Today for Fertilizer Friday we are going to visit with Mr. and Mrs. Brown. If you are a regular here, then you know all about The Brown's. They are like my grandparents. They are my 80 year old garden guru's! I often refer to them as my as "Garden Bible". They know their stuff when it comes to plants!
My mom, picked this sign up at the local Goodwill for The Brown's. It was perfect for them. They have so many heirloom roses! They have picked most of them up from old homeplaces, cemeteries, and even on the sides of the roads. If they see a rose they want, Mr. Brown takes a cutting and brings it home to root it. Mrs. Brown will tell you that he can root anything, and that if he sits down long enough his rear end will take root! She is probably right! I have seen him root plants that supposedly cannot be rooted.
They have lived in their home for 50 years, and to me, it is a magical place!
It is full of oaks that are close to 100 years old, and some that are older.
All of the stone and the wood for the fence came from their "weekend" home up in the country.
They have a lot of azaleas, and in all of my time visiting them, I had never been there while the azaleas were in bloom! I missed them when they were at their peak a week or so ago, but better late then never!
They have such a wonderful color palette of azaleas. Colors I had never seen before, even though I live in the "Azalea City".
Mrs. Brown loves stuff! She can take anything and make into to something spectacular. I see alot of myself in her, and I am pretty sure that she is the 80 year old version of me! LOL! She used an old satellite dish for the top of that gazebo!
This is one of my favorite things she found! Old mosaic covered picnic table tops! She paid around $8 each for them and used them for a walkway! How cute is that! Of course I am on a never ending mission to find some for myself now! I have found some....just not for $8!
I am not sure how many rose bushes they have. If I had to guess I would say well over 50. It is amazing to see! Mr. Brown rooted nearly 75% of them! He has rooted me several as well. I actually have three there now, that are waiting to go to my house. Only Mrs. Brown won't let me take them until the Fall, in fear that they won't survive this late with it being so hot. I do what they say and don't ask questions!
This rose was quite interesting! Each bloom is white with a drop of red on the petals, and only on one spot!
This is what I really want! A urinal!!! LOL!!!! I love this urinal! I want it in my yard so I can fill it with flowers! Mrs. Brown generally has it filled up with water, and the frogs make it their home.
I caught Mr. Brown in the act, and doing what he does best! Rooting!
He has pots everywhere of plants he is rooting! Two years ago I gave them a cutting off of my white Justicia. Mine ended up dying, and didn't come back in the Spring. Mr. Brown ended up rooting my cutting and getting nearly 8 plants out of that one cutting! Yesterday I picked up my white Justicia that he had rooted for me, and it is nearly 2 feet tall already! He has taken many more cuttings off of it, and it getting us some more. He is magic when it comes to that!
I just think the world of them, and they are so special to me! I would love to write a book on them, and soak up all they know! They are always giving me great advice on gardening and in general!