Welcome! And I love the blousy look. Your pictures are marvelous.

Love the heart shaped bushes and the intermingled roses on the wall.

Lovely! Thanks for posting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

I am a newbie, and I love the photos! Thank you!

Photos are a great way to see what people do with roses, I particularly like seeing the whole bushes, because most of the rose pictures you see are of just the flower, which doesn't give as good a feel for how they'll look in the garden.

I like the blowzy look too.

Beautiful!!!

Gorgeous roses! Welcome to the forum. I look forward to seeing more photos and hearing from you.

Joanne

How wonderful that you've joined us. Your roses and garden are lovely. I hope we'll hear from you often with many more pictures to follow. I think the cross pollination of ideas and roses from people from other countries is wonderful, not only educational but fun! Welcome to our forum.

Warm regards,

Ingrid

What are the roses in the last photo? Love the purple and scarlet rose...

Daun

I'm happy you joined us and shared your lovely roses.
How lucky to have a hubby who shares you love of roses.

That heart shaped picture is delightful.

Don't you just love the fragrance of Zeffy------A welcome sight and smell after winter.

Again----welcome and please keep posting

Also welcome to Mr Darcy-

Florence/zeffyrose

WELL! What a lovely gift to us on this spring day!

(Well, in SoCal, it's brightly sunny, and rather hot.)

I think we all love hearing about what's going on with roses in all parts of the world, so keep it coming.

Jeri

Welcome! Lovely garden, beautiful roses. (And I like the online name you use, too.)

Rosefolly

How beautiful! You must continue to post! Thank you for sharing your lovely blooms, they are so pretty!
jenn

Hi, MayBee. Welcome! Love your roses and your photos. If that's what blousy is, then I love blousy! Wonderful colors! I'm in Zone 9 also. Do you have a dry or humid climate?

Great having you! Keep posting those photos.

Sherry

Hello again, and thank you all for making me feel so welcome ... I will certainly post more pictures now you've got me started! Sorting through my photos is what has kept me going through the winter without losing my mind!!

Jennie, I completely agree that seeing the whole bush is so useful, you also get to see the setting and the companion plants that make the roses even more beautiful. However, I also take tons of closeups, after all the flower is what sells us in the first place and with some roses, the petals have a certain quality, you can almost smell them!

Ingrid, I love that term "cross pollination of ideas"!

Daun, the deep pink rose at the top is the Austin Gertrude Jekyll. Here she is by herself:

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The purple and scarlet flowers are actually Sweet William. They all came out of one packet of seeds, the only snag is you never know what colours you're going to get. You can see them better in this different view of the "yellow bed" (the roses here are Claudia Cardinale, a Rosa Generosa by Guillot, and Molineux - top right):

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and of the "blush bed" (the large bush is Andre' le Notre, a HT with heavily damask-perfumed, gigantic flowers, the smaller bush with the apricot flower facing us is another Guillot Generosa called Veronique B, this one smells of almonds and marzipan!)

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Florence, I adore Zeffy, the scent, the colour. Some people don't like the bloom shape, but I find it charming.

Jeri, it was sunny here too, but far from hot. Last year we had temps in the 80's in the second half of April, today it barely got to 66F!

Rosefolly, I like your online name, too!

Sherry, the climate in this part of the Gironde can be humid, as we are on the Atlantic coast, but "normally" the summers are hot and very sunny. Last year (and this month for sure) have been unusually wet.

Thanks again, Buford, Happy, Ronda, Mr. Darcy, Joanne and Jenn for the kind words.

MayBee

Your photos are just plain breathtaking.......I love the other flowers you've chosen to go with your roses too........and I really liked the "heart shaped" combo of Zephy and the Mme Pereira....Very nice. I got some Zephy's myself but they're kinda young, only two years old.

Paul from Alabama

Here is a link that might be useful: Young Zephy's

Lovely photos - so glad you are joining in the fun!

I was thinking, after spending time with French and New Zealanders at the HRF symposium, what a joy it is to get acquainted with people in other countries, united in our love of roses. As a child, I wanted to have pen pals in other countries, and corresponded with girls in Japan, Sweden and England. The problem was that we really had nothing in common. Now, I chat on-line with people from all over the world, and we genuinely share an interest. My childhood dream has come true!
Anita

Daer MayBee. Thank you for sharing the lovely pictures. What a good idea, to combine Zephrine and Mme. Isaac. I notice that the foliage on your roses appears to be extremely healthy. What is your secret? Please, do tell?

Is it fertilization, or spraying, or a combination, or do you spend hours clipping off spotted leaves?

Tres beau!

Bienvenue Maybee. I have visited your country several times and love it, but I have only been mostly to Alsace and Paris.

Keep sharing those photos.

You are very kind about my pictures but all the credit must go to the roses. How could I fail when there is such beauty in the garden? Actually it was quite a joke with my husband as I used to take terrible photos, while getting rather decent results with my home videos. But with digital cameras the pressure is off, you can take 30 shots of everything and there is bound to be a good one!

Paul, your garden is so amazingly manicured, and I love the roses on swags and the metal structures, so elegant!! If these are recent photos, you are well ahead of us, our Zeffy hasn't bloomed yet.

Anita, I enjoyed your accounts of the HRF symposium and the gorgeous photos, you must have had a ball! It's true that a shared interest can bring together people from very different backgrounds, and we all benefit from the exchange of ideas. I'm happy to know someone whose dreams have come true!

Nastarana, I passed the compliments over to my DH ... it's really his garden, I'm just the photographer and helper. His "secret" if any, is using a lot of horse manure, well rotted as a top dressing, and stacked with other kitchen and garden refuse to make compost. He only sprays for maladies if it's absolutely essential and only the plants that need it. Last year Zeffy got a bit of mildew (she's in a shady spot) so he applied advice from this forum and blasted the leaves with water from the hose for a few days. It worked!

Merci bien, Veilchen, actually France is my "adopted" home, I have never been to Alsace and my French is atrocious! I am Italian, born and bred in Rome, but have travelled and lived abroad for many many years.

And now I have to go to sleep, it's after midnight here. Bonne nuit!!

MayBee

MayBee, your photos are absolutely gorgeous. Not only are the pictures fun to see, but they supply all of us ideas for companion plants. Thanks for sharing.

MayBee,

Lovely photos! And it's good to hear from rose fans in Europe!

Melissa

Maybee, Welcome.

I so enjoy seeing your pictures. It is obvious that lots of love goes into your garden, and I'm sure it gives you joy in return.

I for one love droopy blooms, I think they are charming.

Carol

Nearlywild, I have just looked at your Reve d'Or and am speechless. What a magnificent garden you have created! It's exactly the look and feel I would love to have when my garden "grows up". Thanks for showing us!

Melissa, thank you. I have been following your garden developments with great interest. Are you getting more rain this year? I never knew that the area near Piacenza could be that hot and dry, just shows you how ignorant one can be about one's own country! Although, I must say, the weather has been odd lately.

Carol, you are very perceptive. This garden is important to us. After years of apartment living, it's a joy to spend so much time with the roses. And the birds! We have such a variety and it seems there are more every day. I was looking at the first blooms of Roseraie de l'Haye today, yes I too love those droopy things!

MayBee