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carolfm_gw

There's Still Some Beauty in My Garden, How About Yours?

carolfm
15 years ago

Fall isn't a good time for foliage in my garden. Spots galore from every kind of fungal disease, old leaves falling, some leafless canes. But, wandering around yesterday I found that there's still beautiful roses and plants to admire.

The roses: Reve d'Or is spotless and must have 50 blooms right now, General Gallieni, Clementina, Mons. Tillier, Mrs. Dudley Cross, all covered with foliage and blooming. Quietness is covered with healthy foliage and buds and blooms. Maggie has "most" of her foliage and won't stop blooming until a hard freeze arrives and Mary Washinton is absolutely covered in masses of white blooms and healthy as can be. Comtesse du Cayla, gorgeous. Arethusa, lots of foliage and a few blooms. Crepuscule, couldn't be cleaner and still has blooms.

The angelonia, "Rozanne" geranium, Clara Curtis Chrysanthemums, a few foxgloves, homestead verbena, may night salvia, alyssum, nepata, all still blooming. The red twig dogwood has dropped it's leaves and the flaming red stems are striking and lovely. The hellebore's are putting out new growth. The Tea Olive is blooming and the fragrance is strong and sweet. My camellia is covered with red and pink splotched blooms, the hydrangea looks lovely with it's huge dried blooms, and the gardenia still has a couple of sweetly fragrant blooms.

I've decided to concentrate on what's beautiful and less on what is ugly right now :-). But, I am also taking names of the problem children......

Are there roses or plants that are still healthy and lovely in your garden right now? I don't mean to upset the northern gardeners! I know some of you have snow already, but snow is beautiful too, right? :-)

Carol

Comments (27)

  • melissa_thefarm
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You're so right that there's beauty even this time of year. It helps that it has been so warm this fall, and until recently, so dry. I have few roses after such a droughty summer, but on the other hand there's not a lot of disease, either. There are a lot of berries and hips: 'Louise Odier' with oval orange hips and black sepals, 'Bonica with round orange hips and a few fresh pink flowers, the pyracantha loaded with orange and red berries and glossy green leaves. Our fall color is mostly very modest, but it does show up a bit, and it contrasts nicely with the evergreen of box (where it doesn't have box mite), yew, bay laurel, Italian cypress, as well as with the grass that's finally starting to sprout after a foot of rain in the last week and a half. Some of the old roses' foliage turns pleasant shades of red and orange, while the leaves of many Teas turns darker and polished; there's the silvery and gray-green foliage of various kinds of lavender; while the Salvia guaranitica, a bit tender, is making a noble show with seven foot tall shoots, bright yellowish green leaves, and electric purple flowers. The persimmons are hanging on the now leafless tree like little orange pumpkins, while the cyclamen beneath has been in bloom for a few weeks and is now starting to put out its marbled leaves, in company with the hellebores, that also like that space. Even in November, there's plenty to see in the garden.

    Good topic.

    Melissa

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  • blackcatgirl
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Melissa - you HAVE to post photos. It sounds like you garden in paradise. Where are you located in Italy?

    My SDLM is covered again with buds for another bloom cycle, along with most of my teas. My "Vincent Gotsiff" (Bermuda rose) is covered with blooms right now, along with Louis Philippe. I love how intense the colors are now that's it cooled off.

    I am rapidly losing my sunlight as the sun shifts for the winter, but my pentas are still covered with flowers, along with butterflies...along with my bougainvilla too. I have two mini's that are for all intents, basically polyanthas blooming their heads off (Sweet Nothing and Demitasse, who both have polyantha heritage); my Lady Bird Johnson is covered in the most intense mango buds.

    This is indeed a time to savor what is left. And take names.....

    Great subject.

    {{gwi:321254}}

  • buford
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think my roses looked best this fall. Even now, I have the biggest blooms on some of my roses. Yes I have spots galore and powdery mildew that looks like frost and aphids, but who cares.

    My little Autumn blaze Maple Tree looks like it's on fire. I love it.

