Ingrid, I look forward to seeing the pics :-)

Randy

Here are the pictures. I do wish there was a feature that would allow you to recall a post that's already been sent.

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Ingrid, do you hear me clapping?? You're a wonder to be able to grow roses in such an arid environment. Your roses are lookin' good! Bishop's Castle is gorgeous. At first I thought it might be Le Vesuve.

I wonder if all those TV westerns from the fifties that I used to watch as a kid were shot in your neighborhood. Your boulders look familiar. :))

Sherry

Sherry, the color IS similar to Le Vesuve, isn't it? I have three of Le Vesuve too because it's such an easy rose and seems to bloom constantly.

I don't know about Westerns being shot here but John Wayne did live here at one time.

When it rains here in the winter it looks like Ireland, it's so green, and we do have a lot of trees. In fact, we're in the greatest avocado-growing area in the world. Summer of course is a different story!

Thank you.

Ingrid

WOW! Ingrid your garden looks great!
I loooove the "boulder garden", please keep the pics coming.
Simona:-)

Ingrid, your place is so cool, and so very different from here.
Is the 4th photo of Bishop's Castle? That is a fantastic looking rose. Not just its blooms but the foliage also!
I'd like to sit out on that deck, with the garden to one side of me and what looks like beautiful hills on the other side, and sip on a Corona ... well I worked out today, so maybe a Michelob Ultra :-)
I see you have lavender ... I really like that stuff. I bought another one today and will plant it in a few minutes.
And how about your little Sammie! Nice to have him around the place.
I totally enjoyed these photos, so much personality shown on your property and beautiful home.

Randy

That was the first thought that struck me, how dry it must be there. And I was touched by the squirrel story. I love the little rascals but never raised an orphan, almost but the mother rescued it when we set it back under the tree and waited.

Your house is gorgeous, roses beautiful, and I liked the alyssum comment as I spent my energy for the day yesterday replanting some that had self-sown and clumped. One plant got enormous last year, never had one crawl that much before. Mine right now look just like yours only they don't seed in the lawn but throughout the front gardens. So I put a few in the back garden hoping they will self seed.

Thanks for sharing.

How lucky you are to have those boulders as a natural feature of your garden. I love the roses growing on the wall. I saw roses growing like this in England and I wish I could do it too but it doesn't work here on my house. Everything looks great and it's only the beggining.

Ingrid, I have never seen pictures before of your home. It looks so peaceful and beautiful. I am so glad you showed it to us.

Sammy

I love 'Bishop's Castle'--we can smell the sweet fragrance from several feet away.

I really enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for sharing them. The browning of the alyssum marks the end of spring and beginning of summer here, no?

Thank you for your wonderful comments and compliments.

Randy, although I have four kinds of lavender, what you're seeing is actually sea lavender, or statice, not a relation to the real lavender, but it blooms most of the year and is very drought-tolerant. The fourth picture is Bishop's Castle and would be much larger if I hadn't transplanted it. I'm growing more and more fond of this rose. Also, you're welcome to sit on our deck any time. We'll supply the beer!

aliska, the alyssum isn't growing in the lawn, of which we have none. It's just alyssum and some weeds, but in that area I've planted Cl. Pinkie, Spirit of Freedom, Mrs. Dudley Cross and Marie van Houtte, with the latter being tiny bands you can barely see. My hope is that in time everything will grow very large and make a rose feature of that area. I'm also planning to plant a few smaller roses to finish off the area, with perhaps more companion plants.

Pam, that's high praise from you, who has one of the most gorgeous rose gardens ever. I am looking forward to the time when everything is more mature and prominent in the landscape.

Ingrid

Beautiful blooms and garden, Ingrid. I love Bishop's Castle, one of my favorites for fragrance.

I like the alyssum as a companion for roses.

Sammie looks healthy and well. (Looks like she's enjoying a tasty snack)

Great garden Ingrid. The roses look so well against the desert colors.

Are you on a drip system?

You are kinder to squirrels than I am. I found one marching down my fence with a full flower of Madame Alfred Carriere in his mouth!

