Friday, July 8, 2011

Summer Color

The air is hot, the sun reflected off the pavement is blinding, and I am busy watering, but still, summer is a gorgeous time!

A jacaranda tree blooming across the street



My roses are in the middle of a second (and sometimes third) flush of bloom, but this time they are accompanied by summer-blooming perennials.


Feverfew with some penstemons in the background







Formal rose gardens with each bush placed at a distance from its neighbors with nothing in between do not excite me at all.

Break o'Day with some gladiolus foliage


My beds are very tightly planted, and I do not worry about air circulation: in my limited experience, roses are sick or healthy no matter how much air you give them (or how much fall cleanup you do, or how hard you prune them, etc.), so if a plant is sick, it simply goes out, to be replaced by something that likes my climate a little better.

Penstemon "Apple Blossom", geranium "Rozanne", salvia patens "Blue Angel". The roses in the background are Francis Dubreuil and Devoniensis





I surround my roses with perennials, other shrubs, groundcovers, vines: anything (except trees) that I can possibly fit into a tight space. I like to see lots of color.


Classic Woman



I also find that I don't weed nearly as much because there is not enough light for weeds to sprout.

Julia Child




Even though my plants grow into a wild tangle by summer's end, most of my perennials either die to the ground or are cut back hard in winter, so I still find it easy to lay down compost and mulch.


Francis Dubreuil and geranium "Rozanne"


It works well for me.


Penelope





38 comments:

  1. I love penstemon, geranium and salvia ... Beautiful colors, Masha ! Francis Dubreuil is a gorgeous rose ...

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  2. Bellissimi colori!

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  3. How wonderful! Beautiful blooms and beautiful combinations!
    Your garden and your roses always make me dream!
    Hugs!

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  4. Oh my, another breath taking group of photos from your garden. I am in awe at all the beauty. The combinations are wonderful. Thank you for the info you share too of what you have learned in your own gardens. Your neighbor's jacaranda tree is stunning. We have those around here too.

    Happy Summer Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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  5. My roses swim in perennials, but unlike your climate, ours is conducive to fungus. And my roses pay the price some years. This is the year of aphids though, and they hit the Icebergs pretty hard. But I am out there with the hose each morning. Geraniums and roses are a wonderful pairing. Your neighbor's tree is gorgeous. I never heard of jacaranda.

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  6. Lovely photos.....
    Is a pleasure to read your blog.Congratulations!

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  7. Dani, thank you, last year I kept buying geraniums, and this year I have been really attracted by penstemons... The more the better:)

    Grazie, Marta e Tyziana. I am glad you liked them.

    FlowerLady, thank you, I don't try for extremely coordinated plantings, just a little of everything :)

    Donna, we have a lot of fungal diseases too. Not usually blackspot, but mildew and rust. I find that if I get bullet proof roses, they stay clean no matter what...

    Mihai, nice to meet you. Thank you for your compliments, I appreciate them a lot!

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  8. bullet proof sounds good to me.

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  9. Greggo, thank you for the comment. I find I am increasing becoming a lazy gardener: the less work, the better...

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  10. Gorgeous blooms! I absolutely love that Julia Child. We planted one this year - about 3 weeks ago, in fact - and I can hardly wait for it to bloom!

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  11. Cathy, thank you. Julia Child is one of my healthiest roses, and one of the most fragrant. I really great rose, and I hope it does well for you too.

    Christine, thank you.

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  12. These are beautiful flowers, beautiful vivid colors! I agree, I like a lot of color and variety in a garden.

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  13. Thank you, EvoOrganic. I am glad we have the same liking for color.

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  14. Masha your roses are so beautiful. I can never get enough of roses.LOL! I love that Jacaranda Tree across the street. How pretty. I love your header picture and the rose that is in it. Beautiful. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  15. I saw jacaranda blooming in such a close shot first time. So I didn't recognize it! btw, i like your generosity in sharing photos- i just read your 'about me". Most of the people prohibit to copy photos, you share the unmarked copies. Greetings, Megi.