  • carolfm
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Melissa, I would love to see the persimmons and the electric blue salvia. Do you grow Beautyberry (callicarpa)? I have wanted one for a long time but I can't decide what would have to leave my garden to make room for it.

    Maurizio, how lovely your garden is. It looks just as beautiful as it did in the spring. I love the mix of plants, roses and grasses. You are an artist who uses plants instead of paint :-). I envy your mild climate, but I also enjoy the change of seasons here. Thank you so much for the photo's. You know how much I love your garden.

    Blackcatgirl, I have a friend who grows Penta's. I think I need to plant a few next year. The butterflies were still here a week ago but I haven't seen any this week. I guess they have moved along.

    Buford, my Mom has two huge October Glory Maples in her yard and they are just starting to turn a deep red at the top of the tree. A lot of the trees have already turned colors and lost their leaves here. A lot of the leaves just turned brown and fell off this year. The rose blooms in the fall are bigger and more colorful than any other time of year. I love it too.

    I am enjoying reading what is happening in gardens in different parts of the country and world!

    Carol

  • rosesnpots
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Carol

    In spite of over cast/rainy and cooler weather many of my roses have so many buds I stopped counting. We are suppose to have a few days of warmer and sunny weather so I am hoping at least some to open as some already have. And some of my other neighbor's roses are already in full flush.

    It is interesting to see roses ready to or already blooming and at the same time to see my neighbor's giant old oak tree with all the leaves turning and of course blowing all over my yard (I am not complaining as it is free composting material :))
    It is almost like the roses are forgetting that old man winter is right around the corner.

    Liz

  • gardennatlanta
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was just passing Sombrieul today and thinking how nice it is to have something beautiful amid all the spots. He has a couple of dozen blooms--huge, white and nicely fragrant. Buff Beauty still has a few blooms--a few days ago she was beautiful. SdlM is almost always nice--pretty much spot free with a good dozen blooms. Belinda's dream has huge blooms--the biggest ones are always in the fall. Others are pretty pitiful but that's not the topic here.

    Thanks for the reminder to go out and look for the beauty.

  • mendocino_rose
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    There is a beautiful pensiveness about the fall garden. A recent heavey rainfall is changing the beauty that I was observing but even still it is beautiful. So many roses this year were unhappy with the heat of summer and are now full of new growth and some fully blooming. The changing leaves in my shade garden are wonderful. The end of my watering responsibilty is so liberating.
    About Beauty Berry: Last year I saw it in London in November. I thought it was spectacular. I'm dying to plant some. Also the almost climbing form of Cottoneaster that I saw growing was fabulous. I imagine that going to your garden at this time of year would be so wonderful. Some day I will make it there.

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Roses blooming or about to bloom in my garden are Mutabilis, Single Cerise China, Huilito (not a spectacular rose so far, it balls), Aunt Margy's Rose, Le Vesuve, Duchesse de Brabant, Carding Mill (never stopped even in full sun in the heat of summer), Angels Camp, Monsieur Tillier, General Tartas, Burgundy Iceberg, Glamis Castle and Souvenir d'un Ami. It's been hot until fairly recently so we're going to have a very short fall this year. But, no fires!

    Ingrid

  • patrickd_nc
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Rozeanne geranium is blooming heavily like it has since early summer.

    For roses, Ebb Tide is a really striking dark color this time of year. New Dawn is so covered in what I guess is anthracnose that the leaves are fascinating in a kind of catastrophic way.

    I have two Pernetianas that are outshining everything else. One is Lundy's Lane Yellow, with a number of blooms right now and foliage that shines in a very stark way with the sun at its current angle in the sky. The plant is more than eight feet tall. The other is, I think, Angels Mateu, which has been very heavily blooming for at least a month, flaming and glowing and doing all you could ask from a Pernetiana. Rosette Delizy, Mission Bells, and Jadis are also blooming heavily and have been throughout the late summer/early autumn.

    The autumn leaf show here in Asheville is unreal right now. We have had day after day of clear skies and not-too-cold nights. Early morning and sunset highlights the colors in a very special way.

  • gnabonnand
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great thread, Carol. Fun to hear what is looking beautiful right now in your garden, and other people's as well.

