How do you plan your lovely gardens?

13 years ago

I have been working on a enclosed area in my backyard, and have room for approximately 15 more roses. (i think). I have been so inspired by the single bloom roses, but i also adore the ruffly and cup shaped roses as well. I am wondering if it would look best with all the roses grouped together by petal form? Will that showcase them better or is it nicer to mix them? If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts let me know. Thank goodness we have all fall and winter to plan...

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

kristin_flower
13 years ago
I'm definitely not a garden designer, but I don't think you need to worry about separating the singles from the double flower form. I would concentrate more on the color harmony (or contrast if that's what you prefer), and adding complementary companion plants. Also, make sure everything has enough room. I always have to restrain myself from over-crowding the bed.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
13 years ago
Kristin has given you really excellent advice in all respects. Companion plants can give so much life and diversity to rose plantings, which otherwise can look a little boring, even with the most beautiful roses. Putting single and doubles together also gives the charm of variety and contrast. Leaving enough room is a piece of advice that I've sometimes ignored at my own peril. Of course, then you get to have the fun of moving roses around and replanning your garden....

Ingrid
Related Discussions
OT: POTD: Do you plan on big changes in your garden this year?
Q
Comments (24)
Wow! Isn't it great to start thinking of anotehr garden season!!! For a change I actually got to just a bit of the cleanup this past fall. Can't do it right now as its all covered with 3-4' snowdrifts.....out of sight, out of mind - LOL Lucy- glad you got to have Maddy over the wknd. Our G'son is just a block away but now at (almost)10 spends more time w chums than G'ma and I. Pulling into the driveway last night I could see him running home...all flailing elbows and knees in snowgear and boots...never walks, always running. Paused in the drive to watch-LOL. What a joy they are! All the projects remind me of similar needs in my yard but I think I'm going to be investing most of my money in larger containers for all the cuttings which were shared with me this fall.....on top of the 'herd' I already had accumulated. Yaaayyy. Maybe I've 'turned the corner' with both my bronchitis and attitude. Y'all have gotten me ready to start thinking about 2010 much more postively. Will
...See More
Do you plan for wildlife in your garden?
Q
Comments (28)
Apparently I'm in good company with my butterfly bed that's stuffed with all their favorites and my oversize collection of bird feeders in the crabapple tree. I designed the butterfly bed specifically to attract them and so far am happy with the end result. There's still lots of space to fill in but it's getting there gradually. My folks planted with wildlife in mind before me so there are dogwoods, mock orange, lilacs & others to attract birds. There's a 40 ft. x 30 ft. area of white hydrangea growing on the southern boundary the birds use as a sanctuary. They stop off in the lilac bush on their way to/from the birdfeeders & birdbath. I've counted as many as 25 junkos in the mock orange during snowstorms, all puffed out like little gray tennis balls. Every year wrens nest in each of the three birdhouses hanging in the crabapple tree. One morning this summer I noticed my motion sensor light had come on. When I peaked through the curtains out the front window, there was a red fox stretching as tall as he could trying to raise his chin over the edge to get a drink from the birdbath. I felt so guilty, I washed out a big bowl & set it on the ground beside the birdbath for him. I kept it filled the rest of the season. No rain fell here from June-October so the critters were thirsty along with all my plants. The foxes took over a former rabbit & woodchuck burrow, made it bigger & raised 3 pups down behind my 80 ft. row of blueberry bushes. Yes, they ate all the blueberries this year. Like I said, there was a really bad drought here in southern New England. I took a few pictures through the window screen when they came out to play in the early mornings: A few lucky shots of robins enjoying the ancient plastic birdbath under the crabapple tree: I think the Cooper's hawks that nest down in the woods at the back help keep the rodent & bunny populations under control but the chipmunks can be a problem. Esme the snake makes her rounds of the flowerbeds and takes care of whatever varmints use the hosta leaves to hide under from the hawks.
...See More
start planning NOW... how will you protect your garden next week?
Q
Comments (30)
