Descanso has a large, large rose garden, and the Huntington Library has a good one too. For roses, those would be the top two. They are also wonderful places to visit anyway. The roses should be looking pretty good.

Thanks, hoovb. I will put those on my list. I've seen many pix through your blog, so am excited to see them in person.

DEFINITELY Descanso Gardens. In fact, the whole place is neat. You'll love it.

And maybe we can work something out for the Stagecoach Inn's Heritage Rose Garden.

I just wish you were going to Sacramento!!

Jeri

You also would really enjoy a stop at a garden center. What they sell is so far from what you knew in Alabama and what you see in the Pacific Northwest. Just chatting with gardeners who are there is fun.

You do need to remember that blackspot is all but unknown in those parts; squelch the envy.

The Stagecoach garden ....the sizes and vigor and the amount of leaf retention (in the land that blackspot and other fungi forgot). The leaf retention was the unforgettable thing for me.

The other thing: In-n-Out burgers.

Ann, "squelch the envy" - lol, the envy will be for the amount of sun that shines down there. Although, I'm starting to like grey mist! And thanks for the other thoughts; great ideas. Stagecoach Inn sounds wonderful; I've always wanted to see it. One of my regrets in leaving Alabama is I never got up to Knoxville to meet you, either Ann.

Jeri, maybe we can just drive down and be in Sacramento on Saturday. I have always wanted to see that garden I've read so much about. I'll be in touch, and thank you for the invitation. If not, maybe we can visit a bit at the Stagecoach Inn. You designed that garden, if I am remembering right. I've been on this forum since 2006 so have known names for a lot of years; it will be so nice to put some faces with the names!

Thanks for the comments, ya'll.

Gean

Gean,
If you have any doubts about the Sacramento garden, put them away. It's my husband's favorite garden. Full stop. Other gardens are roses, lots of roses, but there's something about roses in a cemetery where the tombstones are interesting and where the roses grow (dare I say it) wantonly, and embrace the tombs. and give it a wonder and loveliness that just isn't anywhere else.

The cemetery in Denver has roses, but it's a lot larger and the roses are here, and then at 150' or so there's another one.

In Sacramento, it's a tapestry of roses. You MUST go.

(Totally OT, our boat is now in Florence, how's that for irony, Gean?)

Thanks, Ann, I am going to try my best to make the Sacramento garden event. I've missed seizing too many days, so don't want to add another to my list.

Did I mention I'm salivating??? Thanks, Gean

Gean are you saying you would drive down from home to Sacramento and then head down to LA?
I hope you can make it. Besides the garden(fabulous!) there are so many people to meet. I'll be there and so will Rosefolly(Paula) and Jeri. The Sacramento folks are wonderful. Please look for us if you go.
I was going to suggest going to the Getty near LA. The garden there is quite amazing.

Pam, yes, I think it will work out for me to drive down the 18th or 19th so I can be at the cemetery the 20th. It will be so much fun for me to meet all of you. Thank you for the warm invitation!

I'll put the Getty on my list for the next week, too. I'm looking forward to this, thank you! Gean

Turning green in Florida. Ann's description of the Sacramento garden is so lovely. Have fun and hugs to all.

Sherry

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

Gean----Your trip sounds wonderful --Lucky you to be
able to meet all our rose friends

Florence

I think this is simply FANTASTIC!!!

Open Garden is always my favorite day of the year -- and this is the cherry on the ice cream sundae!

Jeri

Sherry and Florence, I wish you could both come too... and everybody else ... it would be perfect, then.

We are trying to work out the logistics -- you all are putting together a good
case for a trip to Sacto. -Nancylee

Pam, are you suggesting the old Getty in Malibu, or the new Getty in Sepulveda Pass along the 405 in West LA? The new one is less than half an hour from me. Kim

Gean, if you come to the Sacramento Open Garden, please make sure that you say hello! I am always so busy - will be selling roses at the beginning of the day and then leading a tour at 1030 - but I would be really upset if you were there and I didn't get to put a face with your name.

Other GW people who will be there include fogrose (Diane), organictosca (Laura, who will be in the rose hotel), and Jannorcal (Janelle, who will be leading a tour at 1230). Fred Boutin, the garden founder, plans to be there, as will Barbara Oliva. Alice Flores of HRG and Darrell Schramm, HRG rose letter editor and author, will be there. The list goes on and on. It's a day of rosarians, not just roses.

Do the roses grow wantonly? Well, yeah, they do. We prune them a bit but some of them are flopping everywhere and/or have grown into the paths despite our efforts. At this point, we let them have their way unless they are a total hazard - we look at a flowering cane that isn't where it should be and say, "After it blooms we'll take care of that...." Things aren't helped by the recent high winds which tossed things around - but instead of worrying about a path being obstructed, I'll just think, that rose is WANTON.

