Roses on September 1

Yesterday afternoon, in between rain showers, the light was perfect for me to take my camera outside and capture images of some of the roses.  Come on ... let's take a look.  (Highlighted names under the photos are links to further information about that rose on Help Me Find, the best site on the web for roses.)

'Champneys' Pink Cluster' and a little friend.

"Sacramento Cemetery Musk Seedling"  aka, "Jim Henley"

'Laurent Carle'

It's been a while since I did any photography with something other than my iPhone 6s.  My phone takes decent photos, but my trusty, ancient Nikon D70 is much better at accurately capturing close-up images in the garden.

"Bryan Freidel Pink Tea" and a tiny spider

'Perle d'Or'

'Lyon Rose'

It's been a hard summer in the garden.  Weather was the main culprit.  It wasn't as hot as usual, but June and July were incredibly dry.  Japanese Beetles arrived on schedule in early June, in lower numbers than last year, but they stayed around for a few weeks longer then normal.  (There are still a few stragglers out there.)  Curly Rose Slugs are a big pest right now.  I pick them off when I see them, but it's a challenge.

'Maria Stern'

"Zalud House Shingled Raspberry"

Through it all, the garden persists.  Some roses are struggling ... others shake off the challenges and soldier on.  One of the best of the latter is my Yellow Seedling, which I grew in 2009 from a seed in an open-pollinated hip on 'Peace'.  This rose blooms and grows, despite heat and drought, almost immune to blackspot.  It's a star!

Unregistered yellow seedling.

Unregistered yellow seedling.

It's delightful to wander the property to see the roses that are already putting on a lovely show for fall.  As I was finishing up in the front yard, the battery on my camera died.  I will have to wait for another day to show you the rest of the garden.  (The English Roses and Noisettes in the Barn Garden are particularly nice.)  

Weekend Roses and an Announcement

Weather was glorious here in Hartwood over the long Labor Day weekend. The rain and wind from Tropical Storm/Hurricane/Post-tropical Cyclone Hermine stayed to our south and east, and temperatures were in the 70s and 80s for all three days ... perfect weather to slip on garden shoes and venture into the garden with my camera.  

Sit quietly, while I will bombard you with my photos from Sunday morning.

"Ruth's Tiny Polyantha"

"Lundy's Lane Yellow"

'Country Doctor'

'Pink Princess'

'Cupid'

'Prosperity'

'Joan Taylor'

"Maggie"

"Unrootable Red China"

'Homere'

"Cato's Cluster"

'Mme. Antoine Mari'

'Rhode Island Red'

'Teasing Georgia'

Unknown Noisette

'The Squire'

"Hollywood Pink Cluster"

'Marinette'

'Emmanuel'

'Tamora'

'Belle Story'

'Dorothy Rose'

"Mableton Rouletii"

"St. Thomas China"

Unknown Floribunda

"Sumerduck Cemetery"

'Tagalong'

'Lafter'

'Patty Lou'

'Fair Molly'

'Fresh Pink'

Without too much searing heat and with adequate rain this summer, and with my renewed promise to myself to pay better attention to the fertilizer and fungicide needs of the garden, my roses look better than they probably ever have.  Even though many of them are babies, either relatively newly planted or recovering from transplanting or renewal pruning, it looks as if I may finally be on the right track with most of the garden ... fingers crossed.

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... and now for the announcement part of this post ....

Want to come see the progress for yourself and support a great cause in the process?  On Sunday, September 25, 2016, 11am - 5pm, we are hosting Greyhounds Rock Fredericksburg's annual fundraiser, "Roses, Wines, and Canines" ... a day-long event with food, wine tastings with Baccus (our guest winery) and at Hartwood Winery next door, raffles and auctions, vendor market, tours of the rose garden and vineyard, and educational presentations ... on our historic property in its lovely country setting.  This is a dog-friendly event, and everyone is encouraged to bring their leashed, well-behaved canine friends.  Admission is $25 per person (children under 12 are free).  Please click HERE to register in advance, so we can plan as accurately as possible, but walk-ins are welcome.  (Just so you know, my fall schedule is completely packed, and this will be the only day this year that the garden is available for visitors.)

