Only Christmas roses here so far.

Cath

Azaleas bloomed in December and are over. Chickasaw plums are almost over. Crepuscule is covered in buds, but very few are open. Belinda's Dreams in full sun are flushing, but others are not. L. Phillipe hedge is in full bloom as is Mrs. R.M. Finch, but others are not. We are very, very dry also, but got 7/10 inch yesterday. Larkspur are busting out all over, but my other annuals are not. We are supposed to freeze Sunday night.

Even before the buds become blooms, there is so much beauty to see. I love the sight of fresh leaves and slowly swelling buds. And so many of my tea roses have burgundy baby leaves and stems. I don't prune in the winter (just some in summer for size or shape) so many of our roses don't take much of a winter rest. Instead they really enjoy the wet season (if we have rain) and don't mind what we think of as the "cool" weather.

I am enjoying all the white Icebergs on the terraces in the lower garden (where the chickens rule the plantings) Sadly our little unknown pink..has discovered rust!

No roses, yet here in the Dallas area, but new growth is budding out all over! It's awfully early for us, usually February brings the ice, sleet and snow, so hope for the best. BUT, my camellia bush is starting to bloom, and it's gorgeous!!

Only thing blooming around here is inside the house, lol! But I like knowing that it's already spring out there some where because that means it will be here soon too!

I have a grocery store mini with one pink bloom on it and very fragrant potted hyacinth blooming on the window sill!

I think it's spring here too ... we have not had snow storms, wind storms, ice storms, barely any winter at all so far. The tulip and daffodil foliage have poked through and many leaf buds are showing on the roses. One small purple crocus. There was blue sky and sun for the first time in weeks, maybe months. Heavenly day, it felt so good to see a sunny sky.

And I've run out of old pictures to look through, and am so ready for another year of gardening.

There is a pile of snow on SdlM which looks like Elvis.

My roses are leafed out, my tulips are coming up, and my hyacinth and daffodils and crocus are blooming.My spanish bluebells and another bulb I can't recall are peaking their heads up. And much to my dissatisfaction we are getting snow today GRRRR , which is rare for us! My kids are excited, wish I can say the same :(

I live at about 1700 feet so everything is slower to begin here, but some, such as Sophy's Rose and Souvenir de la Malmaison have never stopped. Miss Atwood and Rosette Delizy also have blooms and Mutabilis is just beginning. Right now I'm just enjoying the beginning new leaf growth, especially on the baby roses, which I can't wait to see in bloom for the first time this spring.

Ingrid

Bella Roma is way ahead of the pack. The rest of the rose garden is either fully or just starting to leaf out. But Bella Roma is blooming with 3 fat, gorgeous and fragrant blooms. She knew I needed an early rose in bloom!

Ah, but the camellias. They are the stars right now, and I've added a handful of them. Pink Perfection is covered with blooms, Tom Knudsen is starting to bloom, with him and Magnoliaeflora and Margie and Taylor's Perfection covered in fat buds about to explode. The Sasanqua's have been in bloom for a few months now and are about done, so between the Sansanquas and Japonica's I now have color all year and am a happy camper.

Tazetta daffodils are the stars here, the paperwhites finished but the Golden Dawns newly opened and lovely. Perle d'Or is in full bloom, and Marie Pavie as well, but this is a winter phenomenon, not a harbinger of spring. MP is winding down a flush that began back in December. I do see some scattered bloom over the garden, one or two here and there, but other than that, it is the newly emerging fresh green leaves that brighten the rose canes. Here in the San Jose area we've had just a trace under 8 inches of rain so far in the 2012-2013 rain season. With rain predicted on Tuesday I'm hoping we'll have a reasonable rainfall before the rainy season ends. I hope so. I planting trees and roses both this year, and they will benefit from as much rain as can be had. The water that falls from the sky is better than the water than flows from the hose.

Rosefolly

Rosefolly, it's good to know that Marie Pavie is a winter bloomer for you as well. This is why I am so loathe to winter prune in our milder winter climate zones - we'd miss such treats!

