It looks like the beginning of a beautiful garden! I like your layering or roses and plants! Is your soil really that black!? Wow! That looks like rose heaven! Or is that amendment? All I have is grey sand and have to add peat and manure.

Looks really nice! How did you make the lumber borders?

Dingo2001 -- the lumber is pressure-treated 1.25" X 6" X 8' boards. I bought ten. I scraped the mulch away to reveal the edge of the sidewalk, then set a board just a half-inch below the surface. I bought 31 pieces of foot-long rebar and hammered them right up against the edge of the sidewalk, leaving about 4" above the surface. That supported the wood from the outside of the bed, and the weight of the mulch and coffee grounds supported the wood from the other side. I started in the corner where the sidewalk meets the beginning of the walkway to my front steps, using whole boards. The first board didn't quite go the width of the bed, but I started the next board as close to the corner of the sidewalk and alley as it would go -- the "corner" wasn't really a corner, since the sidewalk curved there, so I anticipated using one diagonally-placed piece to bridge the gap. Then I just kept going with the full boards, using nine. The tenth was cut twice to make the two short "remainders" -- one in the corner of the sidewalk and the alley, and the other in the corner of my steps and the sidewalk, behind the black barrel in the pic. The full-length boards each got three pieces of rebar for support, and the two "remainder" pieces each got two. I measured it out before going to Home Depot so I got exactly what I needed in one trip.

:-)

~Christopher

roseleighz9b -- what you see in the pics isn't "soil" but a layer of used coffee grounds. I pick them up from Starbucks. I bought two trash cans, leaving one at Starbucks and the other with me, then swap them out every day. Underneath that is a mix of partially-composted mulch and tree leaves. The earthworms do all the mixing for me.

:-)

~Christopher

Thanks Christooher! I thought that might be rebar - it has a nice clean look to it and seems like it will keep everything contained. Beautiful gardens :)

Julie

I love the use of coffee grounds! Great idea! It might actually help me keep the Ph down!

The acid in coffee grounds is water-soluble and organic. This means that most of it ends up in the brewed coffee, and what little is left in the used grounds will break down. I still recommend it, however, being as it's a nutrient-rich organic material (comparable to Bovung dehydrated cow manure from Home Depot, but smells much nicer) which will be like a dinner bell for earthworms. And it's free. Just be aware that the size can I use becomes VERY heavy when full. And if you establish a relationship with a local coffee shop, be sure to maintain it -- don't be unreliable about picking up the grounds. The Starbucks by me is literally around the corner from my job, and I pick up grounds daily.

:-)

~Christopher

Last year, my first rose to open a bloom was 'Marie Pavie', on May 21 -- I checked back on the date I posted the pic on Facebook. Most of the rest followed within a week of that date. Well, today I noticed a bud on 'Marie Pavie' with sepals back, petals still tightly closed. I think Rose Season 2015 will begin tomorrow, just over a week earlier than last year.

:-)

~Christopher

Your garden is looking great------I used to use coffee grounds from Starbucks(my DH picked them up for me) and I found they worked great-----I just need a full time gardener to help me---LOL---can't wait to see your roses blooming

Florence

Thank you, Florence! If you ever find that you'll be in the neighborhood, please do message me. I'd love to walk you around my "work-in-progress".

:-)

~Christopher

As with last year, the first rose to bloom this year -- not counting new roses which arrived this Spring with buds and blooms -- is 'Marie Pavie'. She had two open blossoms this morning. Here's one of them. Many others are showing color in their buds, but so far, none with sepals flared back.

Oh, and my clematis 'Omoshiro' opened a few more blooms. It's a very pretty "bicolor" in that the backs of the tepals are pink, and the fronts are pink-tinted white. As with the roses, the other clematis are all loaded with buds but so far not yet blooming.

:-)

~Christopher

OK, no new roses opened, but I took a few pics today regardless.

This is Clematis 'Edo Murasaki', which I have planted to the right of the rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing'. On the other side of the rose is Clematis 'Niobe'. Maybe this year the three will bloom together.

This pic is a bit overexposed -- the blooms aren't this pale in real-life -- but you get the idea. Blooming now is Dianthus 'Bath's Pink', which I have placed between the roses 'Botzaris' (pegged) on its left, and 'Mme Dore' on its right. The foliage in the bottom right corner belongs to one of the Narcissi which have just about finished.

Again, a bit overexposed, but here's Dianthus 'Firewitch'. Behind it and to the right is the foliage of a Stokesia whose name I can't remember. That one rose bloom you see to the left of the Stokesia belongs to "Alfred de Dalmas' aka 'Mousseline' which came as a band from RVR this Spring -- I don't count blooms which arrived as buds in the mail as belonging to my "first of the season". To the left of 'Firewitch' you see foliage from a finished Narcissus, as well as that of one of my mixed Oriental Lilies which will bloom when the roses pause in mid-Summer. And to the left of them you see foliage of the rose 'The Prince'. The rose further to the right of 'Firewitch' is 'Golden Buddha'. The Gallica behind the railroad tie is 'Georges Vibert'. And that's a Sedum whose name I can't remember poking through the logs.