    There are some plants shining in my garden too. Mrs Dudley Cross looks the best she's looked all year ... covered with nice-sized, shapely, multi-colored blooms. I've renewed my admiration for that healthy rose. The other rose that's knocking my socks off right now is 'Heritage'. Its blooms are perfectly globular masterpieces now and the color so soft it looks like something you'd see on the inside of a sea shell. Its scent is the icing on the cake.

    And there are a few large herbs that have definitely caught my eye and nose lately ... 'Provence' & 'Goodwin Creek' lavender as well as rosemary.

    My several varieties of asparagus fern look fantastic. That is a plant I will always grow after the success I've had this year with it.

    My Burr Oak tree is beginning to look majestic these days. Some day I may cuss it for growing too large, but these days I'm lovin' it.

    And last, but certainly not least, my Louisiana Iris are looking fantastic right now! Very striking foliage. Every single rhizome has flourished during this first year. They appear to like my garden, who'd have thought? Someone was very good to me!

    Randy

  • duchesse_nalabama
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In mine too, Carol.

    Yellow maple leaves, delicate browns from dying euphorbia fuzz blossoms,

    deep rose hydrangea blooms, dogwood leaves and shiny seeds.

    brilliant cramoisi blooms, deep coppery pink on Mons Tillier

    all shades of Green still, winter grass springing up, new leaves and shoots still growing on roses. Narcissus coming to life a little early.

    Pale pink and whites, ducher, spice, puerto rico

    Blue sky, chill mornings. the citrus smell of Spice lingering. Mutabalis never fails to entertain with its pinwheels of color.

    brown seed pods on salvia splendens, zinnia still brilliant.

    Those fuzzy seed pods on clematis.
    Rose hips. Fallen brown pine needles, cones.

    smoke on the water in the mornings, haze in the mountains.

    purples: ageratum still brilliant, white pansy faces. Tiny alyssum from seeds just planted.

    Did I mention I love fall?

  • melissa_thefarm
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, I do have beautyberry, and it's an excellent plant, one of those mid-ground shrubs that's worth a look in itself and makes a good background for showier plants like the roses. There's a native southern beautyberry: we had it wild in our yard in Florida when I was growing up and I know well the distinctive odor of the leaves.

    The Salvia guaranitica dies back to the ground here in winter, and perhaps one cold winter I'll lose it entirely. All the same it's a wonderful plant: it's beautiful and striking, and it comes into flower in the autumn when there aren't a lot of things in bloom. Japanese persimmons are a valuable tree here. They're never ugly, and are actively beautiful spring, summer, and fall, with their lush, dark green foliage that turns vivid orange and red in the fall--not many plants color well here--and with the handsome edible fruits that are good to eat, and that attract the birds if we leave them on the tree.

    blackcatgirl: We have a good place to garden, and there are few I'd swap with, but even here there are problems: the last few years have been dry, and this year we went over four months without significant rain. We're still doing the basic planting of a large-ish garden. In a couple more years I hope to have most of our trees and shrubs in place and growing. Right now we have patches of pretty things, and large expanses of gray.

    Melissa

  • carolfm
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Liz, roses really are tough. Most years I will have a few blooms into December. My back bed is covered with bright yellow leaves that fell from the cherry tree, yet Maggie blooms right along, and the yellow of the leaves against the blue of Rozanne is lovely. The Elm is covered with golden leaves that drift down with every breeze (mostly landing in the fountain which is a whole nother problem).

    Jeff, if you do it just right there is something beautiful year round. I have hellebore's that bloom in late winter, Quince that blooms in Feb. when everything else seems gray and sad, the cherry trees and Iris start blooming before the roses and in the heat of summer the gladiola's are the stars. Pansies are a bright spot here all winter. It lifts your spirits and helps you over look what isn't perfect :-)

    Pam, I would love to see your garden now. I know it is beautiful. The bones of your garden are so wonderful and you have something blooming year round. I love your tree with the bright blue blooms that I can never remember the name of ( what was it again?):-). I think we both should have a beautyberry! It would be a delight for me to have you here any time of the year. I hope some day you will come. I do not have a "rose princess" bedroom for you to stay in, but we'll make do. Fall is a melancholy time of year to me.

