She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shallot.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
The first rose (and the first plant) to be planted in our new garden is the David Austin rose The Lady of Shalot. Roses were my first love and I grew close to 100 varieties of mostly old garden roses in the previous garden. The David Austin roses became popular after the garden was established and there wasn't much room to add more. I did grow a few of the Austin roses but they were a bit of a challenge in Alabama. Reports on their performance sounds good here and I am anxious to try some. I love the color of this one and I think it would go well with the brick on our house.
 |
| I did not really know what to expect when I dug the first hole but I was pleased. The soil is a bit dense but easy to dig. The hardest part is removing the grass. I do not know what kind of grass this is but it is tough and hard to remove even though it is shallow rooted. I was also surprised to find that the ground was not soggy or wet even though we had some heavy rain earlier in the week. I have yet to see any rocks in the soil. I saw several earthworms so I know that is a good sign. |
 |
| You can see the soil comes out in clumps. It breaks apart very easily. |
 |
| I added a generous amount of compost. This is called a "3-in-1 mix" and was recommended for using in raised beds as well as amending soil. |
 |
| After incorporating the compost, I broke up the soil and mixed it well with the original soil. |
 |
| After the rose was planted, I watered it well. It started raining after I finished the job. Regional expert Ann Lovejoy says to add as many ammendments as possible. I have just started a compost pile so right now, I must rely on commercial products. |