I pruned Marie Pavie early, before Thanksgiving, and Perle d'Or not long after that. No matter when you prune MP in our climate it immediately sets about preparing a new flush. However, if you don't prune it at all, it gets enormous. I would guess it would grow to about six feet by six feet. MP was one of the first roses I planted, and I did not know this back then, so I sited them (a pair) in a spot where this would not be an advantage. If you have it where this does not matter, I suppose you could let it go. I prune mine down to about four by four or slightly smaller and it grows back to about five by five once or twice a year. Perel d'Or I just shape lightly as a hedge. There are eight of them lining the edge of my back patio. It would easily grow even larger.

Rosefolly

The only rose blooming here at the moment is the no-name climbing pink china, but it blooms 12 months of the year, so that doesn't really count. Not even flower buds, yet, but lots of swelling leaf buds, especially with the recent warm spell.

Though only starting to bloom, the common purple sweet violet (Viola odorata) is already filling the air with glorious scent. Carries through the whole yard. As I trudge along with winter yard clean-up, that is very up-lifting.

~Debbie

I forgot to mention that several of the cranesbill geraniums are blooming, two in particular. One is a gorgeous saturated blue-violet and the other a deep pink-violet with dramatic darker veins. I used to wonder how people could forget the names of roses they had planted but I have done the same with my geraniums. Once the tags when astray I no longer knew what I had. I do remember one or two, but most are lost. Also getting ready to bloom is my favorite heuchera, a very robust older pink-flowering variety called 'New La Rochette'. If you find it somewhere, do not hesitate to add this excellent plant to your garden. There is also a pretty little green-leaved and white-flowered heuchera starting to bloom. It came with the garden when we moved here 18 years ago so I have no idea what it is called, but it blooms for months and months. The newer heucheras with colorful leaves are useful plants, but it is too bad to see the older ones fall by the wayside.

Rosefolly

Ha,ha, ha harryshoe. You have me beat. Let's see, there are the dead tops of perennials with some green beneath, and a whole bunch of garden debris and leaves that blew in over winter. It's a lovely sight! Diane

Rosefolly, good to hear about a robust heuchera. I love them but have not had so much success with them here, except Heuchera maxima. But, to clarify, the only "La Rochette" I'm finding on the web is 'Old La Rochette' -- is that your variety? I see Calflora nursery up in Fulton has that one, which would be great as I often drop by there when I go to Santa Rosa.

I'm planting a Perle d'Or today and hope it blooms early, like yours.

Debbie

Nothing much happening on the rose front.....apart from delicious and abundant new growth on Mutabilis. Once this rose starts to flower, it will also defoliate with cruel blackspot, but right now, it is looking astounding. If it never blossomed at all, I would be undeterred since it is, without doubt, the loveliest foliage plant in the entire spring garden. The garden is awakening though - snowdrops and hellebore buds, fat with promise. Mostly though, the perennials are poking through the soil with an array of green leafage (so many shades and textures) while anisodontea (flowered all winter) and early auriculas are colourful jewels in the greenhouse. I love this moment of stillness when everything is potential, existing mainly in my febrile imagination, quivering with life and fecundity. The soil seems to tremble with indrawn breath, just waiting for the tiniest spark to light the life fuse.

Grief, getting a bit overly dramatic and up myself - please forgive - this time of year seems to kickstart a storm of pretentious, but ever so sincere waffling. Obviously, I need to do something earthy, sweaty and exhausting instead of trilling away on the keyboard.

Debbie, I had the name wrong. Old La Rochette it is. Wonderful heuchera. I know you will love it.

Rosefolly

My brilliant yellow crocus are finishing up, a dark blue hyacinth is blooming and others are about to. Narcissus are about 4" tall so far, so on their way. No grape hyacinth yet, don't know where they've gone. All my bearded iris have leaves about 1 - 4 inches tall, all rhizomes firm! Hope they all bloom this year; last year they were all newly planted and only about a third of them did. I bought a beautiful brilliant orange called China Dragon that I'm REALLY hoping pops at least one bloom this year. My yellow freesias are looking hopeful, maybe this year they'll have scent?! I'd love to know why some years they do and some years they don't, when it's the same stupid bulbs every year.