And here's a pic of my organic pest control. I found this baby ladybug on my deck railing, and moved it to where there'd be plenty of food -- on a bud of 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain'.

:-)

~Christopher

Ooh, Edo Murasaki is one of the ones I bought too! It looks lovely! I'm going to team mine with clematis Alice Fisk and a yet-to-be-decided rose...

I took a bunch more pics today, trying to give an idea of the layout of the garden. A few more blooms opened as well, including some roses.

First, here's Kim Rupert's species-hybrid 'DLFED-3' saying hello.

I'm not sure which Clematis this is -- I thought it was 'Countess of Lovelace' but that's supposed to be double-flowered in its first wave -- and these blooms are single. The other possibility is 'Lasurstern'. I know I got both, but I am scratching my head trying to remember which one was planted here. In any case, it's climbing into the rose 'Nouveau Monde' which I have trained against the center of the railing on a raised deck attached to my neighbor's house -- we share the same back yard and landlord. 'Nouveau Monde' has plenty of buds showing color, so their duet should begin any day now.

This pic is taken from the view of the deck, showing 'Nouveau Monde' on the railing, and the clematis (whichever it is...) within. Yes, that's all 'Nouveau Monde' from left to right within the railing, and arching up over it in the center.

At one corner of the railing, peeking through by the steps, is 'Reine des Violettes'.

And at the other corner is 'Georg Arends'. I chose both because they're thornless (or nearly-so). Here's where 'Georg Arends' and 'Nouveau Monde' meet.

And here's 'Georg Arends' on his own.

And on the fence, right across from 'Georg Arends', is clematis 'Edo Murasaki' in the start of its flush. To its left is rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing', and to the rose's left is clematis 'Niobe' -- but those two aren't blooming now.

Down the brick-lined path toward the "lawn-in-progress" is rose 'Mme Dore'......

...who has a bud about to open.

And.....to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

On the other side of the brick-lined path, right by the curve by the tree, is 'Yolande d'Aragon', whose canes reached over 7-ft tall by the end of last year. I pruned it back by about a third in Spring. Climbing the tree is 'Orfeo' with two clematis buddies on either side of it -- 'H. F. Young' on the side by the path, and 'Huldine' on the other side. Both are braided together with the rose, going every which way into the tree.

In the corner of the bed, in front of the pine tree, is a mostly-pegged huge 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' which is wider than this picture captures. To its right is 'Golden Celebration' which is arching toward the sun (but held in place with hidden tree branches for support), and to its left is 'Prospero'.

Here's a close-up of one of the many buds on 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'.

This is 'Golden Celebration' with 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' to its left. It's hard to tell where one begins and the other ends -- but when they bloom, the two colors will make each other pop. You'll also notice some lilies dotted around -- I got 25 each of mixed Oriental, Trumpet, and Orien-Pet from Van Engelen last Autumn, and naturalized them in the main beds. The Orientals, being a bit shorter, start by 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' and continue toward and against the garage. The taller Trumpets and Orien-Pets overlap a bit here and continue in the other direction, where the beds are deeper. The rose against the fence in the upper right corner is 'Bleu Magenta', and the rose to the right of bottom-center is 'Blanc de Vibert'. The red buds on the right-edge of the pic belong to 'Pierre Notting' -- the red HP, not the yellow Tea with the 'Souvenir de...' prefix.

A bud showing color on 'Golden Celebration'.

Here's 'Clotilde Soupert' getting ready to pop. Directly behind it is 'Charles de Mills', and in the corner against the garage -- behind the railroad tie -- is "Secret Garden Musk Climber", which I hope recovers from this past Winter. It managed to keep about 2/3 of its main cane's length, and is slowly greening up again. In front of SGMC and to the left of 'Clotilde Soupert' is "Sophie's Perpetual". To the right of 'Clotilde Soupert' is 'The Prince', with Geranium 'Rozanne' between them to the back, and a Dianthus whose name I can't remember in the front. Any lilies you see here at this part of the bed are Oriental.

At the end of the bed against the garage I planted Dianthus 'Rose de Mai', which is not as pale in real life as this pic would indicate. Its blooms are fuller and heavier, causing them to "nod" in the style of Tea roses. I anticipated that working well right in this spot. It's just starting to bloom, and like all the other Dianthus I picked, positively REEKS of cloves. Behind it is the rose 'Happy Child, with a bare area in which I planted seeds of Cynoglossum amabile 'Firmament', behind which is Amsonia tabernaemontana against the garage, and then further along the bed toward the back fence is 'Honorine de Brabant', which I showed earlier in this thread.

Here's an up-close pic of a bloom on Dianthus 'Rose de Mai'.

In the corner of the main bed, meeting the deck and the driveway, is "Bermuda Spice". I have to cut back a lot of frost damage in Spring, but it shrugs it off and keeps going. Last Autumn it was about 5-ft wide, and almost as tall. Here it is now, about to get started blooming -- which it keeps doing without pause until hard frost.

