A Busy Weekend in the Garden

I have been busy in the garden this weekend! 

For the past a couple of weeks,  the weather in south florida has been on the cold side (Majority of days' temperature was in 50s, and nights in 40s, or even high 30s),  some very cold tender plants in my garden again show some sign of cold damages.   So, with this weekend's warm weather (day temperature in 70s, and night went to 60s), I just can't help staying outside in the garden as much as I can and get my hands in the soil again! Hmm, felt so good!

Friday night I potted up some cuttings I previousely put in the water, including three Angel's Trumpets cuttings from my friend at work, and some double layered hibiscus cuttings. We will see if I can be successful on these cuttings.

On Saturday, when we went shooping at Costco, I was hoping to find some new plants there, and I was not disapointed!  This is what I came home with:  Two boxes of two-root dormant rose bushes!

The type in the left box is called "New Day".  Here is the description on the box: "Bright , clear yellow roses of good form and spicy fragrance that bloom continuously through the season.  medium-sized bush. Everblooming Hybrid Tea Rose".  Yellow is missing in my rose collection, and the spicy fragrance is an extra bonus.  So, I have to have it :)

The type in the right box is called "Peace". Here is the description on the box: "Magnificent blooms of soft, clear yellow edged with pink, on strong stems, large, dark, leathery foliage. Vigorous. Everblooming Hybrid Tea Rose".  The bicolor again is something that led me to buy it.  I hope it lives up to its promise.

I know, I know, they are not on the rootstocks (Fortuniana and Dr. Hughey) that are perfect for Florida climate, but with the color this lovely, and the price so tempting ($11.99 for one two-roots combo), I just can not resist buying two combos!  If not because my limited garden space, I might have bought more colors.

On the way home from Costco, hubby needed to go to a store to buy something for the swimming pool, and the Home Depot JUST happens to be nearby.  So, I asked him to drop me off there first to JUST take a look :)  They had lots of plants stocked for the spring, and I really could not JUST take a look.  As a result, these two pots of Ground Orchids (Spathoglottis) followed me home...

They are in two different colors.  The first one is kind of purple, pink combination (not as purple as 'Grapette').  I guess it is "Sorbet".  Any thought? 

The second one is more on pink side. Who knows what is the name of this color in Ground Orchid family?

When we finally came home, it was almost the dinner time.  After I fixed a quick dinner for the whole family,  I headed out to the garden to start dividing the orchids.

The original plan was dividing each pot into two sections.  However, I quickly discovered each pot has very big clumps of plants.  I ended to divide the purple one into three sections, and the pink one into four sections, total seven divisions out of two containers (total cost of $29.98)! Not a bad deal, huh? 

Although it was said that Spathoglottis plicata needs full sun to bloom, but in Florida, it prefers to getting some afternoon shade.  With this in mind, I planted three of them in the west side of the front yard, same flower bed as the African Iris.  They are under a small oak tree, which I hope will provide some shade to the

orchids.

After planting three orchids, it was already around 10:00 at night.  So I decided to call it a day.  When I went on bed, I was locating a right spot in my garden in my mind for the rest of four plants...

Sunday, my kids had academic competitions and a field day at Sunday Chinese school.  The only time I can find for gardening is again after the dinner :)

I eventually decided I will plant the rest of orchids in the backyard.  The only spot I can find that has partial shade in the afternoon is west flower bed, at the corner that close to the house.  After moving out two Devil's backbone plants (Pedilanthus tithymaloides) to a near by location, and two pineapple plants to a more sunny place, I finally got the space for two of ground orchids.  I think they look quite good behind the stock (Matthiola) plants in bright pink color.  You also can see the devil's backbone at the left bottom corner.

There are still two divisions of ground orchids not planted in the ground yet.  I potted them up for now until I can find some other places in my garden.  I think I might need another flower bed on the sides of the house, so that I can have more plants that love partial shade.  That will be on my to-do list for this year.

As for those four newly purchased dormant rose bushes, I will leave them in the box until next weekend.  So stay tunned :)

How was your weekend?  Hope you all had a very relaxing, or fullfilled weekend!