Monday, April 11, 2011

On the Cusp

The spring flush is not quite here yet, but the garden is certainly getting ready. I find the anticipation very enjoyable, and a lot of my time is spent walking in the garden and watching plants getting ready to bloom.


Above is one of my three floribunda roses, Regensberg. The reason I like it is its clean foliage (and lots of it), very nice growth habit, short and very bushy, and lots of blooms. It is one of a series of "hand-painted" roses, which means that flecks and stripes appear on blooms in a random pattern.



My Lady Hillingdon is bravely trying to emerge through the spirea that has fallen all over it because of winds and a storm. I love seeing the first blooms appear at the end of deep plum colored stems. The flowers do not last long but I find the color very pleasing.


My beautiful noisette, Elie Beauvilain, is just opening its first blooms. Here it is snaking along a fence.


It has little rebloom, and no fragrance. It also suffers from some early-spring mildew. I don't like roses without fragrance (especially if they don't rebloom and are not healthy), but there is no accounting for love. I love it.



After three years of growing George Burns, I still can't decide if I like it or not. Its color clashes with everything in the garden and so I grow it in a pot by itself. It starts blooming early, probably because a potted plant's roots get warm faster. I think it will leave me soon for another home where it will be better loved:)



Some of my rose companions are beginning to bloom too. The one above is Byzantine Gladiolus. I grow it for its light weight elegance, its delicate flowers offering a nice spiky contrast to large and round roses. Its only drawback is a short bloom season of maybe a couple of weeks.


I like the look of bacopa, but have not had a lot of luck with it up to now. I think it appreciates afternoon shade, and this one plant that is situated like that has begun to spread and blooms for a long time. I love the light purple flowers with yellow throats.


Daisies always do well for me. They bloom for a long time, and I like the simple blooms.


I grow lots of geraniums and pelargoniums because they do so well here. If they go under roses I try to select those with smaller flowers, like the dwarf regal pelargonium above, so they won't clash with rose blooms.

Finally, an unwelcome visitor on a bloom of Gruss an Aachen. I haven't actually seen any snail damage to rose petals (yet, at any rate), so I think that snail was just sheltering on a low growing bloom. Still, maybe roses will now have to grow prickles on the blooms too:).

39 comments:

  1. I agree on the George Burns... Beautiful Pictures!

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  2. You have so many beautiful blooms. My garden is no where near this beautiful! Carla

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  3. Thank you, RR, and I am glad we think alike:)

    Carla, thank you and I am sure your garden is no less lovely.

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  4. As always, the moments I spend viewing your beautiful flowers is a lovely refreshment. Thank you for the respite, Masha.
    Sandra

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  5. Sandra, thank you for such a lovely compliment. It is words like these that keep me going. I love your blog and hope you will post more frequently.

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  6. Love the photo of the snail on the rose! I'm also interested in the Byzantine Gladiolus. I was wondering if I could find it around here or through catalog, and then I found this website: http://www.oldhousegardens.com/bigFlwr.asp?Cat=byzGlad. Definitely worth checking out!

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  7. It is exciting to see your garden getting ready for the spring flush. I love, love, love your Elie Beauvilain! The Byzantine Gladiolus is also a very neat looking plant. I was growing a white bacopa in full sun and it died on me. I would love to try one more out in a more shady position and see if it likes it better there!
    Christina

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  8. Thank you, Beth, I will check it out (although my garden is so overplanted I don't think I can fit anything else in!)

    Thank you, Christina, I love Elie too, despite its drawbacks. My bacopa is in morning sun and afternoon shade with regular water. I hope it works out for you!

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  9. Masha, Your garden looks wonderful ! This is a fantastic garden ! Lovely to see a garden in a climate so different from my. But my most favorite flower is roses.

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  10. I hope, in time, my garden will look a little like yours...

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  11. You're the only other person I know who grows Elie Beauvillian ... though mine reblooms fairly well for me in the fall. Your George Burns reminds me of my Grandma's Yellow. I planted it with the antique hybrid teas in the rose field, and it's neon yellow color clashes with EVERYTHING! Visitors love it, though ... different strokes, I guess.