"TAKING A LOOK AHEAD TO THE WELL ADVERTISED COLD FRONT ON NEW YEARS DAY - THIS WILL BRING THE COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON TO THE AREA. IF FCST LOWS VERIFY THU MORNING...IT WILL BE THE COLDEST SINCE FEB 19TH 2007. IT WILL FEEL EVEN COLDER GIVEN THE VERY WARM DECEMBER WE`VE BEEN EXPERIENCING. OF MOST CONCERN WITH THIS FRONT IS THE CONTINUED DISTINCT FREEZE POSSIBILITY FOR NORTHERN INTERIOR AREAS....GLADES/HENDRY/INTERIOR COLLIER/WESTERN PALM BEACH COUNTIES. MOST PRONE IS GLADES/HENDRY. PARAMETERS CONTINUE TO SUGGEST FREEZING TEMPS ARE POSSIBLE THU MORNING. 12Z MEXMOS IS QUITE AN EYE OPENER...DEPICTING 26 AT PUNTA GORDA THU MORNING! UPDATED THE FREEZE OUTLOOK WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN WORDING AS THIS IS STILL OVER 3 DAYS AWAY AND A FEW DEGREES WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD...BUT ODDS AT LEAST AT THIS POINT IN TIME SEEM TO BE FAVORING A FREEZE FOR AT LEAST PARTS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. STAY TUNED. /GREGORIA " So it looks like Miami will stay above 40? 18z GFS (American weather model) is spitting out a low of 47F for Miami, so we shall see. Its going to feel cold! Last night low in Miami was what, 74F...crazy!
...See More
How do you plan your garden?
Q
Comments (30)
I plan my garden in Excel. I adjust the row height and column width so that the cells are roughly square, then I outline my bed sizes with dark lines. I treat each cell as a square foot, and I type whatever I plan to plant in it, and my planned spacing for example, "9 beets, grid" (means 3x3 rows of beets) or "5 turnips, cross" (means 2x2 rows of turnips, with one in the middle). I make one plan for spring and one for summer. Fall is catch-as-catch can. On the spring plan, I might type something like "5 turnips, cross, 4 radish intercrop" (this tells me to plant the 5 turnips in a cross shape as described above, then to plant 4 radishes around the turnips in the empty spaces -- the radishes will be harvested before the turnips need the space) or "9 teton spinach, grid follow with lettuce" (which tells me to replace the 9 spinach plants with 9 lettuce plants -- I don't bother working out when this transition will take place). I don't bother typing notes to link the spring and summer plans, but I do record the earliest planting date I want to use on the summer plan, so it will look something like "sungold May 15". Then I just plant the sungold tomato in that spot anytime after May 15 that the spot opens up from spring crops. This is helpful with things like beans, which I succession plant two squares at a time. So two squares will say "9 dragon's tongue beans, grid June 1" and the next two will say "9 dragon's tongue beans, grid June 15". I do spend a lot of time trying to coordinate things between the two plans, like planning to put early beans in the spinach squares (since spinach is harvested early) and later beans in the broccoli squares (since broccoli is harvested later), but most of that is just in my head. I don't try to write any of that down.
...See More
melissa_thefarm
13 years ago
I agree: mixing different flower styles is the best; and I like variety in color as well, partly because matching similar colors is just so difficult. The contrast between small and double and large and single; individual blooms and flowers in clusters, full and globular blooms and those open and showing stamens, is charming.
Have fun planning!
Melissa
lavender_lass
13 years ago
Lilyfinch- I like the cottage style, so I plant roses together, despite petal style, but I do usually stick with white, shades of pink and lavender pinks.

Against the house, I like to put damasks and other once bloomers towards the back of the garden, with smaller hybrid musks and repeat bloomers in the middle. Towards the front, I use lavender and lots of alyssum, but I also like to include daisies, bee balm, catmint, salvias, petunias, pansies, and peonies, just to mention a few.

In the fairy garden, I have butterfly bushes in the back, to keep the deer out. In the garden, I put the repeat bloomers in the middle, with the gallicas towards the edges. This way, when the coneflowers and other perennials start blooming, they add more color to that part of the garden.

Along the front of the porch, I'm redoing a few things, but I have Fantin Latours at each end, with a Lavender Lassie that I'm moving to the middle, so it will hopefully work it's way up to the railing. In between these roses, I have purple clematis. It's not a very deep bed, so I'm probably going to move the Sarah Bernhardt peonies in front of the clematis. I have salvia and lavender on the ends and I want to add spearmint along the front (to keep the deer away) but it's so invasive, I probably should sink some bottomless pots in the ground, to try and contain it a bit. As for fragrance, I like the combination of old rose, lavender and spearmint together, but it might not work for everyone :)

How do you plan your lovely gardens?

Comments (4)

kristin_flower

ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9

Related Discussions

melissa_thefarm

lavender_lass

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US