And a bloom about to open on "Bermuda Spice" -- nearly the first of the season, always the last of the season, and always with at least one bloom the whole time between. The Dianthus in the pic is 'Horatio', but it's not blooming yet.

To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

There's some stuff going on in the brick-lined border I put against the neighbor's house last year -- as well as plenty of space yet to fill. Here's Amsonia hubrichtii showing its pale blue starry blooms, which is its first show of the year. Its second show comes in Autumn when, like the other Amsonias, its foliage turns brilliant yellow. The Hemerocallis on the right is 'Hyperion'.

Further down the bed, "Grandmother's Hat" has started its show. This rose was slow to start for me, but now in its third year is looking like it's ready to take off. Penstemon 'Dark Towers' is on its right, another Penstemon whose name I don't remember is on its left, and down front and to the right is a green Santolina. I had Salvia 'Wild Thing' in the left corner of this pic, but I don't think it survived. In its place -- and sorta looking similar -- I'll be planting a red China rose. I'm keeping an eye out for "Elisabeth's China" to become available -- I think it'll work great for the spot.

Looking down upon "Grandmother's Hat".

And a close-up of its first open bloom -- and my first dose of damask-fragrance for the season.

My pot-pet Hybrid Teas really took a beating being left outside for Winter -- sorry, kids, but you were my guinea pigs. I'm still waiting for signs of life from five of them, but 'Big Ben' is not only just fine, but about to bloom.

The end of my tour so far will be with my little box garden in the front and along the side of my tiny house. I finished mulching the front with coffee grounds, and am almost done with the side strip. It really makes the foliage pop. Much of what is planted here went in only this year, some last year, and a few of the roses the year before. 'Baltimore Belle' is climbing the dying Japanese maple tree, 'Marie Pavie' is the one blooming near the walk to my steps by the sidewalk, 'Eugene de Beauharnais' is about to bloom at the base of the tree next to the viola, 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' is climbing on the railing by the alley, 'Duchesse d'Angouleme' (aka 'Wax Rose') is in the center of the railing, and 'Archduke Charles' is the little wimp in the corner by the stairs. Three other roses in the "main box" are 'Vineyard Song', 'Lemon Spice', and 'Moonsprite' but they're not doing much at the moment.

Oh, and what looks like "mold" in parts of it is not actually that. I threw some Plant Tone on it a few days ago, and the rain is making it "melt" into the coffee grounds.

To be continued.....

:-)

~Christopher

This is Hosta 'Fragrant Bouquet' with Viola odorata 'Classy Pink' and Dicentra spectabilis 'Goldheart' -- who says you need blooms for color?

Polemonium 'Purple Rain' is finishing up its bloom, and smells like grape soda. Still small, but only a year old.


And various Japanese painted ferns.




:-)

~Christopher

Just beautiful Christopher. Your garden has that natural feel and very homey and natural to me. Thanks for sharing.

Christopher---I'm just thrilled with your garden.. It is obvious that a lot of love went into this garden-----I especially like the corner shot with the brick path ---I too love the Damask scent----Can't wait to see all your rose blooms.

Florence

Looking great Chris!

I really enjoyed your garden tour. Thanks for posting all the photos and explanations. I love seeing hoe others arrange and plant things, it gives inspiration for my own garden. The coffee grounds look great and I am sure the worms love them. I tried once but I wasn,t very consistent about picking them up regularly , sounds like you have a good system. Enjoyed seeing your roses. Please Post more pictures once they have more blooms. I am interested in seeing Baltimore belle, I just planted her bare root this year. I hope she does ok, no leaves on her yet! Also, I love the clematis you have, they are all gorgeous. What system do you have for letting plants climb in you wooden fence, it looks like a sort of mesh. Do you staple it up?

Thank you, everyone! In my life at the moment, I don't have many "garden enthusiasts", so I come here to share the fruits of my labor among my forum friends who can really appreciate the garden. Your kind words are extra fuel to keep me going. I still have bare spots to fill, but I'm going to try doing that with seeds -- perennials and self-seeding annuals. If you look closely in some of the pics, it looks like there's potting soil in the beds. I made my own mix -- 3 parts by volume peat moss, and 1 part each vermiculite, perlite, and Bovung dehydrated manure, mixed together in a wheel barrow. I spread that down about an inch where I wanted to sow something -- it's holding onto moisture better than the mix of coffee grounds and tree leaves that are at the surface right now.

megandonnelle -- I'm rather amazed at how easy it was to "trellis" that fence. I got a 100-ft length of 8-ft tall deer netting, and trimmed it to fit the height and length of the fence. Luckily, my yard has the "ugly" side of the fence showing, which allowed me to stretch the netting against the posts and left a few inches from the boards. I hammered nails in about half-way through the netting, then hammered them down to bend flat into the post like staples over the netting. This is what keeps the netting up. As the clematis put on growth, I'd go out there and tuck them in the way I wanted them to grow, trying to fan them out to encourage more branching and to prevent them from becoming congested blobs. I'm out there every day, anyway, so a little bit every day made things much easier than trying to untangle weeks' worth of intertwined clematis growth. At this point, all I'm doing is occasionally tucking in the odd shoot that grows where I don't want it -- for the most part, they've "gotten the idea" by now.

