I love them all ... so dainty and pretty. My kid has a tiny set of China, she plays with it a lot.

Your loaded bushes gave me confidence in applying more potassium and phosphorus (both are lacking in my soil). I got more basal breaks on the roses which I used low-salt monopotassium phosphate SOLUBLE NPK 0-52-34.

It's a wonderful collection, Ingrid. Beauty is the real soul food.

Lovely. I can't choose a favorite of the porcelain, although the duck and punch bowl are in there. Roses are wonderful - I've been contemplating Le Vesuve and this furthers that thought. Thanks for the pics.

I love them, the fish painted set is really neat too.

Best part, no way I can bump in to any of them! Love the photos. Thank you for sharing them.

The antiques are beautiful! They would never survive in my house though! My two passions are dogs and roses. They go together fine, but mix in anything breakable, and you have a recipe for distaster LOL!

Please keep posting pics! I only have one rose in bloom right now (excluding the ones in the greenhouse which I feel is cheating), so I'm having to live through everyone else at the moment since I have no pictures to post.

Tammy

Ps...the one that's blooming is Father Hugo...he's usually one fo the first every year though :)

Great photos, as usual!

I have got to get some of that blue sea lavender. Do you ever use it in your bouquets?

I love Asian porcelain. Is that an antique gaiwan in the last photo? I've been drinking green tea for some time, but only recently started using Asian teaware. I have a blue and white porcelain gaiwan--not antique by any means--but still a pleasure to use.

You have a beautiful collection of porcelain! And the garden ain't no slouch either, lol!

So lovely, Ingrid. I have a great weakness for blue & white but haven't bought anything for several years, i.e., since my rose addiction began. And DH collects clocks so that's what fills our space. What really grabbed me was the painting in the last photo. Is that a male lion standing over a female lion? I saw one like it in a Penney's flyer years ago and have never been able to find the exact one. How amazing that you have one - even just a similar one. I'd love to see the whole picture.

Sherry

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

Lovely collection! I really like the 19th Century Famille bowl and the 1920's vase in the bedroom.

Your picture of Betty Prior looks like something out of a garden book.

Oh! Is the painting in your first picture of your property? I just love that!

Thank you all for the great comments. I'll try to answer your questions, in no particular order.

Sherry, I'll take a photo of the lion picture later today when there's more light. I found it in a store that sold jewelry, especially estate jewelry, which is where I bought my wedding ring.

ogrose, that painting is not of our property but it is from the same area, long before I knew I would end up living here. It has a large ornate frame but I finally decided I liked the simplicity of just the canvas. I know the artist, which makes it even more special.

bellegallica, if you look closely at the photo with the Limoges fish set you'll see part of a Chinese vase with sea lavender in it. You can use it fresh but that one is dried and lasts for a long time. The gaiwan in the last photo is from the 1700's so I'm not tempted to use it to drink tea, although there wouldn't be any reason not to.

TNY78, amazingly nothing's ever been broken, although I have two dogs. One is a Yorkie and the other a rat terrier and their short size keeps them from reaching anything breakable. A Great Dane would have been another matter altogether!

Nancylee, I'm glad you like the porcelain. As for Le Vesuve, I have four so that should tell you how much I like it. Nasty thorns, but if you don't fall into the bush like I did you won't have to worry too much. I do almost no pruning so that lessens the discomfort factor.

Thank you strawberryhill, Kippy, rinaldo and seil, for your positive comments. It gave me great pleasure to see your appreciation of the roses and the porcelain since in real life so few people seem to notice either.

Ingrid

Your garden is lovely. It gets ever more beautiful each year.

And without knowing anything about porcelain, I am impressed by your collection.

Rosefolly

Thanks for sharing!

The fish collection and the duck are my favorites for your porcelain collection.

Again, love the gardens- I just told my husband I LOVE pictures of your gardens so much. You are able to incorporate companion plants and rocks into your gardens and make it look effortless (I have neither of these things- just rose bushes). And I know it isnt effortless or easy, because I sure cannot do these things to save my life- I lack an artistic eye for such things.

