An ongoing project, my Angel Garden
 

There was a small sheep paddock here once upon a time. First half of it became an orchid and a place to exercise certain dogs when bitches came in season and I had to separate them. Then the drought took care of my fruit trees.:( Then I had a gut feeling we would finally have a decent year so I swiped the other end for a rose garden, and decided the first part of the orchard, where we bury our beloved dogs, would become my Angel Garden. Each dog was to have a rose at the head of its grave. So far I have only been able to do a rose bed down one side, but our lovely Sheltie Ben has the white David Austin rose, Glamis Castle, a Scottish name for a Scottish breed. Susie has the beautiful pink rose, Best Friend, which was named by the RSPCA to honour the unconditional special friendship that comes from loving a pet. Tammy has the David Austin rose, Pegasus, seeing she used to fly(like Pegasus) in the show ring, and my cattle dog, Ch Goldfields Shady Lady, will eventually have the rose named Shady Lady, along with another perhaps called Bright Eyes, one of our nicknames for her. There are 3 other dogs buried out there but I am waiting now for the ground to soften so I can dig more garden beds. It should be a lovely peaceful spot in which to remember them when I finish. Do any of you do something like this for your animals?

I have, my whole flower bed was made/planted where my beloved pets were buried. My Daisy (soul doggie) has fir tree's planted all around her

That's nice, Melinda. Our earlier burials are sort of scattered around the property which I now wish wasn't the case but at least my remaining dogs will join those I mentioned in the orchard, (not orchid. :D ) It was this gate sign at the vet that got me inspired. Eventually I will put a garden bench out there and a bird bath, it should be nice.

I'll have to get a picture of my pathway marker for you, "always leave a path for angels to tread" it sits at the end of a stone path bordered by "chicks and hens" cactus

Oh, that's a nice one, I wish they had it here. I have the "Spoilt dogs live here" sign just inside our back gate. :D I'll look forward to your photo. The guy who owns a Hardware store in town has a sign "Beware of the dog, she'll lick you to death". :laughing: It's a lovely Cavie, so she probably would.

[B]I put this water feature in so wild critters have fresh water to drink[/B],
[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/100_3679.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/DSCF0727.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/DSCF0733.jpg[/IMG]

[B]This was taken before the chicks and hens filled in the pathway.[/B]
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Melinda,absolutely beautiful,love the water-feature...that must be last years garden,of course it is,dumb question:laughing:

For a start, I am impressed, Melinda. You can grow marigolds and I have not much success with them. That first photo is just lovely, pardon my ignorance but is that a gosling? And the white flowers, is that what you call chicks and hens? No, sorry, I see you say that chicks and hens is a cactus. I haven't seen the white flower before, do you know its proper name? It looks lovely. Your water feature is very nice. What wild things would drink from it? We were asked to think about putting in a wildlife pond after the old channel system for stock and domestic water finished here and all the dams dried up but I think the run-off from rain and the overflow from our rainwater tanks will have to suffice . If there is water in the dam over summer all we get is thousands of screeching cockatoos, Brown snakes(one of the deadliest in the world) and kangaroos. Also get lambs bogged in mud if it's really low.
You've got a lovely garden, that rock retaining wall is terrific. It's so satisfying when all your work pays off, you must be very pleased with your result.

lets see, raccoons, fox, deer, geese (yes that is a gossling I rescued two springs ago, with a damaged leg), all types of birds bath in it, the gossling is actually sitting in the larger part of the water feature, it just happened to be covered wtih my ground flox, the white flower is actually called ground flox, it flowers in the spring/early summer and comes in shades of purple also
[url]http://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/perennials/Phlox%20subulata.htm[/url]
marigolds are very hardy here, they reseed themselves, so yes, we are lucky. if you look at the picture with my angel marker Goldfields, you'll see the green (no flowers) cacti, the larger ones are called hens and the babies chicks...I'll see if I can find a picture of just them. I've shipped them all over the world, some to africa and some to your neck of the woods, of course it doesn't say "plants" on the envelope *L*.

