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Soozie Q, zone 10b

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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes 3 comments on a discussion: Leap into Spring with Us - Seasonal Thread
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Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)

Speaking of hawk moths, just got this on Friday!


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berrypiez6b

Magpie, spectacular and so original to have a moth tattoo instead of the usual butterfly. When we lived in Tonasket on a pristine mountain, the insect life grew so big it looked prehistoric. The side of the farmhouse with a porchlight was covered with large beautiful moths, they were astonishing. The big white furry moths are my favorite.

I hope my nasturtiums will draw some hummer customers .


Salmon Baby nasturtium I ordered , last year all my baby plants died and my gardening confidence is a little shaken . I'm going to plant these in a protected pot.

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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)


This big guy visits my garden often. He is the size of a big bumblebee, works fast & furiously, and is very fuzzy. I have always called him Teddy Bee. Yesterday I decided to look up his real name and he actually is a Teddy Bear Bee!


Kitty,

How to order from Kitty’s Rare Roses LLC?! Imagine a new rose business that actually sends plants. I really can’t fathom what that would be like.


Jim

I love the look of new grass.


Diane, I can always find an excuse not to clean house. Alas, I’m hosting Mother’s Day and the house won’t clean itself, the roses dont deadhead themselves, the food doesn’t cook itself, you get the idea.


Susan

Love the mottling on that Jean Giorno.

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Soozie Q, zone 10b started a discussion: Rose still sulking after pruning
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ElfRosaPNW8b

It blooms at the tips because it's a hybrid tea - they all do this. It is a very tall and vigorous rose, but there's nothing messy about the habit. It's a really, really nice rose. I'm guessing it resents hard pruning, though - I've seen some at the local nursery that have been hard pruned and they seem to take quite some time to recover.

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Soozie Q, zone 10b

I'll say it does, 5 months already. Sheez.


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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes 2 comments on a discussion: My Visit to the Huntington Library and Gardens
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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

The Rose Gardens contain over 4000 plants and easily the great number of varieties of anywhere that I’ve ever visited.



Outta the Blue and Jump for Joy. Jump for Joy always looks amazing here. Outta the Blue is the pre-cursor to Ebb Tide and and Twilight Zone.


Nicest plant of Barcelona I have ever seen.



A standard that is half Easy Does It, half Easy Going. I’ve seen these for sale before but never the mature plant, quite nice!


Some varieties are unique to The Huntington, this is San Marino Heritage which was named for the town where The Huntington actually resides.




These sturdy arbors house a variety of climbers. They are actually made from concrete and the wood bark details are carved by hand


There are also these super tall arches that house other climbers (where to get one, lol!) Beautiful greenery, big old trees surround the roses and everything is given meticulous care.

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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

The best part of the visit was spending time with my friend Tom who has been curator of the Rose Gardens for a decade. He was so generous with his time and knowledge not only of the roses, of course, but also the history of the gardens, its art pieces, and all the other gardens.



Tom and BenT and Tom’s beautiful bright orange kid, Chris Evert. (While we both spent many years in Texas, those are not cowboy hats, they are just to keep out the sun, the San Gabriel Valley was quite hot already!)

Some fun stories I was told about specific roses:



Barbra Streisand had promising new varieties sent to her home to try out before choosing the mauve grandiflora above that bears her name. Two of the varieties she tried and turned down were Moonstone (!) and Gentle Giant, she wanted a highly fragrant rose.



Careless Love is a rose that was promoted in the old Henry Field catalog for many years as ’wild in color, no two are the same’. A couple of rose breeders trying to name this variety while they were drinking when they discovered a feral cat had just had kittens, hence the name ’Careless Love’!


One of the major rose companies decided to have a naming contest for the rose pictured above. Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the original Batman, submitted her own name , and she won!

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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes a comment on a discussion: Should I give up on light purple roses?
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Diane Brakefield

Jemma, is this rose blue enough for you? Diane





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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes a comment on a discussion: Can anyone identify this guy insect that eats my Earth Angel?
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Echo_Texas_zone9a

If you have an iphone, you can take the photo of the insect, plant or bird - and at the bottom where that little ”i” is you click on it.



after you click on it this will pop up:



its identifying an insect and the guess is a rabid wolf spider.


This is not always correct but if you capture multiple clear images and they all say the same thing and it does look right when you click on the bold link and view the suggested insect then you may have some degree of certainty.


Also Andrea it does look like the dark flower scarabs that eat my roses in early spring. they move very slowly if at all and are easy to pick off and stomp on the ground. their hard shells are somewhat hard to squeeze. I remove them manually. they seem to go away on their own when the weather heats up.



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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes 3 comments on a discussion: My California Rose Garden 2024
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Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR

Great roses, Ben. I missed Elon.

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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

Sheila, Soozie

Elon is not allowed outside during front yard video making. He is always looking for a neighbor’s open front door or garage so he can zoom in, hoping to make new friends ,play fetch or get a treat. More than once I’ve had to knock on someone’s door and ask for my dog back.

Fetch? Anyone?

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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

Elon thanks everyone for the compliments! He wishes he could jump in his car and visit each of you in person and frolic in your garden. Alas, he is only 3, too young for a driver’s license, and must be relegated to the back in his doggy booster.


The garden is still looking nice and more roses are coming into bloom, so I am making videos for Part 3.



English Perfume



Capri


Chippendale


Perfume Factory



Gertrude

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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes a comment on a discussion: This May is Not Gray
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sylviaww 9a,hot dry Inland SoCal

Sorry for the textual errors.
Continuing: Huntingdon’s 100th/Life of the Party by the front door. Flamingo Dancer,mthe climber from Burlington Roses that amazes me every year: Lavender Veranda, which likes shade; and a close up of the Memorial Day bush.
Things of beauty, sources of joy.

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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes a comment on a discussion: Experiments and Orders
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Diane Brakefield

Love that cactus bloom, too. I never got a bloom from the cactus I grew years ago, but my granddaughter, Jemma, gets blooms from hers. We just grew our cactus in kitchen or bedroom windows. Diane


Currently, this giant bowl of succulents is existing in the garage. I'm hoping it will survive. I had a smaller bowl do fine in the garage over winter last year with zero water until it had warmed up, and I was hardening if off. I don't know if I'll have such luck this winter. These plants get no sun, either.




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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes 2 comments on a discussion: Scentuous is really lovely
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Soozie Q, zone 10b

Carla, I also got this rose in the HD coffin, it was on sale, leafed out & the tallest rose there so I snagged it. Mine bloomed already so no pics, but my blooms were on the small size. Very fragrant. Hopefully it'll bloom again soon.

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BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)




Scentuous today in my garden, both plant and bloom are very beautiful.

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Soozie Q, zone 10b likes 2 comments on a discussion: Sale season and the weak-willed
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Diane Brakefield

If you've got the space, I'd go for Crazy Love, especially at this price. I've always wanted that rose, but I'm out of space for larger roses. J&P is selling all their remaining roses for $25, plus $5 shipping, which is pretty good. I may buy today another Double Easy Orange, but it's a small rose. Diane

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sautesmom Sacramento

Wwhhhyyyyy are you telling me this? Can't you see how weak I am?

;)

Carla

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