Ron, what a wonderous job you have done. I enjoyed the photos and hope to see you sometime soon. Even past peak your garden is so beautiful. I think it is always beautiful.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Well. I was gonna post pics of my Eden when it blooms lol.
What an extraordinary garden you have. I love the luxury of blooms, the foxgloves, the pond. And this is past peak you say?
Wow.

Wonderful pictures, Ron! I feel almost as though I've just paid a visit.

Rosefolly

Your roses are absolutely magnificent, and so is the layout of the garden. It looks extremely grand and the climbing roses on their structures are stunning. And yes, the crambe is very lovely. I wonder how long it will stay in bloom like that.

Ingrid

Ron, that is just fabulous. What a beautiful layout, what beautiful flowers, all of them, everything. I was so concerned when you left your old house for a new place, that you would never have such beautiful flowers again and this is just more than I had expected that you could ever have. How absolutely splendid. How could I have ever doubted that any project you undertake would be this grand.

Thanks for posting. I'm inspired--and a little jealous :)

Ron, I had to go back and look this morning. I can't get enough looking at it. I know it has been a lot of work and a lot of money, but what a gorgeous place.

The thing about Ron's garden is that it is beautiful even without all of the blooms. When George, Luanne, and I stopped by, there weren't nearly as many blooms but it was still so beautiful. The bones, healthy plants and design are stunning! There was one rose growing up a tree that I think was maybe Fortunes Double Yellow (?) that was the most amazing sight I have ever seen. No matter where Ron plants himself, his garden is always beautiful and so well done. I love it, Ron.

Carol

Stunning! Your garden is so beautiful! The Eden and Iceberg climbers are huge. My climbers never look like that! I guess you have a gift plus the wonderful climate. Oooooohhhh, the poplars are a lovely Mediterranean touch. I'm being nosy, but is this your home? It looks like a professional garden at a B&B or winery. What is the little blue flower in the fragrance garden, lobelia? Thanks for sharing! Buff

The garden is magnificent! So happy you posted these pics. As Rosefolly said, "I feel almost as though I've just paid a visit." Thanks so much for doing what you do. I feel privileged to have a garden such as this close enough for occasional visits (and the frequent rose buying foray).

Joanne

Hi Pam, I hope to see you soon, too! I miss getting to see your place, it's been TOO long!

Thank you, Jackie. Sometimes I feel like a fisherman about the "one that got away" when I don't get around to getting pictures when I should. I do love foxgloves, as you can see, they're coming up in sections they shouldn't be in, but I can't bring myself to pull them up.

Thanks, Paula, I always enjoy your photos, and now when you describe your garden, I can picture it in my mind, now that I've been there.

Hi Ingrid, thank you! For years, I looked at photos in English gardening magazines, and so many had that crambe, it's just as wonderful in person (better even, since it's fragrant!) as it is in photos. It's been blooming for a couple weeks now, and I think it's got at least a couple more to go. Not bad for a perennial. It occurs to me I don't know much about them, perhaps it blooms again later or something?

Hi Patricia! I thought this would eventually be at least as nice as my old place, but I thought it would take longer since there's not as much heat here and more disease pressures, but roses grow despite all that. Plus I can have some things I couldn't grow before, like lupines. Yes, it's been a lot of work, and even more money (though the garden itself isn't so expensive as all the hardscape things tend to be!)

Hi Carol, thank you! That was Fortune's Double Yellow. We're fortunate around here to have a number roses that have climbed to the tops of trees. Hope you can visit at peak bloom sometime.

Hi Buff, thank you for the compliments! The Icebergs do that about 3 or 4 times per year, the Edens have just been building themselves up to the point they look so good as they do now, last fall they were great for the first time, but this Spring they're even better! And yes, we do live here, but it's also a working garden, we make our living from its products. My partner and I just love those poplars, there is no time of year that they aren't wonderful. You guessed right, that is lobelia (my favorite annual) in the fragrance garden.

Joanne, it's always a pleasure to see you, and I've meant to say your screen name here is so perfect, you make fantastic food! I'll never forget that Baklava you made, it stands on a pinnacle of the best by far that I've ever had.

It's always a pleasure getting to see people I know from this forum at my place, and you all are always welcome to visit!

--Ron

Thanks, Gardenatlanta. Inspiration is a good thing, it's what got me to try as many things as I have tried.

