My, Sherry, for an old chick you sure know how to work. I would have been IN the hospital after your little jaunt (okay, I have an excuse, some health problems). I can see your garden is going to be incredible with all the additions you're making. Pictures are definitely requested.

Ingrid

Man, you got a lot done today, Sherry.
I know Cornelia from a local garden. It's a big one too. It's a beauty.

Randy

Omigosh! Don't tell me! I just planted her to replace climbing Cramoisi Superieur because he was way too big for his pillar. Sigh.

Here's photos of my west sideyard this morning.
The bed already had an azalea, some Canna Lilies & daylillies and an Evergreen Liriope which I moved out.
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Here's 6-month old Cornelia - and I haven't been feeding her like I should. random harvest, her canes thicken up pretty quick and are stiff. I had kind of a hard time wrapping her in a 24' diameter pretty close together. And then she just went ballistic out the top with 4' lengths of canes sticking out like a bad hair day. Maybe on a tall pillar she'd work but she is also well armed.
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This was going to be my rose tunnel, if any of you remember my previous "garden tours". Building the thing terrified me so I procrastinated. Then one day it hit me to do a "wall" trellis like I have on the other side of my house with Maman Cochet, Cl. Duh. So I have three 8' 4x4s this time 10' apart with green coated wire between to tie E. Veyrat Hermanos onto. If she grows too tall, I'll have to add brackets, I guess. He's on the left. The roses in front of the fence are Souv de Pierre Notting (a baby), Gen Schablikine and Maman Cochet. All except SdPN were planted last Sept.
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The butterfly bushes have taken a beating being in pots for 6 months, drying out daily. Hopefully, they will explode now in gorgeous yellow flowers on plants that should get to 6' tall, they say. I don't know if you're familiar with porterweed. It has tiny violet flowers that bloom one at a time along long bloom spikes. Butterflies & bees like them. I decided on these plants instead of roses since planting roses on a west-facing wall is generally a no-no due to BS proliferating on roses that don't dry out from the dew until after noon. Hope Cornelia doesn't mind.
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This is where the limb came down. We managed not to bother anything. That's Clotilde Soupert, GaA & Marie Pavie behind the pots. If the limb had come down the way it wanted, they would have been smushed. Trusty electric chainsaw did the trick, and it's all out at the curb! PLUS it showed me a better place for the bench. It was like fitting a long sofa in a tiny room with lots of doors & windows. I like it better here - except Mons Tillier may reach out and grab somebody!
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Here's the view including the shade bed with azaleas and caladiums. It looks so cool (temperature-wise), doesn't it? Be forewarned, you'll still sweat. But shade truly is a blessing in Florida.
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Sherry

How lovely! I ,ove your shade garden with the caladiums. I don't think I can get away with those in my clime or I'd plant some in my own shade garden. very nice! Now if i can get some growth like that on MY Cornelia....

Caladium show-off!

(They are lovely.)

I really liked "baby elephant, that is."

My cornelia was surrounded by many other roses.
I tried to contain her, but nothing to do.
Now I have moved many of the surrounding plants and she happily fills the whole area.
She is allowed, as she is healthy, reliable, elegant and blooms a lot :-)
Good large rose.

nickelsmum, you're too funny!

Hey, you guys all have your peonies and glads and hostas and zillions of other gorgeous annuals. This is the ultimate "summer color" down here as far as I'm concerned. And once they're in the ground, you don't have to do a thing. Too bad they're gone in October and don't come back till May.

greenhaven, you probably could grow them, but you'd either have to dig them up or start over with new ones in the spring. I planted some in my mother's yard in Alabama. They came up but not the following spring - and that was Zone 7b-8a, I think.

scardan, sounds like I picked a good spot. She can spread forever. I did like very much the few blooms she's had.

Sherry

Sherry, everything looks wonderful! And I am glad to hear all the gossip about Cornelia. I see that I am going to have to drag mine, in her huge pot, over to the side of the driveway that borders the neighbor's woods. Maybe she won't devour anything much from there.

I noticed that you, too, purchased those lovely looking, leaf shaped stepping stones. What a disappointment those were for me. Not enough portland cement to way too much sand. I just dug out the last crumbles of mine. I found them treacherous to walk on.

Veronica

Veronica, yeah, I'll be getting rid of them, too, before long. The plain mulch is much easier to walk on. Should have known when they were marked 2/3 off something wasn't right.

Sherry

Something to be aware of with 'Cornelia': if you want good repeat bloom, let it hang over something. Downward-aiming canes are far more likely to rebloom than are upright canes. So if you keep forcing it "up," it will disappoint you.
Malcolm

Thanks for that Dr. M. I shall go out tomorrow and remove the tripod after I drag her over to her new location.

They should of NEVER sold them! (the stepping stones.) That price tells us they KNEW they were defective.

Your photos are lovely!

I started with Cornelia and about 13? other roses in the fall of 2007. She outgrew everyone else by far. I got very few blooms at all last year, but her canes were here, there and everywhere, which was mostly my fault for not tying them up before it was too late. I have a mild mess now, but am hoping that over time as I prune and deal with the newer canes I can straighten her out some. Yet another gardening lesson I have learned.

She apparently put all her energy into growing canes last year and this year is blooming steadily. I had no idea she would be that big!

Angela, I didn't know she would be THAT big either, but I loved pics of her flowers. I guess after what Malcolm said I will secure her to the trellis and the porch and let her spill down which is pretty much what she wants to do anyway - she's just not long enough yet. I mean, you have to get her UP before she can hang DOWN, right? Sometimes I'm too literal so I had to clear that up for myself. :))

Veronica, some deals just aren't good deals. Live and learn.

Sherry