At first, I thought I'd train the roses against it as well, but things got messy that way. So early this Spring, I put in eye ring screws along the posts and strung poly-rope to make horizontal lines. This is about an inch further out from the netting. PIECE OF ADVICE -- do this BEFORE planting the roses to avoid getting scratched up while threading the rope through prickly climbing rose canes! Once I finished putting the poly-rope in, I tucked in the climbing roses' canes and pruned away any that couldn't be trained against the fence. Last year, I sort of let the climbing roses "go wild" so I'd have something to work with this year.

Thanks again, everyone, for encouraging me to keep going! And thanks so much for opening my eyes to the world of roses that the neighbors never heard of, because they're not sold at Home Depot.

:-)

~Christopher

After a few warm days, it's been rather cool suddenly again -- which is slowing somewhat the progression of the first big flush, but it's still moving forward.

'Nouveau Monde' -- or, at least, the rose grown by that name -- is opening a few blooms today. The strange thing is how much darker they were than last year. All the pics of this rose on HelpMeFind are of my plant, and you can see how the blooms are changing as the plant matures. The blooms smell like those of an Alba, and the foliage has a balsamy-resinous scent when touched. These pics were taken from the raised deck, not ground-level.

Here's 'Nouveau Monde' on the deck railing, pic taken from ground-level. The clematis blooming within it is 'Countess of Lovelace -- some blooms are becoming double, so I guess the single blooms are on new-wood, and that means this ISN'T 'Lasurstern'.



'Rose de Rescht' opened its first bloom today, with Dianthus 'Greystone' in front of it.



'Botzaris' also opened its first bloom -- gorgeous form, gorgeous fragrance. It had some very long canes this Spring which I pegged in different directions -- so I'm expecting quite a show. Oh, and it sent up a sucker about two feet away. I'll have to keep my eye on that. The pink blooms belong to Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' which grows between 'Botzaris' and 'Mme Dore'.


Speaking of 'Mme Dore'......



"Bermuda Spice" already has a handful of blooms opened or opening, with many more buds to go.



I put 'Rose du Roi -- original' as the rose-neighbor to "Bermuda Spice" -- one of the first Damask Perpetuals next to (possibly) one of the first Teas. RdR-o didn't get pruned this Spring, and now I regret it. Its canes leafed out only at the top six inches or so, and now need to be staked. As soon as the first flush is over, I intend to cut some canes back hard and see what it does. If it leafs out lower down, I'll do the same to the others -- and repeat that every Spring. Oh, and as usual, my iPhone is messing up with the color.



Another interesting face to see today belonged to 'Rosa fedtschenkoana', which came as a cutting from Kim Rupert two years ago. This is the first year I get to see a bloom. It's interesting to me how its scent -- which reminds me of grease paint makeup from my theatre days -- mixed with that of 'R. gallica' and 'R. moschata' to form what we call "old rose" or "damask" fragrance.


Here's the whole plant of it. The wispy growth is from the original cutting, but then last year it sent up that sucker a few inches away.



To be continued...

:-)

~Christopher

Also in a pot is 'DLFED 3'. Kim gave me a few cuttings of each -- only one of 'R. fedtschenkoana' rooted, but four of 'DLFED 3' took. Carol (aka PortlandMysteryRose) and Alana and Linda Loe got the other three. Mine also sent up a sucker, closer to the center than that of its parent.

'Golden Celebration' has buds ready to pop!

And my poor 'Lady Hillingdon' has one bud, which I probably should have removed so it can focus on growing again, but I didn't have the heart. She started from ground-level last year, but kept 12" of cane this year.

'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' has just begun, but as usual, my iPhone destroys the color. The hosta near its feet is 'Stained Glass'.

And two more clematis have open blooms today, with more to follow soon. First is 'Niobe'.



And next is 'Blue Light', amongst unopened buds of the rose 'Bubble Bath'.

Dianthus 'Rose de Mai' is continuing its clove-scented flush. The rose behind it is 'Happy Child', with 'Honorine de Brabant' behind that.

To be continued.....

:-)

~Christopher

I'll finish up with some shots of the main beds again.

And some further detail on my fence climbers. Clematis
'Belle of Woking' is to the left of rose 'Bleu Magenta', with clematis
'Diamantina' (I think -- we'll see when it opens) on its right.

The
long horizontal cane at the top of the fence belongs to 'Bleu Magenta,
and the next rose to the right and below on the fence is 'Bubble Bath'.
There are two clematis between the roses -- 'Diamantina' (I think...) to the right of
'Bleu Magenta', and 'Red Star' to the left of 'Bubble Bath'.

Here's
'Bubble Bath' again, on the left, with clematis 'Blue Light' blooming on its
right, then clematis 'Ruutel', then rose 'Purple Skyliner', which is
growing like a monster, on the right.

There's
a big arching cane of the rose 'Mme de Sevigne' blocking the full view
of 'Purple Skyliner' but it's fanned out the entire width of this pic --
and there's another cane of it going further to the right. You'll also see some of 'Purple Skyliner' peeking out from under 'Mme de Sevigne' among the lilies. The clematis
blooming now to the right of 'Purple Skliner' is 'Omoshiro'.