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  12. Excellent photos of beautiful roses. I love the last the best. Even the snail couldn't stay away from your beautiful roses.

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  13. All of your blooms are so beautiful! I love the daisies and have tried several times without success to grow them. Perhaps I've just not found the right spot in my garden.

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  14. Thank you, Sandra, and that's why I enjoy your blog too - your garden is so different from mine. Roses are my favorite too!

    Dani, thank you, I am pretty sure it does already:)

    Connie, I am glad your Elie reblooms, maybe mine will too with time... I get no blooms out of it in the fall. Funny about Gradma's Yellow - I guess we all are stuck with a rose or two that just doesn't fit:)

    One, thank you. I knew it would be your favorite picture - that's why I posted it. Reading your blog is rubbing off on me:)

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  15. Thank you, Ginny, I hope they will work out for you in the end:)

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  16. Really stunning Masha. The George Burns...a little rich for my taste, but stunning none the less. I do like all your rose companions too. You are really surrounded by beauty, everywhere you look.

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  17. Thank you, Donna. Spring is the best time!

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  18. Ha, ha! I am going to go against the grain and say I like George Burns. I think it would be a fun conversation piece in the garden. Awesome photos as always!

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  19. Kelsey, I am glad you like it - after all, I grow it! It is a cheerful rose, and fragrant too, not at all bad. Thank you for your comment.

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  20. I love the Elie Beauvilain - its beautiful!! I love your companion choices ... I learn so much from you. Thanks :)

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  21. Ich staune immer wieder über diese überwältigende Blütenfülle, liebe Masha.
    All diese wunderbaren Rosen, ein einziger Traum. An meinen Rosen zeigen sich jetzt die ersten kleinen Blättchen.
    Sie werden erst in zwei Monaten mit der Blüte beginnen.
    Liebe Grüße
    Anette

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  22. What an amazing gallery, Masha! I loved your Byzantine Gladiolus, never seen before!

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  23. You really have pretty pictures! Beautiful roses,

    Regards Janny.

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  24. Thank you, Christine, Anette, Dona and Janny. I was very happy to hear from you. I am glad you liked this post.

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  25. Getting ready for the spring flush is so exciting, and yours looks like it's going to be glorious. Beautiful pics. I love George Burns! And I've never seen a snail on a rose.

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  26. I love visiting to get my fix of roses...mine are just beginning to get some new growth...and now look at all the other flowers too...

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  27. That second photo is especially pretty! The spiraea makes such a nice, fluffy background.

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  28. HolleyGarden, me either:). I hope my spring flush will come through, but what with our tree accident and some freezes which caused a lot of blind shoots, I don't know...

    Donna, I am glad I give you a rose fix. I am looking forward to seeing your roses bloom.

    VW, thank you and funny how someone interested in photography notices the pictures, rather than the plants themselves. Happens to me all the time:).

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  29. Funny snail! Your roses are beautiful.

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  30. Thank you, Earlysnowdrop, I am glad you liked them.

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  31. Your garden is beautiful. Love all the roses, especially when mixed with the spirea... lovely... :)

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  32. Thank you, SGC, for stopping by.

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  33. Thanks, SprigBlog. I am glad you liked them.

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  34. your roses are really all that far that they bloom ?...
    Your George Burns is the beautiful ugliness, he has something.
    And your Regensberg I like,also pretty amazing ...

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  35. Marian, my roses are almost ready to bloom, but not quite in full flush yet. I love your description of George Burns, I guess this is why I keep it:).

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  36. Your roses are breathtaking!! I grow only four roses here in VA. They struggle with disease in our humid climate. I'm adding a Ginger Syllabub rose this summer and am growing it in a pot. It's supposed to be really fragrant. I'm really excited about it!!

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  37. Thank you for stopping by, Casa Mariposa, and I hope your Ginger Syllabub will work out for you. Good luck.

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  38. I just love the last photo of the rose with the snail, just out standing. I don't think I have seen Byzantine Gladiolus before, its so pretty. Gladiolus are not hardy here, you can plant them and then dig the bulbs up in the fall. I tried Peacock Gladiolus for two years but they did not bloom for me.

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I am so glad you have stopped by!