Roses - Cl Cecile Brunner has new foliage starting to show, it's about an inch long. Most of the rest have a few new leaves, but aren't really starting anything magic yet. All my little grocery store minis have brilliant red new foliage, but no buds yet. The only bud in my yard is one lone Monsieur Tillier, which actually flowered all winter long here in the redwoods, but the flowers got frost bit each and every time, so I clipped them off. Madam Alfred Carrier has new growth coming in, inspite of being in complete shade this time of year. I just got my bareroots from Regan last Saturday, and they're both planted. Rock & Roll looks like it has a bad case of red pimples; the new growth buds aren't even 2 mm long, but I can see where they're going to be - and there's lots of them! Golden Celebration is still all bare and nekkid, but the canes are beautiful green, and the roots looked great. What I'm pretty sure is Dr Huey is bare up to the top of its 4-5 foot canes, and doesn't actually look any better than it did before I chopped it way back last year. I think I'm going to either dig it out (depending on how my back holds out, and how hard the dirt is...) or chop back again this year, to be able to plant something more my taste that can handle the fairly deep shade I'm stuck with there.

I have two fuchsia babies coming from The Earthworks up in Covington, WA, and they should be here Wednesday. They'll go in some of the many many shady areas I have.

I have a few that are blooming already, because they didn't really stop. Most of the hybrid teas and whatnot are still leafing out. Thought I'd brighten the thread up a bit! :)

Archduke Charles
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A.C. is really blooming like crazy right now.
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Miss Atwood
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Maggie
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Wm R Smith
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Lady Hillingdon
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Madame Scipion Cochet- I had to grab this bloom and pull it down for the picture. Tall, sort of lanky plant.
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Old Gay Hill Red China
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Leveson Gower
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Trinity
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Louis XIV
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Louis XIV- with some frost
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SdLM
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And not antique, but...

Belinda's Dream
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Easy Does It
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Camp, you are simply too funny. Love your faffing about on your keyboard.

Brittie,
Your photos are beautiful. Louis XIV is especially intriguing. Have you considered posting some of your photos in the rose alphabet on the Rose Gallery? Thanks for posting and giving us in the cold zones a lift in winter. Diane

I'm quite genuinely grateful for this thread. I had thought there was not really much blooming in my garden beyond weeds such as bitter cress and oxalis. But now that I am looking I see vignettes of scattered bloom all over the place. To the ones I have already listed, add fuschia, cyclamen, and hellebores under the redwoods, and on the back fence roses Stanwell Perpetual and one of my favorites, Crepuscule. Very likely I would not have paid close attention had this not have been in my mind. Then how much I would have missed!

Rosefolly

Thanks Diane! I might have to do that. :)

Gorgeous photos, brittie! I have to get a Miss Attwood...

And rosefolly, thanks for the additional info on Marie Pavie. I had thought she would remain a much smaller rose (those numbers listed in the catalog never hold true for Calif., do they?)

Linda

brittie, thank you for the gorgeous rose show this morning! My Leveson-Gower is much more of a deep pink for me. I also have SdlM, Miss Atwood, Belinda's Dream, Lady Hillingdon (the climbing form) and William R. Smith. We have such good taste! Louis XIV is stunning with that gorgeous deep color.

Ingrid

I love Brittie's pics. Thanks for posting them here.

I was very late pruning Sombreuil and had to cut some blooms off of him. There are still a few though.
Archduke Charles doesn't know the seasons, it has flowered with full flushes, all through the winter.
Teasing Georgia has started flowering. Gruss an Aachen and Abraham Darby are budding up.
Colombian Climber, Blush Noisette and Lady Emma Hamilton have also bloomed all winter.
Archduke Joseph is flowering.

Archduke Joseph yesterday.{{gwi:231051}}

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Colombian Climber yesterday.