And
here's the rest of 'Purple Skliner' continuing from the left -- that long horizontal cane along the top of the fence. The gap
against the fence is where another purple clematis was, but it died back
to the ground and is starting over again at the bottom center of the
pic. I think it's clematis 'Fujimusume'. And that puny wimp of a rose to
its right, at the base of the fence post, is 'Ferdinand Pichard', which
hasn't grown in size at all -- yet, I hope.

To be continued...

:-)

~Christopher

In this tangle are clematis 'Niobe' -- with one open bloom -- and rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing' with no blooms yet.

And
to the right of 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing' is clematis 'Edo
Murasaki'. The last stretch of the fence is where I planted seeds of
climbing Nasturtium 'Moonlight', but they haven't sprouted yet. The foliage you see down there belongs to the fading Spring bulbs.


Today I was sowing more seeds in the beds today, so hopefully by Summer those gaps in the beds will start filling in. It isn't ALL roses, but they sure are my stars.

:-)

~Christopher

Such a beautiful garden! Thanks for explaining about how you do the netting. I had to laugh when I reAd the comment about spreading out the clematis as it grows rather than untangling it- that is what I tried to do today, and broke many stems. I have some eye bolts and fishing line strung up on my fence. Definitely will not support climbing roses though. Need wire for that. The deer netting sounds perfect for the clematis though. So glad to see the blooms, I'm in upstate ny, we are not so far along, just buds right now. I just picked off a bunch of green caterpillars which were devouring the leaves on William shakespearm2000 and reine de How do you plan what to combine together?

Thanks so much! About 2/3 of the roses I planted in the beds are antiques, so their colors are mostly white, deep red, purple, and shades of pink. They were laid out in the garden first, two years ago. I wanted neighbors to make each other stand out rather than blend similar shades together, so I classed them as light, medium, or dark in bloom color. And then I put light next to dark wherever possible, with medium going anywhere. Growth habit was also considered, and a few which would naturally be tall were placed in front and pegged.

I used a few old-fashioned looking moderns as well, classifying them the same way. I was careful to space out widely the yellow shades, since I wanted an overall calming, soothing feel, and yellow is to me a bit more "exciting". The yellow or warm-toned roses in the main beds are 'Golden Celebration', 'Tamora', 'Abraham Darby', 'Happy Child', 'Lady Hillingdon', 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing', and 'Golden Buddha' -- which is about as close to orange as I can tolerate in a rose.

Last year I started with perennials, trying to stick to mostly cool-toned colors, and keeping in mind bloom time and habit. Bulbs went in last Autumn -- Spring- bloomers for before rose season, and lilies for the Summer lull. They were basically naturalized, keeping taller lilies to the middle or back. This year, seeds of perennials and self-seeding annuals are being direct-sown to fill in gaps -- in space and bloom time.

With the clematis, which I planted last year, half are purple or bluish, the rest being close to red or almost white. Since they complemented the climbing roses, they again were placed according to light next to dark. The climbers against the fence go clematis -- rose -- clematis -- clematis -- rose -- clematis -- clematis -- rose -- clematis -- clematis -- rose -- clematis -- clematis -- rose -- clematis. All but one -- 'Sweet Summer Love' in the front yard bed, climbing into the rose 'Baltimore Belle' in the Japanese maple tree -- are Type-2, so they bloom starting now with the first rose flush, pause during the heat of Summer, and resume again just around the start of Autumn, when the repeat-blooming roses start again. But it's not all exact, so there's overlap as well as alternation. Frankly, just seeing all the foliage cloaking the fence and the deck railing is pretty enough for me.

A few more roses have begun their first flush, so I'll take some more pics tomorrow.

:-)

~Christopher

I took a few more pics today, but when the sun was a bit bright. I'll try again in a few hours, when things get a bit shadier back there. In any case, here we go.

'Golden Buddha' appears more yellow and less apricot in this pic than it is in real life at the moment.

'Cardinal de Richelieu'.



These pics show Bourbon 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' and Austin 'Golden Celebration' together. SdVL is only just beginning -- there are SO MANY MORE buds that are coming up from what was the bare spot in the center after pegging its canes this Spring.






"Rose de Rescht" with 'Abraham Darby' behind, and Dianthus 'Greystone' in front and to the left.




'Abraham Darby' is about to open its first blooms. Behind it, on the deck railing, is 'Nouveau Monde' with clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' within it.



'Rose du Roi -- original'.



To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

"Bermuda Spice".

'Reine des Violettes' came out too pink in this pic, but it's still not quite as purple this year as were pics I took of its first blooms last year. As I remember, those purple tones came a couple days AFTER the blooms opened, and this one opened just today.

'Happy Child' is just beginning to open its first bloom. This is planted behind Dianthus 'Rose de Mai' seen in previous posts.

'Honorine de Brabant' is just beginning. She grew huge since last Spring, which you can see in previous posts.

"Sophie's Perpetual" is still in the gawky adolescent stage.

