Saturday, November 22, 2014

Taming the Garden

I have been so busy lately that it has become an achievement just to complete each day's basic chores. Tasks I have neglected for too long are finally coming back to haunt me, and subduing the exuberance of over a hundred overgrown prickly roses is just one of them :).

Rosette Delizy never stops blooming. Unfortunately, it never drops spent blooms either :)

After months of giving the garden nothing but a passing glance it was a revelation to come out today and discover that camellia season has begun...




.... most roses look as if they have not been attended to all summer ....

Mme. Bérard should have been deadheaded a long time ago, but the hips are pretty :)

....but quite a few lovely blooms are waiting for me nonetheless....

Rosa minutifolia

 ...even if most of them are 15 feet up in the air.

Surprisingly good late fall rebloom on my Elie Beauvilain this year. I am not looking forward to pruning all 40 feet of it though :)

The task of bringing under control many roses that have enjoyed a long season of good growing conditions seems as intimidating as ever.

Souvenir de Victor Hugo


Like many other warm-climate gardeners, I am going to spend the next few months pruning, weeding, tying in canes, cleaning up and spreading compost, fertilizer and mulch by the wheelbarrowful - if I can find the time, that is.

Tiger's Eye abutilon

Despite all the daunting work ahead, I am looking forward to seeing the garden restored to order. Until spring...

Mme. Berkeley

Rosette Delizy. Pristine foliage year round


Elie Beauvilain

Jude the Obscure

Hips on Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona

Regensberg



Foliage turning on Persian Yellow

Rosette Delizy

Mme. Bérard


Elie Beauvilain


Mme. Edouard Herriot

17 comments:

  1. Dear Masha, great that you found the time to blog, again. I have been missing your lovely posts! Yikes, the task of pruning over a hundred rose would intimidate me, too...
    I believe, I have never seen rosa minutifolia, let alone a bloom of it and I think it is quite rare. That is one of the things that I love about your blog, you always have a surprise on your sleeves for your readers :-).
    Elie Beauvilain is one of my favorite roses blooming in your garden and I am happy for you, that you got a good fall re-bloom on it. Maybe it has to do with the maturity of the rose? I bet next spring it will be even more spectacular, all 40 feet of it!
    I love to see the photos of your camellias. My two 'Nuccio's Gems' are still far away from blooming, it is a very late blooming variety.
    Wishing you a joyful rose pruning experience and plenty of time to get it done!
    Warm regards,
    Christina

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  2. First, your rose pictures are wonderful and I see so many unknown beauties to me, I suppose they don't grow in our colder climate, for I've never seen them here. But you have quite a job to do, pruning more than hundred roses, I imagine you as 'the Sleeping Beauty' between the roses.
    Lovely that Camellias are already starting to bloom, we have to wait till March. Because of the unusual nice weather in November, I still have a few roses in the garden, but the end will soon be there and we have to wait till spring arrives.
    Regards,
    Janneke

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  3. Beautiful roses! Work yes, but the rewards are GREAT.

    Have a lovely Thanksgiving ~ FlowerLady

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  4. Thank you, Christina, Janneke and Lorraine.

    Christina, I am not sure about Elie because at 7 years old it has been mature for a while :)

    Janneke, you made me laugh with your Sleeping Beauty comparison. I have a feeling one day I will topple over into the thorny jungle and no one will find me again.

    You are right, Lorraine, spring is the ultimate reward I look forward to every year.

    Masha

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  5. What a delight to see your flowers Masha especially now when all signs of flowers are gone here....and especially a treat to see your roses which I have missed. My garden was not tended to from April through October until it was cut down....my chores, maintenance etc will have to wait until April again.

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  6. Masha, I've been missing your roses! So lovely to see them again. I, too, am dreading composting and mulching this year, not only because of time constraints, but also because I broke my back last spring and can no longer push a wheelbarrow. Looks like my kids will be getting extra pay for yardwork this winter!

    Hope to se another post of yours soon,
    Karen

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  7. I've missed your beautiful pictures of your beautiful roses! :) The work sounds daunting but as Flowerlady says the rewards are great.

    Your camellias are amazingly perfect. Here they have to deal with freezes and it shows.

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  8. 'Tiger's Eye' is stunning, as are all your fabulous Roses! I'm so jealous of your Camellias. I tried to grow one, but it died within a few weeks--even though it was summertime and the plant was in a pot. Alas, I am in the wrong zone for Camellias and I'm resigned to appreciating them from afar ... and close-up when I travel to milder climes. Sigh ...

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  9. Great photos as ever, Masha! I hear you guys have been through a long hot summer. Glad to see everything survived.

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  10. Finally you are back Masha, I've been missing you and your special roses. Pls don't leave us alone for such a long time again. Your blog is a total inspiration for me to work hard and hope for great rewards!

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  11. Lovely photos of lovely roses! I can't believe they are all still blooming for you.'Jude the Obscure' has to be my favourite as I love the subtle colour of the blooms. My Jude is just throwing out an occasional flower, here in the UK.

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  12. What a fabulous selection of photos Masha! I'm speechless!

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  13. It all looks so romantic!
    A "negected" garden full of overgrown roses .... oh, my!

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  14. Nice to see your garden again, Masha. Overgrown but beautiful--and the weather service says real rain is on the way in a few days. Yay!

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  15. Wat geweldig om al die pracht en praal te zien. Heel veel werk, maar dan weer genieten. Succes en groetjes

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I am so glad you have stopped by!