In honor of two of our great president's I'm posting about a couple of plants from my garden, Mr. Lincoln rose and Martha Washington geranium.
Above is a photo of my Mr. Lincoln rose, which isn't the greatest photo, but was the only one I could find in my photo archives right now. Of course, Mr. Lincoln isn't blooming right now, but this summer my Mr. Lincoln will be almost 6 feet tall and covered with very, long stem, fragrant, red roses. The foliage is dark green and glossy and is very resistant to any kind of disease. This rose is probably one of the best known roses grown today.
I wonder if my Martha Washington geranium knows we're celebrating presidents day? This geranium is trying to bloom right now and normally this plant needs hot weather to bloom. In the summer this plant is covered with blossoms and is much hardier than I suspected. It survived the heavy frost of two winters ago when it reached 15 F three nights in a row. After such a heavy frost, I didn't think this plant would recover, but in June it started pushing up new leaves from the soil. I use a heavy duty, ground cover cloth and shredded bark for mulch and I think that helped. If your plants freeze, don't be too hasty to take them out of the ground, the roots may still be alive.
Plants are so resilient, they remind me that with hope, time, and the proper care people and countries can do the same. Happy President's Day.