'Bubble Bath' has more of a hint of pink in real life than was captured here -- I'll have to go back later and try again. But I already catch its scent throughout the back yard -- smelling very much like 'Marie Pavie' in the front yard bed.

And I'll try for more later today.

:-)

~Christopher

Christopher, you must be thrilled to see everything coming together the way you planned it two (or is it already three) years ago! Your garden is marvellous - every photo is a joy to see - I'm truly impressed by the obvious health of every plant in your garden. All the hard work preparing the beds has been rewarded! Very well done ....

Tricia

Thanks! Roses were planted two years ago, clematis and perennials last Spring, bulbs last Autumn, and direct-sown seeds are going in now. A few additional roses went in last year and this year, and a few additional perennials went in this year, but I think of "the garden" as being two years old.

:-)

~Christopher

...so many lovely roses....the star for me so far is your 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'.... I like the way it's been layered...

..on another matter, with all those climbers on your fence, I wonder if you will have to consider reinforcing it at some point.... My fence is similar to yours, I also have lots of climbers, and I've needed to put concrete 'spurs' in to support some of the upright posts.... well, I didn't need to as yet, but I've sort of pre-emptied the situation, just in case.... things can get top heavy... perhaps yours is not a windy area, but here we get such gales, I fear mine would blow down later on....

Thanks! SdVL is one of my favorites, being the rare Bourbon that doesn't have "foliage issues" for me in my no-spray NJ garden. It also smells heavenly. So far, the repeat has been mild, but it remains an attractive "shrub" regardless. And there are some lilies poking through its canes which will provide color and scent later.

I hadn't thought of your concern about the fence, but so far so good. Generally, the wind blows about parallel with the section of fence with the climbers on it, and when I was putting the garden together, I did notice that there was cement around the posts already. We'll see how things go.

As rose season unfurls, I'm noticing that they are all on slightly different schedules. This means that I likely won't have any jaw-dropping everyone-blooming-at-once moments, but it does mean I get to enjoy them individually. For example, 'Rose du Roi -- original' is almost at its peak right now, while its neighbor 'Paul Neyron' isn't even showing color in its buds yet.

:-)

~Christopher

Christopher, your garden has really come together this spring and in a few weeks it's going to be a sight to see. In a few years it will be even more astounding, but it's been very rewarding to see it from its inception. I love the fact that you have so many old roses, and it's going to be a treat to see them all blooming, even if not at the same time. I actually prefer it when the bloom period is somewhat spaced out, which gives the feeling of a much longer spring flush. I'm so glad you're taking lots of pictures for us.

I guess 'Botzaris' had to remind you that there's a sucker born every minute... That's a rose I'd love to smell someday...

I have to agree with Ingrid... a garden with everything blooming at once has its appeal, but I like things spaced out a bit, so you've always got something to look at (and look forward to), but also so that every plant gets its due share of attention.

You've put a lot of thinking into every detail of your garden, including planting things that will bloom during your rose lulls... When you move on to your next garden, I know you'll take some of these plants along, but what will be left behind is a fantastic legacy for whoever is lucky enough to live there next.

Virginia

Thank you so much, Ingrid! The antiques are great for doing what I want -- filling in, spilling over, and being amenable to training. And when I went out later in the day to give the direct-sown seedlings another shower, the yard reeked of clove (from the Dianthus) and various old-rose scents.

'Honorine de Brabant' has grown into a big girl for a two-year-old. I have to discretely stake it with tree branches to keep its arching canes from blocking the sun from the Amsonia tabernaemontana to its left. If you look closely, you can see some of the Oriental lilies coming up between her canes. They'll bloom in July/August, when most of the roses will be taking a nap before Autumn.

You'll also notice that the grass has been trimmed since my pics earlier today. I prefer to wait until after the heat of the day for mowing the lawn. It made such a difference that I went and took more wide shots of the main garden.

To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

My buddy Sammy joined me in the garden, and got a rain-shower from the hose in his travel cage. No, this isn't his regular cage. Sammy is fully flighted, so this is how he comes outside with me for some sunshine. His regular cage is big enough to fit me.

Next I tried capturing some "rose and clematis moments" -- but it wasn't until I got ready to post them here that I realized they were a bit blurry. Forgive that, please, and let your minds sharpen these fuzzy images. I wanted to give an idea of how they look together.

'Nouveau Monde' and clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' finally blooming together in the same pic.

'Bubble Bath' and clematis 'Blue Light', which grows on the rose's right side and tangles together further up.

'Bubble Bath' again, with its clematis neighbor-on-the-left 'Red Star'. To the left of 'Red Star' and getting ready to open is (I think) clematis 'Diamantina'.

I know she's nothing special to you Californians who live in "Tea Paradise", but I love my "Bermuda Spice" because she can take a hard-pruning in Spring to remove all the Winter damage, yet still grows back to 4-5 feet by 4-5 feet by season's end, blooming all while. Her loveliest blooms are now through about early July, then they get smaller and whiter. But they keep coming. By late August, they look like this again -- right up until hard frost.

