@jacqueline9CA your post reminds me of something...I lived in California for 33 years (I grew up in Napa) and do not recall seeing hellebores when I was growing up. Have you had yours a long time? Or are they a fairly recent addition?

Enjoy the break in the rain! :)

@erasmus_gw I forgot to answer your question about clematis. Yes! We grow clematis in both the front and back garden. Most of those are new as well as they were added after the roses, but I think I have around 12-13? The oldest one is Rooguchi which is just a blooming stalwart in our climate (ranging from chilly to blazing hot in a matter of hours in the summer sometimes, or just days and days of extreme heat). But I have and love (and remember the names of haha):

Ville de Lyon

Jackmanii

Warsaw Nike

Wisley Cream (winter blooming one, this one)

Etoile Violette

Rouge Cardinal

Clair de Lune

Taiga

Florida Sieboldi

H.F. Young

Madame Julia Correvon

Polish Spirit

Most of these, if not all, were purchased at the end of season clearance for half off (it's way cheaper this way when they cost around $25/gallon). My partner also grows quite a few different passifloras. Some of them are fine to stay outside in the winter, but a couple have to be overwintered indoors.

Oh, you have a nice collection of clems. I bought Florida seiboldii last year but the box it came in overheated on the porch and it died. Really wanted Vienneta, which has Florida S in it. I think Vienneta has bigger centers maybe. Very striking. It is not for sale in the US as far as I know. Comes out of patent I think in a week or two. I have a wild passiflora that is invasive. Amazing flowers.

@erasmus_gw that's precisely my issue with passiflora...they are very weedy in my experience. Amazing flowers though.

I miss growing passiflora rrfor the fruit. Passion fruit was one of my favorites when I lived in the tropics. The eating ones need a much hotter climate than I can provide where I live now

Erasmus - well said...a celebration of life. :)

Jackie - I hope you don't feel guilty over coming out of that deluge unscathed. It's great that your roses/flower will be there to help insects/birds and to lift people's spirits. :) :)

I think this is my favorite thread ever! I love seeing up-close pictures of roses but I love seeing wide garden views EVEN MORE. All of your gardens are so, so inspiring. Thank you to everyone who has posted!

PDXRobertZ8 - l started purchasing them about 25 years ago, and then they started seeding babies all over, so I have not actually bought any for years, and we have dozens of them in 3 different areas. Before I bought any, I remember seeing a large one in bloom in a neighbor's yard, and asked what it was. They are so carefree, and so reliable, and bloom in mid wiinter - what is not to like?

Jackie

I meant to add this photo to the above - Jackie

Jackie, you must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. So happy for you.

About clematis, I went a little crazy this year and purchased 6. They are all in pots right now and they look like a brunch of dead sticks and leaves . They are all a prunning type 2. Should I just leave them alone. 4 will go in the ground when the ground warms.

@jacqueline9CA That pink hellebore is gorgeous. I only have one and it has never reseeded, maybe it's sterile? Idk. I bought a darker color because I thought it would be unique and cool but unfortunately it doesn't show up very well against the drab early spring background and darker foliage of the plant. I want to replace it with a better color but it's healthy so I'm feeling too guilty to dig it out.

I see what you mean, Magpie. I think your dark one is still beautiful.

Kristine, I would still prune. In my opinion it encourages more stems. Others may disagree but I give my clems three years to shine. For me they are very much sleep, creep, leap perennials.

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw 6 new Clems! Which ones?? Honestly, I'm having terrible luck with mine. The bulk ones I bought from Sam's club, I think I got 4 for $12, did well for me, and all the very expensive ones I bought from the clematis specialty nursery (more like 4 for $100) have died! I truly don't know how that happened. I wouldn't mind continuing to buy from Sam's Club but the selection is so limited compared to a clem nursery. I want to keep trying but they're more expensive than roses for me so I'm not sure if I will. For my cheapie ones, this spring will start their 3rd year so I sure hope they leap!

@jacqueline9CA ignore my last comment (now deleted)--I thought we were talking about passiflora for some reason! Got my wires crossed. Now, if my hellebores reseeded and multiplied, I would be thrilled! :)

A bit late to this thread. Some garden pictures ..not just roses. White garden, woodland garden, rose r or (Eden and Zephy) and Japanese-inspired garden.

Absolutely breathtaking @Rosa Zone 7a

Thank you Robert. We started from scratch five years ago from a bamboo, poison ivy scrub infested lot. I’m retired now and can spend all my hours gardening:)

Rosa, your yard is so beautiful. It looks like a park! I really love the blue arch and the water falls/stream How long is your watercourse?

That's so beautiful, Rosa . I am sure it was a tremendous amount of work to get rid of the poison ivy and bamboo. To take a yard full of scrub and turn it into something so beautiful is quite an accomplishment. I love paving stones with stuff growing between them, and the white balls, and the Japanese inspired garden ...all of it. Did you make the white balls?

I am gobsmacked Rosa! What a peaceful retreat you have created from scrub and poison ivy.

Your relaxing color palette is so soothing to the eye and your water feature just adds to the overall feeling of serenity.

You guys have worked ( and continue to work) so hard to create something really special.

Well done!

Oh and the blue arbor, Wow!

All of these photos are so gorgeous. I keep coming back to look at them. I miss the garden so much, we got a foot of snow the other day (and the last snow hadn't melted all the way yet so it's really piled high). I had a big vase of dried flowers from summer that I planned to keep out all winter to remind me of summer, but then my son tackled it during playtime and most of the flower heads broke off the stems. I piled them all into the bowl that I sometimes float rose blooms in. I think it's pretty. But I'm still missing the garden.

Love that @Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) and I am also amazed that straw flowers keep their saturated color like that!

