Ingrid...just keep posting pics of your gorgeous garden. Just enjoy your pics so much.
I'm off to research Pelargorium. I wonder if they could be grown here?
Jeannie

I love it Ingrid!

I plan on taking photos this week of our garden (just the part around the house)

I never get tired of looking at your garden.
Please keep the photos coming.
Daisy

Of course we want to see your garden pics. Keep em coming.
kay

Oh, you're all so sweet, thank you. I'm afraid you'll be sorry you said all those nice things before the spring season is over......

Jeannie, I'm afraid pelargoniums, which some people call geraniums, are more suited to a Mediterranean climate. You see them a lot in Italy, the south of France, here and in other warm and dry-climate areas. I'm not saying you might not succeed, if you have a sunny and fast-draining spot for them. If you can find them in local nurseries that's usually a pretty good indication that you can grow them in your area.

Ingrid

Looking forward to more!

Ingrid, your garden is so inspirational to me, because you live in a dry climate like I do, and I know how hard you have to work to get the lovely effect that you have. I love your pelargoniums, and now I want to try them again after many years of absence from my garden. Thanks for posting your pics. Diane

Encore! Encore! They're beautiful, Ingrid! The Rosette Delizy is gorgeous!

Okay, I confess I took a few more pictures but didn't want to overdo it. But, you asked for it! Diane, I'm glad that our being in a similar situation makes the pictures more meaningful for you. I'm glad you'll give the pelargoniums another try. Most people seem to put them in pots but I quite like them as companion plants.

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Romaggi Plot Bourbon

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Mme. Joseph Schwartz

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Part of Tea Rose Row

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I Love Them Inside the House Too

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Only a Few Blooms But Many Buds

Ingrid

The tea rose row is gorgeous--so many roses blooming already. I love your bouquets, too. What an exquisite variety of blooms and colors. Thanks for these additional photos, and don't worry about posting too many. There can never be too many yummy pics. Diane

mr bluebird is so much cuter in your photo than I've often seen! charming!

your Sea Lavender is SO MUCH better than mine! what am I doing wrong! :)

They are beautiful indoors and outside, Ingrid. Spectacular roses and scenery.

Hi Ingrid: I am never sick of your pics. ... I love them all. Thank you for sharing.

I love the cute bouquets. We have nothing here except bare sticks. I'm thankful that Annie L. McDowell has 3 inches of green stems, and did not die to the crown as I expected ... some won't sprout from the roots until late June, like last year. Last week we were in the 20's at night.

Ingrid, you can NEVER post too many pictures of beautiful roses. I love looking at other's gardens. Yours is soo beautiful! Your Mr Bluebird looks much more double than mine. I hope mine will look like that someday.

Ditto, you can never overpost and i can never get bored.. They are awesome.

The tea rose row is fabulous with the hills in the background. What a beautiful setting for your garden.

Ingrid,
On this grey and misty day, seeing your roses is a delight. This is actually the third time I've come by to look at them, so I thought I should say 'thank you' for the pleasure of seeing them.

I don't ever get tired of looking at your hills and roses and am glad you post pictures. I found one bud yesterday, so am hopeful that in a month or so I will be looking at some roses of my own. Thanks :)

Gean

I so appreciate your wonderful and kind comments, thank you all so much. I enjoy sharing my roses and garden as much as I enjoy looking at others' gardens, which to me is essential to keep me enthusiastic about mine. It's all about sharing, which I think is why most of us are here on this forum.

It does seem to take Mr. Bluebird a few years to get going, and this spring he's looked better than ever. I hope you have the same experience with yours, aimee and jasper. As for my sea lavender, this is the best it looks all year, and for the rest of the year it's a lot less enthusiastic about blooming. It seems to do better closer to the ocean where it's not as hot and dry as here.

Gean, I'm glad that looking at my roses helps a little until yours are ready to pop out. It must really be difficult to have to wait for those of you in cooler climates; I don't know if I could have the patience. On the other hand, your spring bulbs and pansies last so much longer than here, and that's something I miss.

Ingrid

"Now of my threescore years and ten
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score
That only leaves me fifty more.

"And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty years is little room
About the woodland I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow."

A. E. Houseman

Keep the pictures coming.

Why would we get tired of looking at your garden? Thank you for the lovely photos.

Ingrid, if the source of your feeling somewhat embarrassed at posting pictures is you feel you're somehow bragging or boasting, please don't think that. Sharing what you love and have worked so hard to develop is not the same as "look at me!!!" It's wonderful to have seen your garden develop and mature! Gean

Thank you, Melissa, what a lovely poem. Thank you, Pam (mendocino rose) and Gean for the encouragement, along with the rest of you above.