Chico, it was a pic from two springs ago.

[B]just thought I'd show you my wild roses that are over a hundred yrs old.[/B]
[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/DSCF0725.jpg[/IMG]



I have no close ups of my "chicks and hens" but found this for you.
[url]http://www.canadiangardening.com/plants/perennials/the-delicate-beauty-of-hardy-hens-and-chicks/a/1268[/url]

Melinda, your garden is beautiful! :cloud9: I love that fountain!! Was it hard to put together (keeping in mind that hazel is an ignoramus when it comes to things mechanical :o)?

the fountain was quite easy Hazelrunpak, just a small water pump (home depot 29 bucks) I found the old handpump while digging a hole for the appletree, cleaned it up and painted it, ran a hose up through it and out the spout, hubs has electicity for me, he ran a wire (in a tube) from the house out to the garden and attached it to the birdhouse pole near the fountain, I buried a large rubber horse pail (18 inches across, 20 inches deep) and filled it with water, dropped in the pump and voila...instant fountain. I have a center rock that reaches the top for the turtles that fall in or birds that want to bathe, its one of 3 water features we have in the yard.
on a side note, Brina thinks they were all put in to be her personal waterholes.....

Now I wish you could send that rose to me, Melinda, it's beautiful. I have a nice one that was here 35 years ago and no-one has been able to ID it for me, and actually, I don't know if it was rootstock for a bright red one that is with it, or vice-a-versa. LOL.(Goodness, didn't it have some aphids on it. :eek:) Yours is nicely cupped, like some of the DA's.
My oldest here might be Paul Neyron, first introduced in 1869. It hasn't flowered yet but apparently the flowers can be up to 8 inches accross. People used to refer to it as the cabbage rose.
I'll follow your links in a minute, I might see if I can get seed for that Phlox here. I had best let the dogs out to toilet then get to bed actually, it's late and getting cold, going to be only 4 this morning.
You are very lucky having all those animals and birds visiting, do they stay around if they see you, or vanish?
I think I may be able to get the cacti here. I was browsing trying to find a succulent I was given and I'm sure I saw that proper name mentioned in your link. Of course there are a lot of different types and chicks and hens mightn't be there.
[url]http://www.thesucculentgarden.com.au/sempe.html[/url]

Had a quick look and the only Phlox subulata available here seems to be pink or mauve. I'll search further in the morning.

most will stay around if we're outside, only the ground hog is skittish, none are really scared of the dog or kids, at times we have to chase the fox away so I can let the dog out and not worry about her thinking the fox is a cat and give chase *L*, those roses of mine are actually a pest!! the roots travel everywhere including the grass!!! I mailed a root of it (with a wee bit of growth) to a friend in capetown africa two years ago and its going quite well there, so if you like.........................;)

I too have a Rose that is about 35 yrs old,I'll check if I can find the pic..
Here it is and a couple of others,you are amazing to know the names,the only one I know,is my White Kennedy Rose.

chico2, that last rose in particular is stunning and very much like one called The Childrens' Rose here. Does yours have a lovely fragrance? The Childrens' Rose does. I buy named roses and at the start was in awe of my sister knowing one from another, but really it's easy peasy. Besides, each year I have a wish list of wonderful roses I drool over every time I see a photo of them in a catalogue, book or on forums, so I can certainly remember them after wanting them for ages. LOL.
Melinda, I think it's wonderful that you have a ground hog visiting. I have never even seen one. You wouldn't drag me away from your water feature.
You have no idea how much I'd like to say yes to a bare rooted rose off your bush but our customs are so strict that I doubt very much that it'd get through. Lovely of you to offer though.
I have added a photo of one of my favorite pink roses, Belle Story, a David Austin rose. I love the big yellow stamens and it never takes a bad photo. The striped rose is the pretty Cabana.

sorry to hijack your thread, but just thought because you said I was lucky to have a groundhog coming into my yard, I didn't think you'd mind if I showed you two pics of them.