Ron, I swear you are simply the best gardener I know and I know some gardeners but for sheer capacity to grow the odd, the unexpected and the difficult in a beautiful way, you are the man! I love the purple in the yellow garden and I wouldn't pull up the foxgloves either. What a beautiful garden!
la

Ron,

Thanks for sharing your garden. I went to see your place the beginning of May. Open garden at Vintage and a trip to your place. The design and layout of your land is amazing!

The location doesnt hurt either. I was impressed by all of the water features, old roses and mature trees. You have your own pollinaters in your tree behind the office. Please post a picture of your bee tree...

Thanks again,

Daun

Luanne, thank you so much! What a terrific thing to say!

Daun, Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. I've added the pictures of the bee tree, hopefully they'll show up large enough to see the bees!

I also added photos of some other climbers that are looking pretty spectacular right now, as well as a cypripedium orchid that came back this year and bloomed (Cypripedium reginae) and a couple miscellaneous things. Stefan had a picture of a whole colony of them in his Minnesota garden that I greatly envied a year or two back!

--Ron

Here is a link that might be useful: Same link again for convenience's sake

Very nice stuff. I tried to grow Crambe Maritima, or sea kale, by seed several times after reading about it in Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William Woys Weaver years ago. There was apicture of very attractive foliage that looked a little like cardoon, only softer and greyer. He says crambe cordifolia is also called giant baby's breath, blooming "on imposing 8-to-10 foot stems. Sea kale likewise has an impressive flower, which is highly fragrant and can be used as an accent in landscaping."

What is the foliage of crambe cordifolia like?

Hi Patrick, as it happens, I also have Crambe maritima that I grew from seed started at the same time. Crambe cordifolia has largish leaves that remind me a little of Acanthus foliage, but not divided, and it's slightly hairy and very dark green. It makes a huge root that sticks out a little above ground and looks like the top of a rutabaga. Crambe maritima has leaves almost just like broccoli, but very gray and somewhat waxy. It is fragrant, possibly a little more strongly fragrant than cordifolia, which itself has a wonderful fragrance, similar to sweet alyssum (alyssum maritima).

--Ron

My goodness, I didn't know you were the Prince of California. That is a formidable garden! Very impressive! Very beautiful! Thanks for the virtual visit; if I ever get around to your part of the world, I will definitely request to be allowed to come see you and your garden.

Melissa

Thank you Melissa! And absolutely, you'd be most welcome!

--Ron

Thanks for the info, Ron. Two other questions: do you find it requires "perfect drainage," as I have read? and apparently crambe maritima is considered an edible vegetable--have you ever tried it?

Patrick

Hi Patrick, I don't know if it requires it or not, I suspect maritima definitely does, as it grows on sandy beaches in places like Scotland. Our soil is very sandy here, although it gets very saturated during the winter rains (very heavy clay as a subsoil from 2-20 feet down, and water runs out of all the gopher holes during that time. Still, they all happen to be in raised beds, even if they do get saturated, and next to the rock edges of the beds at that.

Broccoli is one of my favorite veggies, and looking at that seakale when it was coming out this Spring I must say it looked delicious! But, I didn't try it, and I don't know what you'd eat, the leaves, the flower stems before the bloom (like broccoli and cauliflower) or what. A friend told me the leaves are so bitter that the cabbage butterfly caterpillars that love Crambe cordifolia and other cabbage relatives (almost impossible to grow broccoli here because of them!) won't live on the seakale. My experience bears that out, as they were untouched. Until this year, when the ducks started roaming the property, they were constantly chewing my the cordifolia plants. When the ducks discovered them, however, the caterpillars were goners and the crambe all took off! My plant is still in absolute full bloom, and the fragrance carries at least 15 feet, as does the maritima, which has now finished, but bloomed for about a month. I'm hoping they'll both set seed, I'd love to get more of them all.

--Ron

Ron,

Thank you for adding the pictures of your bee tree! Your climbers are in their glory. You have worked hard on your perenial garden and have an amazing collection of flowers!

Thanks again,

Daun

Thank you, Daun! I'll always have a fascination with perennials, and so many of them are so enjoyable. I think one of my Digitalis x mertoniensis back crossed with regular purpurea and came out a darker, taller mertoniensis in the garden. It'll be interesting to see if it reproduces like itself.

--Ron