I have to admit that sometimes I'm afraid it does come across as boasting, although I never feel that about anyone else who shows their garden or roses here. I'm a very visual person and pictures give me a lot of pleasure, and I can never get enough. Gardens with roses in them are like a drug to me; I always crave seeing more. Some of you have fantastic gardens, much larger and more beautiful than mine, but rarely do I see pictures. I suppose not everyone is bitten by the camera bug, but I'll happily take whatever comes my way.

Ingrid

I wondered if you felt that because oftentimes when I post a picture to illustrate or share what I see, I wonder if people think I'm boasting or saying, "Look at me!!!" But I too am very visual and it really helps me to see pictures so I like to do the same for others.

And I truly love seeing everyone's pictures of blooms, seedlings, propagation set ups, plants, bugs, birds, gardens, greenhouses, plonks. I seem to remember one of your threads from several years ago when you posted pictures of your living room trying to decide what color to paint it. I thought that was a lot of fun to see.

So beautiful! Winter hung on longer than it should have here so I am living vicariously through all you souls with more temperate conditions. Looking forward to more photos- and hoping my third season with roses will be a good one.

The roses are just so pretty. And I can see your garden filling out compared to the first photos I saw of your garden. It is such a pleasure to see the pictures of others' gardens and to see them over time. It is not boasting. People charge good money for garden viewing and here we have it free at our fingertips thanks to your generosity and the generosity of the other posters. I do have "the guilts" for not posting pictures. It is a matter of taking the time to learn. I don't even know how to load photos into the computer so we are talking "ABCs" here.

Cath

I wish that more people would post photos of what they are working on and what they enjoy in their gardens. I know for myself, most of the time I am so tickled that the bed/rose/area is looking better that I post photos more often than I should. But it helps me to keep going to see the progress in the photos. I would hate to have people think I am bragging, cause really it is just me being amazed that we have a garden and not a giant pile of junk/trash/scraggly trees/stinging nettles....etc. The past few days it has been working on the ratty old storerooms. I know when I post photos, half the people looking will think what a disaster but I see what a difference from the disaster it was.

Keep posting photos! Maybe we need a post tax day garden photo challenge? (as in get out and take a few to share)

I find the pictures very inspirational and educational. I enjoy seeing the gardens in different phases of growth. While I love close-up photos of delectable petals, I also need to see the growth patterns of the plants themselves as well as the way the work in a landscape. So please - keep posting photos! :)

Michele

Every morning I pour my first cup of coffee and come to this forum to check new posts and responses to old posts, but what I REALLY enjoy is opening this forum and being greeted with rose garden photos! Thanks to you, Ingrid, and all who share their gardens with us via photography.
Molly

Bring em on! More Mr. Bluebird? I love that rose!!!
Susan

Don't forget the Rose Gallery Forum when you have a craving for great rose and garden photos, ie, rose porn. I was away from the gallery for a while, and returned yesterday to find an amazing selection of gorgeous rose photos. Be sure to check out the dark lady's posts on her new seedlings. Purple lovers beware--you will have a deep urge for more purple roses after seeing these photos. I wish some of these seedlings were in commerce. Diane

Gean, how funny that you should remember my living room pictures! At that time I was heavily into the interior decorating forum and though I had posted the pictures there. I was so embarrassed when I realized they'd ended up here. I did get some good advice though, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I'm so touched by everyone's comments and want to thank you so much. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has that feeling of boasting, but I think we all need to get over it. Kippy, I enjoyed your before and after pictures so much, and was just blown away at how much work you had put in and how great the end result is. Of course, it never really ends, even when we're convinced it's done. I also enjoy seeing other people's gardens evolve and grow, and feel so proud and happy for them. We all know it takes work and the appreciation is very sincere when I see what others have accomplished. Sherry's been great about showing us pictures as her garden is evolving and allowing us to share her joy in the many successes and commiserate with the few failures; we all know about those!

I've seen the dark lady's pictures on the gallery of the general rose thread - fabulous! Being a purple rose lover I swoon.

Ingrid

Dear Ingrid---I don't think there is a rose lover here who would ever get tired of seeing more pictures
Due to my back problems (Dr says NO gardening so I will probably not be planting any new roses so I depend on all of you to keep me happy----I love your gardens and especially the precious little bouquet-----
In our area we are just now enjoying the daffodills---my house is full---the Forsythia is blooming and I did a little pruning today (very little) but I enjoyed it
Keep your pictures coming--
Florence

pretty Romaggi Plot photo!