Thank you for sharing Ingrid,
Marleah

Wow, it's just as beautiful inside as out! I am stunned. And not a speck of dust, pile of newspapers, overflowing garbage can, dirty shoes WITH filthy socks, etc, etc. I love the duck, the husband-painted peacocks, the spittoon with zinnias & pony rider, especially. Lovely,lovely garden, full of blooms. It looks like a wonderful place to drift around.

Thank you rosefolly, for your words about the garden and the porcelain. Both have made my life so much richer that it's been worth every penny and every bit of effort.

Marleah, I enjoyed hearing from you, and from others who have commented, which pieces of porcelain you like best. I'm very touched that you like my garden so much. As for the design, here's a simple idea: Look around your neighborhood and pick out two or three plants other than roses that you see a lot of, which means they're easy to grow. The best ones are those that have a different silhouette than the roses, i.e. shorter, tall and spiky, a contrasting color, like blue or purple etc. Buy them and plant them among your roses. It's as simple as that. You'll be surprised how easy it is once you do it. I've gone through a lot of plants that didn't survive here for one reason or another and what's left is what survives here, and they're nothing special. It works because of the contrast, and that's not hard to achieve. Please try it, Marleah.

bluegirl, I probably didn't make it clear, but my husband painted the portrait of the girl between the Chinese porcelain birds on the wall. Yes, we do have dust and the second bedroom is full of boxes and things my husband uses for selling on e-bay. We don't read the paper and have no kids so that helps. The garden is my refuge and my passion. It has many flaws and shortcomings, but that keeps me interested, always trying to improve things a little.

Ingrid

That is a beautiful portrait! Heck, I assumed it was some famous painter. Y'all have lots of talent, in many areas :) Your home is a place of beauty, inside & out.

Thank you, bluegirl, that is so gracious and sweet of you.

Ingrid

I dearly loved seeing your oriental porcelain collection and the way you've so tastefully arranged them, as you've so beautifully designed your garden. Inside your house and out -- it matches well. This is just my first pass. I'll be looking again.

roselee, thank you so much. I'm happy that the pictures have brought you pleasure. I'm delighted and humbled by the wonderful responses, and it's been a privilege to share a bit of my life with all of you.

Ingrid

Ingrid, what lovely pieces you have got! I don't know anything about Chinese porcelain but there is much of it in Sweden because of the Swedish East India Company, active between 1731 and 1813. The blue and white Chinese style patterns are still very popular on new china.

I link to the home page of our nearest auction house so you can see some of the items sold here. The Chinese are buying back much of their heritage now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Uppsala auction house

Marianne, thank you, and I appreciate the link. There are some nice pieces there. The porcelain forum I belong to, gotheborg.com, was founded by a Swede and I'm aware of the large amounts of export porcelain from China in Sweden and the Netherlands. In contrast, southern California is a cultural wasteland, and I've had to buy most of my pieces from e-bay, where you'll find more fakes than genuine pieces. Even the Chinese buy a lot of fakes, often at high prices, because studying Chinese porcelain takes time and patience. But it's fun.

Ingrid

Thank you Ingrid. Please don't imagine that anyone gets tired of seeing your lovely photos.
I love the porcelaine. My macho man collect tea cups.

Ingrid, your collection is so lovely. thank you for sharing it. I especially liked the Duck and the spittoon and plates arrangements. Is that a dog under the fish set? I liked it very much.

The roses are intensely beautiful, as always.
kay

mendocino rose, you made me smile with that comment about your husband. I've gotten the idea that you're not overly fond of taking pictures of your magnificent garden and roses, which is a loss for all of us. My garden is nice but yours is stupendous. I can only imagine what a spring flush you must be, or will be, having. I'd be especially interested in seeing your ramblers, which must be quite a sight in the spring. Hint, hint.....

Kay, the animal under the fish set is a foo dog or foo lion, which is made of solid jade. It has a unique feature in that it's head comes off and can be swiveled to different sides, and there's a cavity in the body. I love it because it's so chubby and cute. I'll have to take a close-up of it. The duck and the table with porcelain are also great favorites of mine.

Ingrid

I remember your first post here, and your first enquiries about roses and the bare canvas that was your new property. Congratulations on managing to do what so many don't - sticking to it and giving a garden time and patience. I hope that life and circumstances allow you to see what your garden can achieve over the next ten, twenty, thirty, forty years!