    Ingrid, your roses sound lovely. I hope none of you will have to deal with fire this year. Multiply that heat you had by 3 months, add in 100% humidity and you'll have an idea of what the conditions are like here in the summer :-)

    Patrick, you have talked about LLY until I think I may have to try it! I have foliage that is interesting in a catastrophic way too. You know that spot on I-26 where you top a hill then start down in the valley before you climb the mountain? When you top that hill, the mountains surround you on every side and they are the most stunning crazy quilt of colors right now. I can't imagine how beautiful it must be to live in the midst of all that glorious color.

    Randy, the thing that surprised me about the LA iris is they start putting out new growth in fall that stays green all winter long. Pretty when all is brown/gray. I've got to locate the lavender that has done well for you and give it a try. Maybe I won't kill it. Do you have to fuss with it much? Cut it back, anything? Enjoy the oak tree, they grow slow, if it gets too big it will be someone else's problem :-)

    Gean, I like the seed heads of the clematis almost as much as the blooms. A lot of my clematis still have a bloom or two. I cut them back after their first bloom and they put out new foliage and bloom again. Even if I don't cut them back, they still have a few blooms. Another one of my obsessions.

    Melissa, I thought you would probably have beautyberry. I really do think I need one. The nursery here has the dark purple and a white one with variegated leaves. I gravitated toward the purple but really liked the white and wish I had room for both. Salvia normally comes back reliably here but suddenly one year it just won't show up. I plant more because I love it. I grow a few things that aren't supposed to be hardy here but I've been lucky so far. I'm sure a bad winter will bring me back to reality. Paula loves fruit trees, I wonder if she has a persimmon? I would have one if I had more room.

    Carol

  • mendocino_rose
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carolina, that shrub(though big as a tree) is Ceonothus, also known as California Lilac. It does make my April.

  • blackcatgirl
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Duchess - your post was a poem. I may print it out (with your permission) and put it in my gardening notebook.

    Autumn is a nice time of year. This AM on my morning run, leaves were swirling around me and it smelled "fall".

    This is a great subject.

    This is Elle, a HT. I love her, her fragrance perfumes the whole garden on still mornings. (sorry not an antique). She is damaged by cucumber beetles, one who can be seen in the back. This photo is a week old, they (the beetles) seem to have moved on with the latest cold front that blew through.

    {{gwi:321255}}

  • patricianat
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, I want to see pictures. You know how much I love your garden but I want to see it one more time.

    This time of year makes it hard for me to start tearing out roses because most of them look better than they have looked in years but then we had an inch of rain a few weeks ago so that is probably it, coupled with the cooler weather. We are already starting to take out roses and thinking where we will put the Buck which we will be keeping as well as most of the climbers.

    Reve d'Or looks better than it ever has in my garden (right now). It has never bloomed in Autumn before, but it is now. It heard that it is going to be taken out and is writing for a reprieve but I know if I kept it, it would still be a lazy diva, so it's going regardless of its last minute protestations and trying to straighten up its act.

  • gnabonnand
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, no, I don't have to fuss with 'Goodwin Creek' lavender.
    Somewhere behind that one is 'Provence'.
    The other varieties I've tried do horribly for me.

    Randy

  • oldblush
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Carol, after two nights of pretty heavy frost and some rain lots of my roses are just about finished for the season. Some exceptions are Blush Noisette that is in full bloom right now and smells up the whole garden. Surprisingly Fellemberg has bloomed his head off this summer and has been pretty disease resistant. I don't think Lady Hillingdon has ever been prettier and, as someone called it, "Monster Tillier" has some of the prettiest blooms he's ever had. Of course the smaller bourbons (SdlM and family) are exceptional this time of year. Yet another that has been impressive is Ducher. Nonstop blooms and no disease issues and Randy, not narry a thorn, not even a prickle!