[B]This is a baby, blind in one eye, Howie, that I rescued off off the highway and rehabbed[/B]

[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/DSCF0770.jpg[/IMG]

[B]this is my mama, she's been around like forever *L* but its probably just a female from the original, she brings out 3-5 babies a year and we get to see them at about 4 weeks old playing in the back yard for two weeks then they all vanish....sometimes just one sticks around but makes its own "home" in the field[/B]

[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n132/Shelleyb15/babygroundhog.jpg[/IMG]

Oh, they're gorgeous, thanks for sharing those photo's, Melinda. I have to go to bed but will google those tomorrow, I am totally ignorant of their size, eating habits or where they sleep etc.. They're cute. Thanks.

Melinda,they are so sweet,I love Ground-Hogs and everything else(hubby would say):laughing:
I used to see them munching on grass in a field up the street,I even had one in my backyard at one time,my cats at the time cornered him and he ran out into the street,where he got killed by a car,I cried for days:(

we have two ferral cats and let me tell you, the groundhog runs them off!!! They love eating my rosebuds, just when they are about to open, but I don't mind

All such wonderful pictures! :cloud9:

I too have a Queen Elizabeth climber that is around 60 years old. My neighbor told me about 10 years ago that this climber was planted the weekend of he and his wife's wedding day 50 years ago. :crazy:

Queen Elizabeth on the left, Casablanca on the right! :lovestruck:

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oh that is just beautiful!!!

That is a beautiful combination, klm. I actually have climbing Queen Elizabeth, but so far she isn't climbing or thriving. I hope she does now I've seen your photo. I may have to shift her perhaps. I was told of an easy way to do garden rose arches here, a friend just uses the very strong panels of sheep yard mesh. Got hubby to bring home two yesterday but my conscience got the better of me, both those are really needed around fodder rolls(hay) to stop the sheep making a mess of them. I'll get some soon, and I've plenty to do in the meantime.
Wish I had ground hogs here if they are territorial. We always have a feral cat problem here. Unfortunately if people want to dump cats they see the forest opposite us as the perfect place for it. If anything was going to eat my rosebuds it'd be our ever so cute possums, but then our cats so far have killed every one of them that has ventured into our garden.

Queen Elizabeth wasn't doing very a few years ago so I performed a soft wood cutting about 5 years ago and made a new rootstock from mother plant. I planted the baby right next to her and the baby has complimented momma! :cloud9:

klm, you must have a green thumb. :thumbs up My sister sent me maybe 100 cuttings one year and I only got 30 to take. That is the way to go though, popping cuttings under the bush they came off, my sister is doing that too. Another good way to get a new rose is to just lay a long cane on the ground and cover part of it with soil. When that grows roots you cut it off on the plant side.

We had a dry gum tree branch fall and smash a fence this morning so I won't have much computer time today. :(

[QUOTE=Goldfields;908399]Another good way to get a new rose is to just lay a long cane on the ground and cover part of it with soil. When that grows roots you cut it off on the plant side. :([/QUOTE]

That's exactly what I did! :lightbulb: I took a long cane, sliced it above a bud, put a match stick between the slice and applied some root hormone. Buried the cut with 2 crossed sticked then placed a rock over the mound. :) I then waited till spring then cut the baby from the mother and planted her (the baby) right next to momma and POOF! :crazy:

Not sure I'm with you about how you buried it but there you go, another method I haven't heard of. The way I mentioned there was no cut even. As long as it works, eh? :)

Mid way on the cane that would accompany the buried portion, I found a nice bud and fine sliced it away from the meat of the cane. I then insert a match stick to separate the bud from the "meat" of the cane then bury this "operation" into the ground.

I think I may have an old photocopy of this procedure in my rose book and if so, I'll scan and supply. It has worked well over 5 times with climbers but not hybrids. :(

Thanks, that'd be great if you can scan it. I'm sure people on the garden forum here would love to know how it's done too.

In hazel's case, knowledge does not necessarily mean success! :laughing: Sigh...roses are way beyond my meager capabilities in the garden :o