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Lady Emma Hamilton yesterday.

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A few photos from my garden yesterday.

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All the almond and other fruit trees are blooming in the neighbourhood. They look gorgeous against the blue sea, or the silver foliage of the olive groves.
The wild anemones, started blooming just before Christmas. They are still blooming all along the roadsides.

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Daisy

Lovely pictures Daisy. You have made beautiful and extensive use of pots in your garden which is so appropriate in your Mediterranean setting. I really wonder how you find the time to take care of your many plantings, in and out of pots.

Ingrid

Daisy,

If you only knew how long and how hard I have tried to grow Anemone coronaria. What a joy to see it blooming freely! (Stubborn? Only a little).

Cath

Ingrid, Leveson Gower is usually darker for me also. I guess it's weather, or temps that's making it seem more pale. I have two in different locations, and they're both the lighter color right now. Weird! I almost didn't post it, because it doesn't look "normal," but oh well.

Daisy, I love that anemone and Lady Emma Hamilton. Can't wait for mine to get back to blooming!

Yep, I am sulking about those anemones too. So many failed attempts, soaking tubers, not soaking, planting in spring, in autumn, in pots (in various mixes) in the ground - EPIC FAIL. At best, a few plants will put out a healthy leaf or so and then it will gradually flop about and maybe a dwarfish flower (of dull white) may even appear. Every other anemone, piece of cake, have loads of 'em......but I want THAT one.
Trying to be gracious about your climate (your lovely garden helps). How long have you been cultivating your patch? It always looks very comfortable in the landscape, as though it has evolved over many years.

So beautiful, Daisy. Campanula is right. It looks like you have been developing your landscape for many years with everything coming together so well. I would love to live where the roses bloom all year and anemones grow wild. Heaven! Diane

The real trouper, these past couple of months, has been 'G. Nabonnand.' It just keeps blooming. It is, I think, approaching real maturity, and it's been great.

The other thing that really pleases me is that "Orange Smith," (which seems to be a sport of 'Archduke Charles,' with fewer petals) has begun to spread and grow and look like an adult. He is setting buds, and I'm looking forward to enjoying him.

Jeri

I had some big yummy Abraham Darby blooms and a large W. Shakespeare 2000 just before the cold rain came. Ambridge Rose seems to always have something. Old Blush has a nice cycle of bloom going on as well.

Thank you, Daisy, for those awesome pics.. Your garden is beautiful like a nursery - a real treat for my Chicagoland winter. We are in low 20's with snow. Columbian climber is thornless, I can't wait to get that one.

I love Jeri's Orange Smith and Daisy's Archduke Joseph. Thanks for those pics.

Beautiful photos!

Here the stars of winter are the Aloes. Some of the roses go on and on, Mrs. B. R. Cant, Sombreuil, Easy Does It I wish would stop and take a rest. It's nice to have an alternative star to the roses for a couple of months. I thought it would be the Camellias, but the Aloes are far better. It's fun to watch a cloud of bees around them, and the hummingbirds fight over them non-stop. I'm happy the bees and hummers have a good food source at this time of year. Some of the Aloes have bright orange pollen and the bees end up with these brilliant orange spots on their pollen collector areas.

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Rosefolly:

Do you have whole bush picture of Marie P. and Perle dOr? I have them both in my pot ghetto, got them two season ago from Vintage. Like to see their growth habit in San Jose are before I find them suitable place to plant permanently.

Many Thanks for South Bay,
FJ

Last week SDLM, Louis Philippe, Clotilde Soupert, Rosette Delizy, Mme Lombard were blooming, and Mrs B R Cant had lots of buds. Then I dispassionately pruned MBRC & LP, and then we had a freeze, and today I pruned CS. SDLM is just a mess. Tomorrow is her day. It was all so lovely for a while, but February here is a month of elation and dread and then heartbreak. I handled it better this year, no depression but not much cane damage either. The new growth had had some time to harden off except for the tips.

I love your photos, Brittie and Daisy.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...