closely in the 1st picture above, you can see it's now found a home in my garden planted with flowers and budding cucumbers and a pumpkin vine!

Peggy Martin roses - My Favorite!

This was "then" (April 2011)

When I look back at pictures of my yard when I 1st moved here, I'm amazed at the transformation of that empty space - one small little corner flower bed and nothing but grass to the fencelines.

That 1st year, I attended a Master Gardener's Fall plant sale, and purchased things I'd never even heard of to try in my yard. I knew if these gardeners thought the plants would do well in my area of Texas, then I'd give them a try. And they were right!

My tiny little Peggy Martin rose barely climbing up the trellis.
Spring 2012

One of my favorites was the Peggy Martin Rose (sometimes called the Katrina Rose). This one blooms almost 10 months of the year and now the stems get so heavy with blooms, I have to tie them up to the fence. I even use strips of leather to do so!

Spring 2018

The petals fall right off after they bloom so I've read that you don't need to dead-head them, but it sure looks better when they are "cleaned up".
I've read the same thing about "knock-out" roses.

Do other gardeners dead-head their roses?