Best wishes,
Jon

Hi, Ingrid. I am so glad you posted further pictures of your porcelain collection as well as your gardens. I am another one who doesn't know very much about the Oriental porcelain but it's so captivating and detailed. I imagine many of your pieces, the punch bowl for example, must encapsulate an entire story -- and you might notice something different each time you pick it up to admire it. Is that so? The Shiwan duck is just timeless, a very happy creature.

Your home is lovely! And you've been so gracious in responding to everyone's comments. I've noticed how kind and thoughtful your posts on other threads have been as well. You make everyone feel welcome.

I am in love with those birds!! But I think those tomb figures are the coolest thing I have seen in so long.....I love history. Your collection is exquisite.

Your garden is one that inspires me. I hope that someday my garden can be as lovely as yours. You give me hope!

Amazing work on the lion(?)

Jon, I was so happy to see your name here again, and thank you so much for your comments. As I've told you before, your incredibly beautiful garden was a great inspiration for me, although it had to be modified a great deal by my vastly different climate and my lack of your awesome knowledge and skills. Still, I hope you can glimpse some similarity of vision.

Sidos-House, you're quite right, many Chinese pieces do tell a story of some sort, which adds to their interest. Your appreciation and kind words mean a lot to me. We all thrive on acknowledgement, and I've been so fortunate to receive so much of it here, and especially on this thread.

Rachel, I'm so glad you like the tomb figures. Having something from so long ago and far away is a privilege and you share that feeling of history and connection.

Others' gardens here have inspired me so much, and I've stolen many ideas shamelessly, and if I can pass on some of that to you I would be thrilled and flattered. You'd be amazed at what you can achieve with time and the will to create something beautiful on your side.

Ingrid

Your porcelain collection and roses are both beautiful. You have a great eye.

Did you read about the person who bought a porcelain bowl at a flea market and it was worth over a million dollars? Maybe you have one of those :)

Your roses, paintings, and porcelain are really wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing the pics of your lovely home.

Thank you buford and krista. I never dreamed that so many of you would enjoy antique porcelain, and showing it to you here has been so much fun.

buford, I can only dream about one of my pieces being worth a million dollars, but since I know exactly what each one is that won't happen. I remember reading years ago of a rare, old piece that a family had used as a salad bowl forever which turned out to be worth a fortune.

Ingrid

Ingrid

Your posting is beautiful in so many ways and since I wasn't a forum member at the time it surfaced, I'm feeling compelled to raise it to the top of the stack so that I may compliment your garden and your porcelain collection. Thank you for the wonderful tour. My students enjoyed it as well. Our school, coincidentally, studied ancient China this year.

Also, I had a rose-lover-to-rose-lover thought that I'd like to share. I seem to have a knack for repeatedly subjecting myself to plants like pink tea roses when I know darn well that this isn't the climate for them to flourish. Sigh. I'll bet your climate is perfect for my poor, struggling warm weather friends. I hear that you're not so fond of certain red residents that turn sour colors and make for jarring moments in your otherwise serene garden. Red is one of my favorite colors. When I was a girl, my mother informed my that red and purple clash. The little girl inside of me never quite grew up. I've been growing red and purple garden companions for years.

So, here's my thought: would you like to swap roses if we each find ourselves in a situation with incompatible flora? I think our roses would essentially just zip up and down I-5 in a USPS truck. I've never suggested such a thing to anyone nor do I know anyone who has suggested a rose swap of this nature. (I do have a friend who regularly mails a shared formal dress to her sister; they send it back and forth as needed.) If this sounds too crazy, please just let me know. It even sounds a little crazy to me, but it also sounds rather fun and eccentric in that way that rose people really are eccentric. I currently have two small own-root specimens--a Duchesse de Brabant (ARE) and a Rhodologue Jules Graveroux (Vintage Gardens). Neither one is any shade of red, and both are peering through my office window, catching glimpses of your warm welcoming hillside, and glaring at me.

Carol

Roses and art (creation and display) are born of the same spirit, I think.

I neglected to add that your husband's work is wonderful! His painting style reminds me of Matisse's. Have you ever considered growing the early HT 'September Morn'? I love the "scandalous art" story that accompanies that rose, and the blossom looks like it's such a delicious, frothy, delicate pink. I just fear it would beg me to break my no spray rule.

