Wednesday, June 18, 2008

a fine pink mess

Bee asked me for some photos of my pink roses, but this did not turn out well at all. Sideways shots, and blurry ones, and ones I am not sure who they are, and others who seem to be missing. Garden party isn't blooming at the moment, but I know I took photos of both Tiffany and Bliss, et. cetera, so where are...oh well anyway.

glamis castle - sometimes center leans toward pink, but not so in this photo

I don't know the name, also not sure which of my roses it is, it is one of 4, either one of two groundcover ones, or one of two teas.

shropshire lad (for a small peach bed, newly started this year/not yet matted or mulched, but it seems to be leaning to the pink) bedmates, include The shepherdess, Mary Magdalene, and St. Cecilia.)

some climber I bought for breast cancer (she needs something to climb on. Plus I think the photo is sideways :) )

memorial day

janet

Geoff Hamilton ( I think, one is, the other should be Sharifa Asma) Both are still just wee lads, about a foot high.


Peace

Heritage ( I assume. I know them in their beds, but in photos get them mixed up)

Tiffany (or perhaps this photo is of Bliss)

whisper- white rose, sometimes pink in center, and splattered pink as time wears on)

eglantine (sideways photo)

Sceptre d' Isle and Queen of Sweden are not yet in bloom, as I just planted them this year, one from own root, the other bare root.
Oh and my flower garden is not big, mostly just planted in and around the landscaping (though I did gain a little more space last year when the juniper groundcover died). I'll see if I can find (take) a pleasing shot of the scope to show.

**must be Bliss, some Tiffany is blooming today, and they are quite vibrantly hued.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

What a gorgeous, beautiful rose garden you must have. I would love to walk in it and sniff the air, which I feel sure would carry on it, the scent of rose blossoms. Sigh, just lovely.

Taffiny said...

Vanilla,

sometimes it truly is lovely, but there is also something sort of wild about it, rambly, unkept seeming, and always half falling ( to some insect, or fungus, or whatever) and then reaching back to take a final stand late summer/early fall, they survive.
The beds are still quite young, and I still have a lot to learn about tending to them, hopefully in time we will thrive.

My favorite part is when I water them on a windy day, and the scented mist comes back and settles over my body.

I hope soon you will find yourself walking through just such a scented garden (only nicer than mine :) )

Bee said...

I'm sorry that I'm so late to the rose show! I've not been to my computer much lately, due to birthday parties galore -- not to mention rose demands! We had a hard rain on Saturday followed by blustery wind on Sunday, and I have been doing lots of deadheading and other tidying.

It is interesting to compare roses! I very much enjoyed your beautiful pictures.

We don't have many roses in common -- although I do have Eglantyne and Glamis Castle and The Shepherdess (three of those, new this year). For some reason, my Winchester Cathedrals are a lot healthier than my Glamis Castle, though. My Eglantyne is quite "faded" in color. In pinks I also have a Mayflower (very healthy, but slightly too bright a pink for my taste), The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild, Jacques Cartier (lovely, neat foliage), Brother Cadfael (smells divine; lovely dusty pink), Queen Mother, Jubilee Celebration (pinky gold; HUGE blooms), and Penelope. My very favorite, though, is The Generous Gardener -- which has beautifully glossy, healthy foliage, a gorgeous smell, and the most delicate pale pink blooms. I have three new climbers of this one and I'm really excited about it.

A friend sent me David Austin's book on English roses. It makes me so covetous!

Thank you for fulfilling my request!

Taffiny said...

Bee,

You have me most interested in the Generous Gardner,
and I have thought about getting Brother Cadfael, if my roses fair well this year, perhaps then I should add one of those next year.

:)

Bee said...

When did you start putting in roses?

We put in a few climbers about 9 years ago . . . then moved away for 5 years. I put in about 10 roses last summer, and probably 30 or so this summer.

There are a few gnarly old hybrid tea roses (from some previous unknown owner) that I want to remove. I don't like the overbright colors.

BTW, do you know the Penelope rose? It is supposed to be pale pink with a pale yellow center, but I've just planted a hedge of them and some of are blooming quite peachy!

Taffiny said...

Bee,

No I don't know Penelope, but she sounds lovely, with her pale pink and the yellow in the center. I have a shropshire lad that is more pink (deep) than peach. I don't think they bother to read their own labeling. I have left the photo marker with one of my roses, in hopes of inspiring her to reach for that color, but she has no interest, she will be as she pleases.

Oh really I just started last year. We have lived here about 4 1/2 years. I put in two the first year, when those didn't die I added two more...then I convinced Bob to let me dig out the barberry in the front landscaping, and I planted about 7 roses there. Then last year the juniper died, in the front landscaping bed, and we (mostly me) had to dig all that out, and suddenly I had more room for roses. All together I have about 35 roses.

Bob throws a fit whenever I start turning over sod("Oh you are making so much work, you are going to kill me. I already have so much to do." " I am not spending anymore money on anymore plants, or on dirt!") I am only to plant in the landscaping beds that were here when we moved in, which is why I get so pleased about taking out barberry and juniper ground cover (which is perfectly nice) dies.

I did however start two little floating beds down by the bottom of the driveway (last summer, and expanded them this spring), which he admits he likes. And last spring I extended two little floating, in the yard, hydrangeas and one butterfly bush, connecting them into a purple perennial bed (with three roses, et. cetera), and then extended that bed down the driveway a bit last fall. I started a teeny tiny peach bed this year to keep the patio company. It is a bit of war of wills though. As Bob really does get upset. Not angry, yelling upset, but acts like I am doing him harm, whiny, "why are you doing this to me?" upset. He doesn't do anything to tend to the beds, but he worries about them, the up-keep, the weeding, the matting, the mulching, the this and the that, apparently it is all very distressing to him.

I will probably only add three roses next year, and A Beauty of Moscow lilac.

I do realize that he is right on one count. The count of time. That my garding hobby, combined with my domestic stuff, does take time away from what I say I want to be doing- writing. He says if I want to be a writer, I need to spend time every day writing, and stop digging holes all over the yard, and buying plants, because it will keep taking time and energy to tend them once they are in the ground, and then I wont have anytime to write.