Gean - and Nancy - and whomever else can make it - please come! And tug on my sleeve and say "hi!"

BTW - people who want to buy roses and have their hearts set on specific ones should come before the 930 start time and stand in line.
Anita

wanton roses - wish I could be there!
Have fun, Gean, the sun is shining here in england (off to finish the potato planting before they turn into triffids) - still a little envious.

Kim, I was suggesting the new Getty.

Anita, thank you so much. I will love to meet you and so many other people I know only by their names and their voices in my head and maybe a picture I've seen of them over the years.

I actually have a city of people that have so far only existed in my mind; most have a distinct voice that I hear through their writing. To meet a face, this is a little scary.

Camp, do you know the American poet, Robert Frost? I keep hearing the refrain of this in my head -

IâÂÂm going out to clean the pasture spring;
IâÂÂll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shaâÂÂnâÂÂt be gone long."You come too."

IâÂÂm going out to fetch the little calf
ThatâÂÂs standing by the mother. ItâÂÂs so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shaâÂÂnâÂÂt be gone long "You come too."

Maybe you need to stay an extra week. :)

Gean, if you do come to Sacramento, I hope to get to meet you. I'm the one who had (and adored) "Betty". I'll be at the "Rose Hotel", as Anita mentioned, so please walk right up and introduce yourself! (And if I'm not on duty at the moment, but am "wandering" on a break, I will nonetheless be wearing a nametag.)

Laura

hi, Laura,
I will be sure to find you - and is the rose hotel where roses go to stay after they are purchased or is it where they stay while they are waiting to be bought?

Thank you, it will be fun to meet you - my 'Betty' is still waiting for a warm spot in the garden. Maybe this year!

Alas, hoovb, a week is my limit away from the baby seedlings, cat, garden and my own bed. But thanks for the thought, though. I know I'll only skim the surface of all there is to see there. I'm also hoping for a lot of sun! Gean

Gean, the "Rose Hotel" is where people can leave the roses they have bought (in the first mad rush when the event opens, and everyone wants to get the rose they've been pining for), and then amble through the garden at their leisure, unburdened by their plants (or take a tour or shop, etc,). Then, when they are ready to leave, they pick up their roses (which we find via our superior check-in and -out system) and go on their merry way. We are usually in a yellow nylon tent situated among some cypresses behind the rose sales table. Hope you can make it!

Laura

"After it blooms we'll take care of that...."

*** I had to smile.
We say that here, too. And yes -- the wind has added an additional level of whimsey.

Those who come early will get to meet Becket -- The Rose-Therapy Dog. :-)

Jeri

Get ready for 84 degrees Gean!

We have a fire going again today, Pam. I wonder if I have anything to wear... . I live in sweats, jeans and sweaters up here. Talk about culture shock!

I know what you mean, Gean. When I lived in Canyon Country and worked in Pacific Palisades, two blocks from the ocean, it would be 105 at home and 60 at work. I ran around in a turtle neck long sleeved shirt, my work tee shirt and a long sleeve flannel shirt at work. My neighbors would look at me so oddly seeing me leave dressed like that when they were already in swim trunks! Kim

lol, Kim. Oh, well, they just didn't recognize your uniform, that's all.

So many people garden up here that my normal attire pretty much fits in, but I have lived in some places where my version of gardening attire is a little odd or out of place. Neighbors always liked my flowers, though, so forgave my dirty jeans and garden shirts. :) Gean

I often run to the Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings from the cemetery rose garden - it's only a few blocks away. I'm usually wearing my denim apron, torn and patched denim shirt and sometimes forget to take off my holster and pruning shears. One of the vendors said "WHY ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE A FARMER?" Well, it isn't to try to wangle a discount, although a few have offered me one. It's sometimes embarrassing to run into a friend, especially if it is a non-gardener who is dressed for church or brunch....
Anita

lol, Anita.

Once when living in Alabama I had a very well-dressed neighbor who liked my garden and flowers, even though she thought I was a bit, umm, disheveled, let's say.

One summer morning she and several other neighbors congregated in my back yard while I was out gardening. I happened to be wearing something a cut above my normal gardening attire, and she commented on it. I just smiled and said, "No it's just regular gardening clothes."

Where upon she responded, "Well, aren't all your clothes gardening clothes"?

I had to laugh, but do know that even dressed in heels and a dress I will sometimes stop and pull weeds out of the front garden on the way to the car.

So I totally relate to your story, Anita. We probably all do.

Gean