Two other roses compete closely -- but don't win -- against "Bermuda Spice" for constant bloom. They are 'Clotilde Soupert' -- which is just beginning to open blooms in the next pic -- and 'Marie Pavie' -- which was first to bloom, and keeps on going -- in the second pic.

Finally, megandonnelle asked me about my 'Baltimore Belle', which I trained against my dying Japanese maple tree in the front -- behind 'Marie Pavie' pictured above. Well, she isn't blooming yet -- she starts a bit later than all the others -- but she is loaded with buds. Here she is one year after planting in this spot, replacing 'Jaune Desprez' (RIP). Her tips reach 6-feet into the tree -- the bottom of the trunk is cut off in this pic, making it look shorter than it really is. I wanted to try and get as many of the buds as possible in one pic.

:-)

~Christopher

Virginia, thank you for the kind words! I think a big part of me being overly conscious about "continued interest" is that this is a shared yard, and whenever I'm out there doing or planting stuff, I am thinking "this will be a nice surprise when they come outside."

Oh, and regarding 'Botzaris', I had heard some warning about it suckering "a little." The way I look at it, it'll be easier for me to pass along. I already have someone back in Buffalo who will be getting some rooted cuttings from my garden. And if you want one, let me know. You have my email address already re: R. moschata.

:-)

~Christopher

what a beautiful jewel box! You have really put a labor of love into it, and I am glad it is rewarding you for your hard work. It must be such a lovely little refuge. Thank you for sharing! Nin

Thank you, Ninkasi! "Refuge" is a good word for it -- I say "sanctuary", but same idea.

Today's forecast was for a hot one -- 93F and humid -- and we're supposed to get heavy rain in the next couple days starting late tonight. I snapped a few more quick pics this morning before work, and I'm glad I did -- many blooms have "melted" a bit when I got home.

Here they are before the heat got them.

Clematis 'Niobe' may just finish its first flush before rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing' starts. Oh, well...maybe they'll meet later in the season.

'Purple Skyliner' is beginning its show on the fence. This is the right third or quarter of its width, and basically just one long cane trained horizontally, with sprays of laterals. If you look closely, you'll see oodles more buds to come.



'Purple Skyliner' and 'Mme de Sevigne' where they meet. This piece of MdS is one forked cane which arches over the shrubby base of PS.




'Monsieur Boncenne' is much more purple in real life than my iPhone can capture. It's very similar to the found rose "Pulich Children" which Jeri champions. This rose grows right by the brick-lined path, next to 'Jude the Obscure' and just a couple feet away from the previous picture.



'Abraham Darby' is joining the show.



'Happy Child' is so bright, it was very hard to capture it as NOT a ball of white.



'Reine des Violettes' gets her blue tints on the second day of being open. This is the same bloom shown in a previous pic, poking through the deck railing by the steps, which I posted yesterday.



And finally, the one bud on 'Lady Hillingdon' as it was opening. It was early enough in the day that I got to experience its ripe apricot scent as well. I saw signs of new growth, so I'm hoping that there will be plenty more of the plant at the start of next year.




:-)

~Christopher

WOW..I want my garden to grow up like yours!!! I wonder how SdVL would do down here in my s. fl garden. Golden celebration is a blackspot monster here though I loved it anyway (at my old house). How close to the roses do you plant your clems? I have found they do surprisingly well down here.

ALso, I have to tell my daughter that you take your parot out with you. She is in the process of buying her first one, a young turquise green cheek conure. Going to suggest taking him out on the balcony with her.

Mari

Christopher, your garden is pure magic. Partly it's the roses and rose partners you've chosen, the other part is the incredibly healthy and thick foliage on everything, surrounding the blooms. Most of it is just a memory for me, but I know how hard you've worked and you deserve every bit of it. Lucky us, we get to share too!

I took more pics again this morning, but this time I figured I'd try tweaking them a bit to compensate for the inadequacies of my iPhone and make them more as I think they appear in real life. The unadulterated versions are in my Facebook album NJ Garden Pics 2 -- those were uploaded directly from my iPhone.

First, some wide shots of the main beds -- not all the roses are blooming yet.

'Abraham Darby', with some blooms of 'Nouveau Monde' and clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' on the deck railing behind.

Despite my "tweaking", I still can't seem to capture the purple tints on 'Monsieur Boncenne'. The white rose arching from behind it is a pegged cane of 'Botzaris'.

'Monsieur Boncenne' in the lower left corner, with some of 'Botzaris' arching behind, one of the tall canes of 'Mme de Sevigne' in the center, clusters of small mauve blooms on 'Purple Skyliner' under that and continuing up the fence. The non-blooming rose to the right of 'Monsieur Boncenne' is 'Jude the Obscure'.

'Monsieur Boncenne' again, with 'Mme Dore' at the corner of the bricks and the logs. One of these days I have to get a proper digital camera.
:-/

'Yolande d'Aragon' -- which is almost 6-ft tall at its highest point, even after being cut back by a third in Spring -- with a Salvia whose name I don't remember at her feet.

I really love how 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' and 'Golden Celebration' look together. Their bloom shapes and sizes are very similar, but their colors and scents differ.

