Weekend Garden Touring

Saturday's Open Garden here went really well.  There was a gentle, steady flow of people in and out all day, and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves and learn a few new things about roses.  The stars of the day were American Pillar (as expected), Arcata Pink Globe (a rambler that I haven't showed you yet this year), and my new Miniature Garden that includes my collection of micro-miniature roses.  I walked and talked all day, back and forth and around the gardens, and I was pretty well exhausted by the end of it.

This is not my garden.

Saturday evening, my parents, my brother and sister, and our spouses met at a Japanese restaurant to celebrate my father's 79th birthday.  I am thankful every day to have both of my parents, and to have my siblings close by.  We are a close-knit bunch, and we always have WAY too much fun when we get together.

I would have loved to sleep in a bit on Sunday morning, but that never happens for me ... the dogs must keep to their schedule and all of the four-legged critters get their breakfast on time, no matter what day it is.  Even after doing this, there was no time to sit back and recharge.  My husband and I loaded up the dogs and hit the road to Maryland, to spend the day touring gardens with the Four Seasons Garden Club.  The weather was cool and sunny, and the day was perfect!

Four gardens (all very different from one another), one delicious Mexican lunch (while the dogs waited patiently in the car in their crates in the shade), 250+ miles round trip, twelve hours ... all spent in the company of some of my favorite friends, and with some folks that quickly became new friends.

As we unloaded the dogs at our second stop, a woman approached and said, "Is this Winnie?  You must be Connie."  (we all laughed)  Can't be anonymous when one is toting around a tiny blog-rock-star Chihuahua, I guess.

These photos are from the third garden we visited.  The rose is 'Tausendschoen' (Thousand Beauties) ... I think this particular specimen is more like MILLION Beauties.  It's a perfect pairing of location and plant choice.  (This once-flowering rambler is relatively thornless, so placing it in this spot on the gazebo isn't a hazard for garden guests.)

I came away from the day, as I always do, with inspiration spinning through my head ... so many wonderful new ideas to use as I continue to work to whip these gardens of mine into shape.

Virginia Garden Week ... Fredericksburg Tour

Every year during the last week in April, garden clubs throughout Virginia offer tours of beautiful houses and gardens during Virginia Garden Week ... this is the 79th year!  The tour in Fredericksburg, hosted by the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club, is always on Tuesday of Garden Week.  It's almost like a national holiday for me, and I try not to miss it.

I invited my mother and Janet (of The Empty Nest) to come along.  My mother is a seasoned garden tour goer, but Janet had never been before ... and she was very excited that I had invited her.  With the company of two of my favorite people, and wonderful houses to see, you know that we had a GREAT time.

The houses on this year's tour were in the neighborhood surrounding Kenmore, the home of George Washington's sister Betty Lewis.  Most of these homes were built in the late 19th or early 20th century, and they are lovingly preserved as family homes ... a lot our historic home ... though mine is still very much in the 'construction' phase of its preservation.

The mild winter we had this year has made for some strange combinations of plants at peak bloom in most of the gardens.  Usually for Garden Week, we are treated to the usual spring blooming Southern plants, like azaleas, daffodils, tulips, hellebores, etc.  This year, azaleas are in full bloom, and so were most of the roses we saw ... a full two weeks (at least) ahead of normal.

The homes were staged and decorated with beautiful flower arrangements done by the garden club ...  no photography allowed inside the houses, so I can't show you some of the most beautiful of the arrangements.  Here are some that were outdoors.

We saw this display in one of the gardens.  The little card says, "Cookies are for display only, please."  There was only one cookie left, and notice that the top plate is full of crumbs.

My favorite sight of the day, and the first photo I took, was a Lady Banks rose climbing a trellis on this yellow Victorian house.  I love it when I see a rose that is allowed to grow to its full potential ... instead of being subjected to radical pruning and torture in an effort to force it to fit into an ill-chosen spot.

Mom and Janet and I had SUCH a great time!!

There is more garden tour for me today.  I am hostessing at a home on Richmond's Monument Avenue tour this afternoon, and touring a few of the homes and gardens before my shift begins.  I have to hurry now, because I still have to get dressed.  (I love hostessing tours and telling stories!)

Stay tuned for photos of Richmond.

Flowers on Friday ... Full Bloom in a Friend's Garden

My friend Robert, my dearest garden buddy, fellow rose addict, and all-around partner in crime, lives only 10 minutes away from the place where I picked up my fabulous dental cabinet earlier this week.  I made sure to take my camera along with me, so I could make a stop in his garden to take a peek ... and snap a few photos if the light was good.  (It was!)