The Front Hybrid Tea Garden

This garden of classic Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses is in our front yard.  I designed it in the fashion of rose gardens in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with roses planted close together in beds that are cut into the turf.  Until last week, it looked absolutely horrible ... overgrown, neglected roses, choked with weeds.  Since I'm riding this wave of motivation, this garden was the next one in my sights.

It looked like this while I was creating it in 2008. 

 

 

Spring 2009 was glorious.

 

 

 

My energy has been elsewhere for the most part in the years since then, and the weeds moved in.  You don't notice them so much while the roses are blooming ...

 

 

 

... or when a lovely fog moves in.

 

 

 

I don't have graphic, ugly "Before" photos of the weeds as they were before my friend Robert and I got to work on them last Thursday morning.  Trust me, it was a horrible situation.  It took the two of us most of the day, but we succeeded in getting three of the four beds in this garden cleared out.

 

 

 

It is now up to me to finish the job.  I raked the beds and applied Preen, to prevent the latent weed seeds in the soil from germinating.  (I can barely imagine how many seeds must be in this soil.  Crabgrass, Wild Violets, Poke Weed, etc., sprout almost immediately in any bare patches of ground.)  Landscape fabric was the next step.

 

 

 

By the end of the day yesterday, I had one whole bed mulched and completely finished and another bed was covered in landscape fabric and ready for mulch.

 

 

 

My goal for today is to try to get the rest of this load of mulch out of the back of my truck.  There is not enough in there for me to finish the second bed ... that's okay, I will get more mulch this weekend.  (For now, I need an empty truck so I can make a run to Lowes to get some materials to have on hand to can work on the Shack when I get the opportunity.)

 

Fighting the war, one weed at a time.  It feels good to be making progress ... keeps my energy up to continue with the battle.

 

Let's Go To Rick's House to See His Garden

My friend Rick has the the best managed rose garden I know.  He chooses his rose varieties carefully, plants them well, cares for them perfectly, and they always look beautiful.

The archway that leads to Rick's rose garden.

Cajun Sunset

Hybrid Tea

Rick's house is on a quarter-acre lot, in a wooded subdivision.  His backyard is the only place with enough sunshine to grow roses.  When people tell me that they don't have the room to grow roses, I use Rick as an example.  He has at least 150 roses, all of which are in his back and side yard.

I know he's going to blush when he reads this, but I'm going to say it anyway.  I consider Rick to be one of the driving forces behind my own rose addiction.  He is one of the most generous people EVER ... always ready to share his knowledge, experience, and techniques to help others grow roses successfully.  Get me going, and I may even use the word 'mentor' ... perhaps, more than once.

Pink Simplicity

Shrub rose

 Poulsen's Pearl

Floribunda

Rick is an active Master Gardener, a Certified Rosarian, and an accredited Rose Judge, with tons of rose show trophies and ribbons to his credit.  He also works full time, fishes whenever he gets the chance, and maintains this beautiful garden by himself.

There's no way to pigeon-hole Rick OR his garden.  He loves modern Hybrid Tea roses, and he loves the lovely, fragrant Old Garden Roses just as much.

Marilyn Monroe

Hybrid Tea

Marie Pavie

Polyantha

I think Rick has won the Dowager Queen trophy in the Colonial District shows (the top award for an Old Garden Rose) more times than anyone else!

Champneys' Pink Cluster

Noisette

Reve d'Or

Tea Noisette

I stopped by Rick's house last Thursday while he was at work, to leave him a lotus for his pond.  I had my camera with me, of course, so I could spend time taking pictures of his beautiful roses.  It was a bright sunny day ... which is good for the roses, but bad for taking decent photos. Some of his loveliest roses were in brilliant sunshine, which made getting good photos of them completely impossible. 

I darkened this photo a bit, and the other ones that show large expanses of his garden, to tone down the bright glare from the sunshine.

Monarch butterfly on Buddleia

(I didn't do anything to this one.  It was perfect as is.)

Kimberlina

Floribunda

Rick and I also share a love of cars, along with our love of roses.  He has a new Mustang, I have an old Mustang, and we both used to own old Corvettes. 

He and I are going to a rose society picnic in a little while.  I thoroughly enjoy his company, no matter where we are or what we're doing, it's always a good time!

Have a great Sunday!

Connie