Carol

Carol, I had just half completed my post back to you and lost it when your second post appeared. My husband would like you to know that he appreciates your compliment.

I'm so glad you liked the pictures and that the kids did too. It's neat that they saw the porcelain while they were studying ancient China.

September Morn is on my list of roses that interest me, which is how I'm familiar with the "scandalous art" story you allude to. From its description it seems to be a rose that might like it here. Alas, I have no more room.

I think your idea of swapping roses is a very good one and perhaps should have its own thread. Unfortunately, I have used up all my available spaces, except those areas where roses haven't done well, such as the edge of a hillside. I still have Laurie Annie McDowell to plant, and had thought to put it along Reve d'Or, but only if I can bring myself to take out Mutabilis. There is no room anywhere for a climber where it would have a chance of doing well. I've grown Duchesse de Brabant twice now, or I should say I've tried to grow it, since both times its canes dried up in spite of prodigious watering. Rhodologue is a rose I've wanted for some time, but I still have to accommodate two roses from France that are coming this fall from Vintage after they're out of quarantine. I would imagine though that there might be any number of people who are still developing their gardens who might be interested in this scheme. How does one ship a large rose, though, or are you thinking of young roses only? I don't have a single red rose to send you, except for two plants of Sophy's Rose, which are just barely purple enough to fit my exacting standards. They're very good in the heat though and thus have earned their place here.

Ingrid

Ingrid

It sounds like many of us are in the same boat, rose garden-wise. I'll be forced to break up concrete in the near future. Of course, my car may take issue with the fact that I'm sacrificing the driveway. I think Campanula is rooting for the rose garden.

Thank you for helping me to feel less embarrassed about the Duchesse's state. I've been suffering a bout of rose shame over my teas.

Your suggestion of posting an exchange is a good one. Maybe in the fall. Plants would probably need to be bands (sometimes one receives Comte de Champagne instead of Comte de Chambord) or bare root. My mother and I shipped a few bare root ones between OR and TX, and they all survived their journeys quite well.

Just for the record, I find your dislike of strident reds amusing. Everyone encounters colors which just plain irritate. I'm very particular about rhodies. There's a particular shade of pink flowers that I refer to as "Pepto-Bismol." It almost makes me choke.

I'm so glad you were able to order two of the special Vintage French roses! What an amazing opportunity from an amazing nursery. Please post on their arrival and progress...and of course, please post their first blooms that one should lop off but never does. :-)

Carol

Pepto-Bismol (my dad picked that color for me to paint their bathroom...boy do I hate it)

Orange red. Red red. Not a fan. I have 2 orange red tree roses the neighbor gave us. I put them in the front yard while I figure out where to put them in the lower garden. I had a perfect plan and thought they would look good next to the pomegranate. But now am rethinking that first plan. So I have orange/red next to Elle. Thank goodness they know they clash and manage to bloom opposite for the most part. This year the neighbor gave us some more of the red red roses she did not like. Ole and Lasting Love, I put them both in a big rusty vintage horse trough in the lower garden (part of that first plan) Only one of the two did not get the message that it was orange/red or red/red. So yet another pinkish red in the middle of orange-red group.

Red is a hard color I have decided.

Carol, I'll be sure to post about the Frenchies. I've already been told the ones I chose did not survive and so will now have the delicious pleasure of choosing new ones. The whole process of growing them will be very exciting, once I figure out where to put one of the two, now that Cl. Lady Hillingdon has been moved into its supposed spot.

Kippy, I've found that bright reds, oranges and even bright yellows are very difficult to blend with the old roses, and I don't even try. Soft apricots are fine, but for me at least what I like best are whites, creams, lavenders, purples and pinks of every hue. I do have irises and day lilies that are yellow, but somehow that doesn't seem to spoil the picture. A pale yellow is also workable. It takes trial and error to get it right.

If I had to have brightly colored roses I would separate them from the softer-tones ones and intersperse them with a lot of gray and silver leaved companion plants. Many other gardeners love bright roses, and more power to them. Everyone should have gardens to fit their tastes and personalities, and I'd find it pretty boring if everyone's garden had a color scheme similar to mine.

Ingrid