Diane

Ingrid, I know from your previous posts that you are frustrated with not achieving your vision, but your back garden is beautiful! You go grrl. Keep it up, it won't look like the UK, but it will continue to prosper to a lovely San Diego garden.

Carol

I see a beautiful landscape and an opportunity to mix roses with other plants suited to an arid climate and create a nice tapestry of color.

Thank you for the kind words Krista. Sammie is eating a grape which she enjoys almost as much as bananas.

Diane, Sammie is also fond of roses, as are the other squirrels here. They are considered a pest but are actually a vital part of the ecological system, since they form the main source of food for the falcons, hawks and eagles. It would be a disaster if they were to be eradicated. No, I'm not on a drip system for the roses but hand-water, which gives me a chance to study the roses, squash aphids and murder grasshoppers. I also deadhead while I'm watering.

Thank you Carol and le jardin, it is so satisfying to read your words of praise. I only hope that all of you who have rose gardens will post pictures; it's one of my greatest joys to see others' gardens and immerse myself in different places with their beautiful roses and other plants.

Ingrid

Ingrid, I always love seeing photos of your beautiful garden! Bishop's Castle and Cl. Pinkie look gorgeous!

There are plants with large pink flowers in the two urns in the last photo. I would like to ask, are these roses and if so which ones?

Thanks for posting and please, keep the pics coming!

organicgardendreams, I was hoping no one would notice those plants. To my embarrassment I must admit those are faux flowers, bought and placed there for my outdoor wedding two years ago. Somehow I just can't seem to let them go, tacky though they may be. I'm always afraid the correct-garden police will come after me for this transgression but until I'm arrested my fake hydrangeas etc. will continue to stay, since I hold firmly to the idea that in one's house and garden one must please mainly one's self.

Ingrid

Ingrid, I think your faux flowers are lovely in those urns and really pick up the colors in your garden. That just goes to show that there are no absolutes, something I need to be reminded of often. I have always despised faux flowers outside (not much for many inside either), but I think that is mostly because we have neighbors in our area who put out huge masses of brightly colored, gaudy flowers and leave them there year round. Just not right. They look ridiculous. Yours are very subtle and a great focal point beyond the rest of your flowers.

What are those little white flowers? My roses are still young and I am struggling to fill in gaps and have some sort of cohesion going and I never thought of white being so perfect.

Ingrid, sorry for noticing your faux flowers :-)! That is the trouble with detail-oriented persons like me. Thanks for your honest answer!

angela, the white flowers are alyssum, which in our area look nice in the cooler seasons and dry out in the summer, at which time I rake them all up. The roots stay though and it also reseeds a lot, so I always have a new crop every year. Thank you for your kind words about my fake flowers. I know there's a great prejudice against them but a lot does depend on how you put them together and what flowers you choose.

organicgardendreams, please don't feel at all that you have to apologize. I'm glad that they looked good to you which means that I did a fairly good job.

Ingrid

Ingrid your home and garden are beautiful. And of course I love Sammie. I always knew I liked you, now I just like you even more lol.

Jackie, how sweet of you to say that. Thank you. Sammie continues to be a part of our life and we see her quite often every day. Yesterday she played with my husband by rolling over on her back and play-attacking him. She still trusts us and I think she senses that we love her.

Ingrid

Sammie is a cute one. I would never get rid of alyssum the smell is always a treat. Thanks for posting your garden

Ingrid, your garden is wonderful. It is beautiful in its own way. I understand the problems trying to make every garden look like some of the pictures we see here. Those who have never lived in an arid area do not get it and those who have never lived in blackspot kingdom don't get it either but they all keep doling out advice as if all our climate and atmospheric conditions were the same.

Having lived in the Mojave and now in Blackspot, Alabama, I understand the different problems and conditions associated with both areas, but also the beauty of each.

I think there is something just so stark nakedly beautiful about the desert but then I think I find beauty in every area I have ever visited or lived.

Your garden is especially lovely and a real tribute to someone with great taste and tenacity.