Pictures of your gardens help keep our dreams alive. Please keep posting and know that it is appreciated. - Nancylee

Ingrid, I'm enjoying your garden along with you. Thanks for sharing it with us. Post more anytime. Lou

Florence, it is SO good to hear from you, which isn't often enough these days. Of course you don't have roses yet in your area but I'm glad you're enjoying other spring-blooming plants. Your garden has such lovely roses and I look forward to pictures every year.

Thank you Florence, mauvegirl, nancylee and lou-texas for your nice comments. I took more pictures last night because I just can't seem to help myself!

Ingrid

I got a camera precisely so I can boast - fulsomely. Am fully intending to bask in mass admiration and wonder (one day, when I have got it right) and will have no qualms about posting (many, many photos of) this perfect (and imaginary) garden for the delectation of everyone (but obviously, so I can puff my superior taste and fabulous style to the hilt).

Of course, this day may be some time arriving.......

In the meantime, I am still practising point and shoot (having failed to understand or investigate a single menu setting or editing skill).

Ho, yep, can do early spring at the allotment......even though there is nothing yet to see.

Hmmmm, suspect this camera lark might get a bit trying - patience, please.

camp, you've made a good start. I'm an idiot when it comes to figuring out cameras, computers or almost anything along those lines, so I made sure to marry a husband who knows all that.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing your wild roses and single roses that you love so much when they are blooming.

Ingrid

well thank you, Ingrid - you, of course, are most to blame for forcing me out of tech-fear - your pics are always inspiring - I am bored, bored, bored with polished english country house style, have no affection for formal rose gardens and absolutely love seeing how people deal with extreme and challenging situations. Frankly, I am amazed at your tenacity in pursuing this dream, I admire your ruthless discipline and the sacrifices you have made. Far from criticising your high turnover of roses, I am in awe at the persistence needed to battle against quite overwhelming odds in order to create a deeply personal and very unique landscape. Most astounding of all is how effortless and natural it appears - I see many highly stylised gardens which have a definite whiff of pretentiousness. All our gardens are complete artifice so I have no problems in deviating from a 'natural' style.....but I am not impressed by gardens which look as though they have just been plonked in space without any sense of evolution. Your garden, Ingrid, is deeply comforting in a slightly bohemian, ragamuffin picaresque (the sea lavenders which look as though they have arranged themselves) and the overall misty tranquility in what must, in reality, be something of a furnace.
Rock on (literally).

What Camp said, Ingrid. And I especially appreciate her giving a name to what I am feeling - and have always felt - about your garden... admiration and wonder, and when you lump together everyone here, it's mass admiration and wonder just like Camp said.

I am particularly in awe of all that new growth on Tea rose row. I've never seen such growth!! And Romaggi Plot is stunning!!

Camp, I'm so impressed with your orderly allotment!

Ingrid, we photo fiends love lots and lots and lots of photos. No such thing as too many. Worse than too many is too few. You don't want us to think you a tease, do you?

Sherry

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

Here's my spring composition to add.
I love all our gardens. Big and Small.
Whatever you love is worth sharing.
The rose in my picture is Yantai

Here's one of my front garden today. I have some purple larkspur to go along with your Sea Lavender, Ingrid, but I don't have many roses yet. They're just trickling out now as are the daylilies. Poor SDLM has thrips so she's not feeling well. It's the larkspur's turn to show off this early in the spring.

Sherry

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

I've had Baronne Prevost in the ground for about 11/2 year and this the first real bloom I've gotten from him. This picture does not do him justice! (I have a terrible camera). He is beautiful and the smells wonderful, as only the old roses can (in my opinion). He's now on my "favorite" list!

Sherry, I love your garden and your blog!

How delightful to see more rose pictures, that's the spirit. And not only roses, as Kitty and Sherry have shown. I'm in awe of anyone who can effortlessly grow companion plants that bloom beautifully and continue to do so year after year. Anything other than my few standbys croaks in very short order.

campanula, I'm vastly flattered by what you've said about me and my garden. I mean that sincerely. For me a garden has to look "right" in its setting, and for you to think that I've succeeded in that respect makes me very happy. The "misty tranquility" by the way, is what we have at this time of the year when many mornings are foggy and cool. The furnace part comes in another month or two. The sea lavenders, by the way, did arrange themselves - they made babies!

Sherry, how naughty of you to call me a tease. Just for that, I'm going to post another picture thread! I already see quite a few roses in your picture which means that I fully expect to see an in-depth posting of your garden very soon. I want to see everyone's spring rose flush. As much as I love my garden, I really crave seeing other gardens and am fascinated how everyone has different and unique ways to grow roses and other plants.

jasper, for a not so good camera I think your picture is great. My Baronne never looked that beautiful, and I'm actually surprised that you're able to grow this rose in Arizona. How does she do in the summer?

Ingrid