My, my, my.  His garden is certainly a place of wonder!  Unlike my garden, Robert's garden isn't all about roses ... but the roses are definitely the star of the show right now.

This is the view I saw to my left as I pulled into his driveway. 

The large roses on the arch are Alberic Barbier (white) and an unknown red climber. 

Here is the view of this arch from the other side.

Robert and I have tried for years to identify the red rose ... and we have been unsuccessful so far.  It was given to Sherando Roses as cuttings of 'Jaune Desprez' by the folks at the Lynchburg City Cemetery.  ('Jaune Desprez' is an apricot Noisette, so that's not it.)  This rose is fragrant and healthy, and it blooms like crazy.  One day, we'll figure out what it is.

There are beautiful views everywhere you look in Robert's garden!  This is what you see looking toward the barn from his back terrace.

Look a little to the left, and you get this view.

1.  Climbing Clotilde Soupert

2.  Paul Transon

3.  The Alexandra Rose

Speaking of the barn .... that's where Robert keeps his alpacas!  I want some of these so badly!!  (Later.)  The Husband assures me that I can have my own alpacas once we clear a few things off our To Do list.  I can hardly wait!

Russelliana, a beautiful purple rambler, grows on the fence in front of the alpaca yard.

(wide shot)

(close up)

To the right of the barn is this circular garden. 

The concrete table, with umbrella, is surrounded by raised beds with rebar arches that contain alternating purple and white climbing roses.  'Violette', a purple rambler, was particularly photogenic!

This vignette is beside Robert's chicken house.  He bought this rooster sculpture when he and I went to the Maymont Flower and Garden Show in February, and I love how he is displaying it on top of an old rusty axle from a piece of farm equipment.

'A Shropshire Lass' is a David Austin English rose Robert grows that I have never seen before.

One of my favorite roses is 'Banshee'.  Robert's was blooming when I was there.  I'm still waiting for the first flower of the year on mine.

Beside Robert's greenhouse is a great example of growing roses into trees.

1.  Veilchenblau

2.  Darlow's Enigma

3.  Tess of the D'urberbilles

Darlow's Enigma is planted on a rebar tripod beside Tess of the D'urbervilles.  Darlow is trying to swallow poor Tess, and looks to be determined to escape up into the holly tree, which already contains Rosa fortuniana (not visible in this photo) and the lovely purple 'Veilchenblau'.

My favorite view of the afternoon was this one I saw on 'Ghislaine de Feligonde'  I love how the soft apricot yellow of the roses perfectly contrasts with the brilliant purple of the clematis.

I have to stop now, so I can get ready for a very special visitor.  Kat from Low Tide High Style is coming over this afternoon!!  She and I are going to eat, and visit, and spend time with our cameras in the garden.  Speaking of cameras ... I have to go pop my camera battery into the charger.

Bye for now!

Road Trip to the Monastery

Two friends of mine care for the rose gardens at the Franciscan monastery in northeast DC.  This past Wednesday morning, I went there with them to see their rose propagation operation in the Monastery's greenhouse.  I fell in love as soon as I walked in the door!

The greenhouse wasn't much to look at from the outside.

But the inside was amazing!!! These old steel-and-glass greenhouses are so beautiful!

This greenhouse is 110 feet long, divided across the center by a glass wall so growers can keep different conditions in each half if needed.

I'm an Architecture Junkie, I admit it.  I always seem to be staring and marveling at the way structures are put together.

Isn't it imaginative how bamboo was used here to create a shadier area.

One side of the greenhouse held hundreds of banana plants being stored for the winter.

The empty benches you see will soon be filled with pots of roses, as the baby cuttings grow enough to be planted into larger pots.

I saw this sweet vignette on the end of one of the row of benches.  How lovely to give thought to an arrangement like this, in such a utilitarian space.

This milk jug, with its little poem, was sitting on one of the work benches.  It is such a cute and imaginative way to remind volunteers to check on the plants while they are in the greenhouse!

Long before I was ready, it was time for us to load up and head for home.  If we waited any longer, we would be caught by the dreaded DC traffic.  As I left, I had to get one more photo of the beautiful turquoise door.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me.  As cold as it's been here in December, hanging out with garden friends in the warmth and sunshine of a greenhouse (especially a greenhouse with as much personality as this one has) is fuel for one's soul ... how appropriate for a monastery, don't you think.