I thought we could all take a walk around my yard. Yes, we'll go all the way around, but fear not, you'll be enjoying the air conditioning and not sweating a bit. Some of you may remember my January post of the front garden's beginning. Here's the link if you like before and after shots.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0116224716547.html?21

If you look hard in the bare spot, you'll see my smallest in-ground rose, LeVesuve, with 3 flowers (1 can be seen just above the Lirioppe.) The hardest part of the circle is keeping the St Augustine grass in bounds. I added bricks to the resin edging to give the mower something to ride on. It loves the rain!

{{gwi:212633}}

Up the driveway next to the daylily is a tiny Marie Daley. She has suffered through DH backing over her with the truck. That explains her size. Then African Daisy, elephant garlic & Marie Pavie.

{{gwi:212635}}

This is Mme Caroline Testout in a hurry to have something to climb on! And a gold daylily that was supposed to be light pink. But I like it now.

{{gwi:212637}}

Marie Pavie is looking good. I find that Pavie had been more BS resistant than Daley. Daley is bad, Pavie a little better. Then Purpurea, a single China that gets LOTS of yellow leaves. Used to to like it until it went into the garden. Then Cramoisi Superieur - pretty good, lots of flowers for such a tiny thing.

{{gwi:212639}}

Then 3 Hermosas looking really lovely without a speck of BS, starting to get bigger and leafy. Really pretty flowers.

{{gwi:212641}}

The big bush is Jean Bach Sisley, past his recent long flush but still blooming. Then Don Juan. Up the sidewalk is another Marie Pavie, big like the other one. Then a Daley, looking grungy like the other one. Then alternating Pink & original Gruss an Aachens. They have struggled, but are doing better, definitely showing signs of being prone to BS. One defoliated in the spring, so I live in 'constant fear'. They are still so small they don't show up well in photos.

{{gwi:212643}}

In front of the porch there is Parade, not a rampant climber at this point but I like the flowers. Rosemary planted in 100% sand to defeat the wet, doing well. Bubble Bath is in the middle, doesn't get much sun but is growing and has had one cluster of flowers. I love 'Aaron' caladiums. They match my house perfectly - the Florida perennial. And lots of milkweed but haven't seen any Monarchs.

{{gwi:212645}}

Don Juan on this side of the arbor, too. Then Valentine, tiny and no BS but lots of red flowers. Then Marie de Orleans, lots of flowers & put out a big cane right away. Purple coneflower, Florida Blue Lysianthus, I forget what the white mound is. The first trellis has Felicia on it - wonderful rose, growing & blooming well in big clusters. The next trellis has Francesca on it which was so healthy before the yardman next door sprayed RoundUp in the wind. I rinsed it off but not well enough, I guess. She's hanging on by a thread. Behind them is the mighty Monsieur Tillier, impressive of growth, abundant of flower but they're very small. Somehow I thought they were bigger than 1.5" across.

{{gwi:212646}}

Now this isn't as boring as it looks if you are a visionary. Later in the summer it will be a rebar tunnel for E. Veyrat Hermanos. It must be this summer because he will soon be too big for his pot. I figure 15' - 20' long and EVH will have no problem swallowing it up. At the end is a Pampas Grass which is coming out to make room for a rose. I think General Schablikine would go well there.

{{gwi:212647}}

Stepping into the backyard, pardon the hose and the mulchless path. That is the next thing on my list. Louis Philippe is in front of us and White Meidiland to the right. LP is in bloom but his small flowers are hard to see, WM was blooming like crazy, nice big clusters of heavy flowers.

{{gwi:212648}}

Now in that bed along the fence, my original rose bed. LP, then Belinda's Dream in the back, Natchitoches Noisette, Spice in the back, Old Blush, Carnation, Tiffany, Mrs B R Cant between the big, old oaks. A definite no-no. I try to feed & water her extra. She's on Fortuniana so maybe she can fend for herself. In the left foreground 2 beautiful azaleas that I rescued from too much sun and alkaline soil, so sick they didn't bloom this year. I love looking at them, so healthy now. Then a daylily, Purple Fountain Grass, Fortune's Double Yellow in the pot (what am I going to do this this one???), Purple Coneflower not yet in bloom, and the Duchesse de Brabant, my ugly duckling someday to be a gorgeous swan - they say.

{{gwi:212649}}

Here's the Duchesse again. You can't see her, but Jeri Jennings is to the left of DdB, still a baby.

{{gwi:212650}}

Looking a tad to the left now, here's City Girl on the right side of the rebar arbor and Tausendschon which blooms here from December to June on the left. The grass beyond is not mine (thank goodness!) but a retention area that our dogs enjoy. Someday I may expand the rose garden to the other side of it. They said I could! This usually shady bed (except early in the morning) has various hydrangeas in it and one rose - Arcadia Louisiana Tea, which is tolerating & blooming in the shade very well.

{{gwi:212652}}

Walking past the patio to the other side of my 60' wide x 30' deep backyard, 2 Pink Gruss an Aachen on the right. Serratipetula on the left in a pot. Straight ahead is Prosperity on a rebar teepee in his 2nd year, about to have another flush and doing much better than last year.

{{gwi:212653}}

Now we're looking back the other way. Another Louis Philippe blooming on the left. In front of us is a Cardinal Hume, right now blooming huge on its one long cane. The two pots on the patio are Chrysler Imperial. You just missed some beautiful blooms!

{{gwi:212654}}

Looking to the left is Prosperity, newly planted Mme Antoine Mari and Crepuscule on the arbor - someday.

{{gwi:212655}}

This is Maggie's bed next to the shed. Right at our feet is just-planted Rosette Delizy (Cramoisi Superieur used to be here), Purple Coneflower hogging space about to bloom, on the left is Maggie with one red flower left after her flush, doing better than I expected, another caladium (forget which). Back near the birdbath is a cutting of Belinda's Dream that I rooted (whoo-hoo!), top right corner is Smith's Parish, nice foliage but surprisingly small flowers - so far. Now we'll turn right to the "nursery".

{{gwi:212656}}

Someday in the 2 bare spots between the cannas will be Chromatella and Ley's Perpetual. Also planned are 4 big pots to sit on the right side of the gravel for Perle d'Or, LaSylphide, Comtesse du Cayla and and maybe Mme Abel Chatenay. They're in the nursery pots along with the climbers mentioned plus Reve d'Or (planned for the garage wall along the front sidewalk), Maman Cochet, Mutabilis, Pierre Gagnaire, and Noella Nabonnand.

{{gwi:212657}}

{{gwi:212659}}

I call her Big Mama but you know her as Maman Cochet Climbing and that she has! I built an 8'x12' trellis for her and gave her the arbor, too. She's been in the ground since the end of February - 4 months! If this is sleeping, what will creeping and leaping be? We only have 8' setbacks on the sides so I'm hoping she's a mannerly lady. But maybe I'll just have to be quick with the string!

{{gwi:212660}}

Well, that's the tour. I've really enjoyed showing you around. I hope you can come back when things are blooming more - and when it's not so HOT! But one thing's for sure, most of the digging is behind me. And it was all absolutely worth it!

Sherry