To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

'Golden Buddha' still has apricot tints I can't seem to "tweak" into the image. To its right is 'Prospero' which I also can't seem to capture color-wise. Thankfully, 'Prospero' managed a tall, stout cane which you can see rising above 'Golden Buddha'. When they were the same height, the clash made me twitch a little. That draping bit of 'Prospero' is one of its baby-canes, but the tall part was new-from-the-roots by the end of last year. There were two other new canes just starting to emerge last year, but they were destroyed by squirrels as they were burying their cache for Winter. Oh, well. And I figured I'd leave my finger in the shot just for fun.
:-P

'Cardinal de Richelieu' with 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' in front, separated by railroad ties and further away than this pic would indicate. Poor SDLM had two canes snap off last year -- one of which I rooted and is growing in a friend's garden now -- but has lots of new growth emerging from the base.

"Sophie's Perpetual" is still building its scaffolding.

Some shots of 'Honorine de Brabant'. Her "awkward habit" lends itself to planting lilies around her, which poke through and are supported by her arching canes.

'Orfeo' is planted at the base of the Callery pear tree, whose limbs were used to make the log edging. I removed some of the tree's growth in this patch here to allow the sun to hit 'Orfeo' and its accompanying clematises 'H. F. Young' and 'Henryii' This is the first bloom on the rose for the year, which faces the neighbors' raised deck. There are more buds to come, but I'm hoping 'Orfeo' continues to focus on growing up through the tree branches. There are quite a few other canes tucked in there which you can't see in the pic. And unfortunately, despite my "tweaking", I can't capture its color accurately.

And below it, 'Nouveau Monde' continues to bloom on the neighbors' deck railing, with clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' weaving within it.

To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

Also on the deck, coming up by the stairs, is 'Reine des Violettes' which continues "blueing" after opening its blooms. Thanks to "tweaking", I captured the color as it is right now on these three-day-old blooms.

'Tamora' opened her first bloom, and a few others are almost opened.



But at the moment, she's a bit lost in this. The deep pink blooms belong to another long, arching cane on 'Mme de Sevigne' coming from the right of this pic. The white in the lower right corner is pegged 'Botzaris'. The white against the fence is 'Bubble Bath'. And the purple in the center of the right edge is 'Purple Skyliner. Clematis blooming on the fence, from left to right, are 'Red Star', 'Lasurstern', and 'Blue Light'.


Same area as above, but closer to the front. You can see 'Botzaris' pegged in the center, with Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' to its right, and 'Mme Dore' to the right of that, with 'Monsieur Boncenne' behind her. See all the deep pink Bourbon blooms in the upper center of the pic? That's all 'Mme de Sevigne', arching up and over the others. She put out a few fat, tall, arching canes which I held in place with tree branches. This rose is really more of a climber, growing like 'Mme Isaac Pereire', perhaps even more so. But its canes seem rather self-supporting -- until the buds form, which is when I had to prop them up a bit.



Near the short path in the bed to the garage window is 'Clotilde Soupert' still slowly opening its blooms. To its right is 'The Prince', which looks like it's going to have a rather stingy first-flush this year, just as it did last year. But then it blooms more often during Summer and into Autumn. Odd, right?



When a rose has as many petals as 'Clotilde Soupert' has, it takes a while for them to open. I kept saying "any day now" for over a week. Notice there's no balling -- while we had some rather cool days this Spring, it's been unusually dry. CS balls for me only when cool and wet -- cool and dry, or warm and wet, I don't see balling.



And I'll finish up with areas that still need further attention -- and roses. This area gets full-sun during the hottest parts of the day, so I'm going to think about Chinas and Teas which may work in a narrow bed against the neighbors' house. Here's 'Perle d'Or' which is still rather tiny, but came as one rooted twig two years ago. Despite my tweaking, I can't capture its apricot tints.





To be continued....

:-)

~Christopher

'Napoleon' is rather vigorous. Also two-years-old, this rose has a couple canes at the base that are as thick as my thumb.

And the last pic for today is of 'Duchesse d'Angouleme', aka 'Wax Rose'. This is to the right of 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' which has already had its blooms crisped by the sun. It's a bit annoying -- I planted it there because the Japanese maple cast dappled shade over it for much of the day, giving it just enough sun to grow well but not so much that the flowers burned. Then last Spring, that section of the tree died, and poor SdDJ gets blasted by the sun. I have a tiny 'Buff Beauty' planted around the corner of the railing, where it gets more shade. After the heat of Summer passes, I'll switch them out.



And as I finish this post, I already hear thunder rolling in.

:-)

~Christopher

Your roses are looking so beautiful! I love how everything blended so nicely and beautifully! You have real vision. I love my roses but I lack the skill of vision. I can plant and grow roses beautifully, but my garden will never look like yours. Yours is like a fairy tale! Message me when you have time. I still would love to get a few roses from you, just hope I have something to trade that you don't already have! I really enjoyed looking at your rose beds!

I would enjoy seeing how your garden looks in spring 2016. A year can do so much!

Great Idea Rosefolly! Me too!