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  16. Thank you, Lona, for such wonderful compliments, you made my day! You are such a talented photographer, I enjoy reading your blog.

    Klaraau01, thank you, almost as colorful as your orchids, but not quite...

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  17. I'm so glad you said this! I have often wondered about 'air' circulation around my roses, as I stuff the beds full. Glad to know I'm not doing something 'wrong'. Your pictures are beautiful. Your garden must be a wonderland.

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  18. Dear Masha I love your garden! It's like a dream!
    Have a nice and cosy WE!
    Monica

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  19. Amen to your comment about formal rose gardens. Though they work well at palaces or old formal mansions, they certainly wouldn't work in my yard. I'm loving Rozanne, too, of course. I think a few of my R. plants will be ready to divide next spring, and the divisions will NOT be given away to friends (like so many others) - I have so many places where I can use more Rozanne!

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  20. Megimoher, thank you. I don't mind sharing at all, as long as people don't end up attributing my photos to themselves (which happened on a few occasions...).

    Holley, thank you for the compliments, and I was not the first one to say it either :). I think Paul Zimmerman has a post to that effect on his blog. I refuse to let my roses become an encumbrance: I don't crawl around on my hands and knees picking up fallen leaves, I don't spray, I don't fertilize regularly, and if I want to grow perennials with them, I will. If a rose or two doesn't like, it can always leave :)

    Monica, grazie, and I hope you have a nice weekend too.

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  21. VW, Rozanne is hard to beat for ease of care and profusion of flowers. I am looking forward to seeing pictures of yours!

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  22. Three cheers for massive overplanting!

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  23. Jess, I am glad you are with me on that :). Thank you for the comment.

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  24. Wow, wow and wow! Your roses are so gorgeous and the same goes to all your other flowers! Such superb photography!

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  25. Wonderfull blog, great pictures, you make me long for so many roses, you have a garden of beauty there.

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  26. Masha, I also prefer a mix of roses and companion plants instead of formal rose beds. Besides that the first one is visual more pleasing to me, monoculture just brings more problems in terms of the specific diseases and insects that are fond of roses. It is a very interesting observation of yours that you believe that air circulation, fall clean-up will not improve the health of a rose, because these things are almost always emphasized in garden books. I love the combination of Francis Dubreuil and geranium 'Rozanne'!
    Christina

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  27. Your roses and perennials look beautiful. I love 'Apple Blossom' and it goes so well with the geranium and salvia.

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  28. Thank you, p3chandan and corina, for your compliments. I am glad you like the pictures.

    Christina, thank you. I know what the garden books say, that's why I say what I say :). I don't want too much work, and honestly, most of my roses are fine with the little care they receive :). My Julia Child, for example, is smothered by a big penstemon, two ivy geraniums, Isabella Sprunt right beside her, and a dwarf lime right behind. Her leaves are always squeaky clean, and Isabella Sprunt, right next to her, is always mildewy.

    Swetbay, thank you, it is one of my favorite combinations too.

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  29. I really like the method you describe. Rose gardens with evenly spaced plants and nothing else are really pretty boring unless you are a rose person.

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  30. Carolyn, thank you. They are boring even to me, and I am a rose person! Unless they are full of unique roses of course, but even then I would not want to have that kind of garden at home...

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  31. The combination between Francis Dubreuil and geranium Rozanne works more than "well" : it's great !

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  32. Merci, Isabelle, you are very kind.

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  33. Classic woman? Julia Child?
    That is how heaven can look like))

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  34. Drzewko jest piękne, a Twoje róże mają świetne kolorowe towarzystwo. Pozdrawiam ciepło

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  35. Thank you, Irina. I wish you could come and see :).

    Giga, thank you!

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  36. Waouh ! Magnifiques photos et très belles combinaisons ! Merci de me faire rêver, Masha !

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I am so glad you have stopped by!