Rose Portraits, Companions and a Bush Shot or Two

Sometimes, when I am outside gardening, a passerby will stop by and compliment me on my roses.

William Shakespeare 2000. Only newly open blooms (and not all of them at that) display this irresistible combination of crimson and purple.

I often reply that my roses are my children.

Mme Berkeley is a large spreading rose that rests many of its blooms on this retaining wall.

I have about 130 of them, all different heights, colors, shapes and fragrances.

A corner of my front yard, with all the top of the fence claimed by Buff Beauty with  'Secret Garden Musk Climber' behind it. Heritage is below Buff Beauty with Lady Hillingdon and Sophie's Perpetual in front. Carding Mill is peeking in at far left.

Here is a look at some of the roses that started blooming since last week's post.

Félicité Parmentier, still a young rose, but with a powerful fragrance. It sets blooms well for me, but does not grow very fast at all.

Ebb Tide

'Mrs. E.G. Hill', a found hybrid tea.  I like the contrasting color on petal reverses.

Taischa, a Vintage Gardens introduction. I love its full, swirly blooms. Petals are thick and last a long time in half day sun. It does not always open well but mine is still a young plant.

Crown Princess Margareta looking down from an arbor

Ulrich Brunner fils looking out shyly from behind an arbor. This one is low on prickles, has good rebloom and stays mostly clean. 

Cynthia Brooke displaying one of its consistently gorgeous blooms

Pat Austin as always blooming with abandon. It stays clean for me, but blooms open and are gone in less than a day. There are lots of them though.

'Benny Lopez', another found rose (maybe Ardoisée de Lyon), which I am enjoying very much thanks to the generosity of its discoverer. Lots of fragrant blooms on a healthy plant.

Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller, pretty but not overly vigorous.

Wild Blue Yonder, bought for its strong fragrance but admired mostly for its health, vigor and good rebloom

'Secret Garden Musk Climber'. When it is in bloom its corner looks like a white fluffy cloud full of heavy musk fragrance and abuzz with bees. 

Heritage. I love its heavily fragrant delicate blooms. It has smooth canes and has a tendency to climb.

I tried for a bush shot of Penelope (Cécile Brunner, Lyda and 'Benny Lopez' on left, Crèpuscule on right). You can actually see the structure of the bush pretty well: each snaky garland of blooms is one cane with flowering laterals all along it. To me it looks like a sprawling octopus. Despite Penelope's appearance of lushness, it has only a few long canes. 

I pair my roses mostly with summer-blooming perennials, but a few spring ones are blooming now.

Carding Mill with a low-growing salvia

'Old Korbel Gold' with common snowball viburnum (v. opulus), not a perennial, but pretty anyway.

Delphinium elatum "Sweethearts" is new to me this year. It is a plant I got from Annie's because it is supposed to do well in warm climates. We'll see.

Linum Lewisii does really well in my garden. I love its sky-blue flowers and airy and light look. The flowers only last a day but new ones keep coming. Magnificent Perfume grows on one side of it.

Shön Ingeborg grows on the other side of the blue flax (linum). One morning I looked down on a bloom and saw the previous day's flax petals scattered over it. It turned out to be my favorite picture :)