    Forgive me for the huge picture taken this morning.
    {{gwi:225338}}

  • gnabonnand
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hamp ... adding 'Ducher' to the want list :-)

    Randy

  • luxrosa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Now that the first rains of Autumn have come at last, I sit on the redwood deck, beneath the still-green foliage of a large Magnolia tree, I feel blessed to have the company of my Old Garden Tea roses nearby, that are still blooming,
    'Duchesse de Brabant'
    'Mrs. Dudley Cross'
    'Mme. Berkeley'
    white' Maman Cochet,
    along with the Noisette 'Nastarana' blooming amid my collection of antique violets, already a mass of fragrant purple blooms, and plush mounds of green foliage. November is like unto a second spring, in the S.F. Bay area, and in a couple weeks the perfumed white jasmine will be in full bloom, with yellow Meyer lemons, hanging like topaz jewels in the garden.

    Knowing these are likely to be my last rose blooms of this year, I already look forward to the rose blooms of spring.

    Lux.

  • carolfm
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pamela, thank you and I promise to write it down this time. :-)

    Blackcatgirl, your Elle is very pretty. I agree, Gean has a wonderful way with words.

    Patricia, I can assure you that you do not want to see a photo of my garden right now. The spots have spots. The big picture isn't lovely but there are areas that are beautiful in the midst of the general untidiness from falling leaves and fungal ridden roses. My RdO didn't rebloom very well until the past two years. She took a long time to get around to blooming much but she has been constantly blooming this summer. Always a few blooms, often lots of blooms. Do you think she would do better with a little more time? It's good to see you posting. I miss you!

    Lordy Hamp, that is a gorgeous big ole girl. She really does like the south. Post as many "huge" pictures as you would like. I've got to remember the "Monster Tillier" :-)My LH has also covered herself with buds just in the past two days. Her last hurrah I guess. I love it that you managed to talk Randy into a rose just as a side note....

    Thank you Randall, I'll try to find that lavender. Where you gonna put your Ducher? :-)

    Lux, I love jasmine. I have Carolina and Confederate jasmine. I wish I could grow lemons here. When I was in California, Carol made us the most wonderful lemon dessert from Meyer lemons from her very own tree. I was most impressed. Your garden sounds lovely.

    I love reading about all of your gardens! Off to bed. Another long day of work tomorrow.

    Carol

  • duchesse_nalabama
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    blackcatgirl, I'm blushing you would want it in your journal. Please take it with my compliments and thank you for asking.

    Carol, I promised a picture of Spice - the picture I took turned out terrible and then it rained so the blossoms are hanging their heads - bad hair day. So here's a picture from April - it looks the same, only a little bigger and rangier.

    {{gwi:321256}}

    {{gwi:321258}}

  • clbravo
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Although my roses are beautiful right now, I had to share this pic from a nursery this morning. I had to pick up 6 of these and some gingers he practically gave away. Camelia Sasanqua, "Sparking Burgandy"
    Clint

    {{gwi:321259}}

  • floweryearth
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow Hamp-- You make me want to get blush noisette! I never knew it was so beautiful, based pictures I've seen before yours!

    Right now, the roses that are still lovely around my front yard are Rose de Rescht, La Reine, and Spirit of Freedom. I would post a pic of SoF if I knew how, because she has been creating her most globular blooms of the year in the past few weeks.

  • carolfm
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Clint, I love that photo of the sasanqua's! I forgot about my gingers, though how I could is a mystery since they are 8 ft tall and right beside my deck covered in fragrant blooms. I love ginger, the blooms don't last for long but the fragrance will knock you off your feet. Thank you for the photo. Are you going to group the 6 sasanqua's? It will make a magnificent display in the fall. I have peach colored and white gingers and I do not remember what their names are. They were passalongs.

    Gean, the bush shape is really pretty and look at all of those blooms! Gorgeous rose.

    floweryearth, watch out for Hamp. His roses are so healthy and beautiful and he takes the most wonderful photo's. He has "persuaded" many a poor unsuspecting soul to order a rose or two....

    Carol

  • Krista_5NY
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    There are a few blooms scattered throughout the garden. Frost has nipped the blooms. Here are a few pics of Eglantyne.

    {{gwi:321260}}

    {{gwi:321261}}

    {{gwi:321262}}