@User This year was my first year growing them and I was surprised too! I'm not sure how many years they can keep their color for, but they dried flawlessly. The plant itself was not very attractive I'm the garden, though (in my opinion). But still, I'm glad I grew them for this. I might grow them again to make some gifts for people with the dried blooms.

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) the local nursery here was selling these small (8") wreaths with strawflowers glued to them, and they were actually beautiful. It'd be a great gift. I know the plant itself looks like a weed tho--haha!

Magpie, I got all but 1 of my clematis from Donahues.

Bernadine

Diamantina

Diana's Delight

Paulie

Samaritan Jo

Pink Champagne

They are all in pots and look like dead sticks. I hope that they are ok. They are all prunning 2

Rosa - beyond beautiful!! :) :) My favorite is your 2nd picture. :) Your rose climbers are incredible...so many blooms!! No way!!! You started that when it was just scrub? You are incredible!!! I really am impressed with people who can do that. It's not in my wheelhouse. WOWZA!!

Magpie - that is probably even prettier than in a vase! It looks so colorful, happy and fun!

Kristine - good luck with your clems...I hope they do well. I can't seem to grow them...I've given up. LOL

@User @Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) I can explain a bit about hellebores and them seeding babies! Some fancy hellebores cultivars that you buy are sterile and should say so somewhere on the tag. This is nice for the company, since you're dependent on them to get more, and nice for gardeners who want the exact number of hellebores they planted.

Other hellebores are NOT sterile and seed about freely, but it takes a few years for the babies to mature and bloom. Baby hellebores are tiny the first year or two! You can get hellebore "strains" that have been bred for certain colors and such from places like Pine Knot Farm. (https://www.pineknotfarms.com/) These will make babies; if they aren't cross-pollinated the babies have a good chance of looking similar.

Watch out though! If you give them enough time and space hellebores WILL take over whole swathes of the garden! Luckily the small babies are super easy to dig out and give away/compost.

I had an invasive plant instructor at the local botanical garden try to convince us that hellebores are invasive since he's been finding them in the woods quite a distance from his garden. I guess the seeds have little delicious bits called "elaiosomes" and ants transport them quite far.

Thanks for explaining Summer cloud. II think. my hellebores may sterile.

The other plant that so many grow that's very invasive here is foxglove. You can find it all over here. I haven't seen. hellebores out in the wild now e I'll be keeping n my eyes open.

I love foxgloves….except I’m always trying to only have the pure whites and the peaches and the sneaky plants always make pink babies!

Rosa, I am astonished that you have managed to create that in only 5 years. It is beautiful. I love your watercourse. Is it a stream you have tamed, or is it reticulating? Your pathway is so pretty. What groundcover have you used between the stepping stones? And how large is your lot? It seems enormous.

Magpie, I tried drying a bunch of strawflowers that I was given. They didn't retain their colour. How did you dry yours? I think your hellebore is stunning. Maybe if you plant a few pale ones around it it'll show up better.

@titian1 10b Sydney I just hung them upside down out of direct sunlight for a few weeks. Yes I may buy some other hellebores to set it off better, I'm not sure yet. My shade garden definitely needs work but I'm not totally sure how to design it yet.

Magpie, that's what I did with mine. I mustn't have the touch!

@titian1 10b Sydney How were they given to you? I had hung mine immediately after cutting, and they were growing in a dry spot as is, but I wonder if having them in a vase of water first would affect how they dried? I don't possess an ounce of magic touch lol, I have had countless garden failures and I'm incapable of accomplishing neat planting schemes. My garden victories are largely due to probability, if you sow 100 packets of seeds a few of them are bound to grow 😅

I did put them in water, and kept them in it for 2 or 3 weeks. That's probably the answer!

@sultry-jasmine nights: it’s about 16 feet. haven’t figured out to respond directly so hope you see this.

@erasmus: I got the white balls from FB marketplace. They’re very light (not stone).

@Kristine: Thank you!

Titian1 Sydney 10b: it’s a recirculating waterway. The groundcover between the pavers is mazus reptans. It’s a bit of a thug but I had a lot of space to cover quickly. It has pretty purple flowers in the spring. There’s also a white form (mazus reptans Alba). I’m on 1.72 acres but part of that can’t be gardened on as it’s a septic field. I find that dividing up the lot into different garden rooms makes the whole garden feel bigger.

Wow. I'm gobsmacked. Rosa, it must be nice to live in a place where rain falls from the sky!!!! :-) I think if I had a garden that lush the drought police would give me a ticket! Oh that's just lovely.

Jerijen -- your note makes me so wistful...

All the photos are beautiful. Thank you!

Rosa Zone 7a, Those are the most amazing pictures. Like royalty/public gardens quality. I'm dreaming, I think. I really like how you transitioned from rock path to grass. Would you be willing to post other pics of your rose garden? I'm totally gleaning ideas....

Kimberley: will try. i have a formal parterre rose garden but i have roses in perennial beds as well. Here’s an earlier 2021 pic of the parterre.

Kimberley: are you on IG? i post pictures there as @rosemama20.

Hi back, Yvonne... I used to be on IG a long time ago. I'll try to resurrect myself tomorrow and look for you. (Although I have a lot of digging to do tomorrow.... so maybe in a couple days lol).

Yvonne - ye gods!! You have incredible gifts with garden planning and growing roses!!! Unbelievably gorgeous!

Right... what @rosecanadian said just above!

Yvonne....I started following you in Instagram...I'm @mrs.rosylady. Your garden is absolutely beautiful!!

Rosy lady: thanks so much. I already follow you on Instagram and love your garden!

@Rosylady (PNW zone 8) I didn't know you were on IG, but I follow you now. :) Gorgeous garden!

Thank you Yvonne and Robert!