Sherry. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I loved them--especially the one of the HUGE Mrs. BR Cant. It gives me hope for my sprawly ground cover Mrs. BR.

I'm jealous of your visit but glad you had a really good time.

What an incredible place! I would have thought it would take an army of gardeners, especially with the topiary and grass in addition to the roses. By the way are all or most of the roses in pots? I was trying to figure out how much all that mulch alone cost! It's hard to believe that a private garden of this size even exists. The house is also spectacular. Thanks for sharing this, Sherry, it really is unique and fantastic.

Ingrid

Thank you for posting these, Sherry. Are the roses in pots because of those nematodes? I was also amazed at what looked like cheap black nursery pots on pedestals. A glorified pot ghetto? Those immaculate grounds make me so envious...

Masha

Jeff, yes, Mrs BR is Big, but I almost choked when I saw Louis Philippe. So huge. In a couple of years mine will be in my bedroom with me.

Ingrid, it really is an amazing place. I don't know what percentage are in pots, but there are A LOT of roses in the ground. I saw a huge pile of "spare" mulch. Should have taken a photo of it for laughs. I also just realized we missed a whole bed of HTs. It was in the middle, and we were walking around the perimeter.

Masha, I was just looking at the photos again and noticed that even roses in the ground are in big pots. I'll have to ask her, but apparently, she either has her roses on Fortuniana or in pots - in and above the ground - because of the nematodes. It makes bed preparation easier though, I guess.

Sherry

Sherry, that was a lot of fun to see. That rhino and rooster are a riot and it was fun to see the house and all of the roses and topiary. That's a woman that loves roses!

Thanks for sharing your fun time. Gean

Sherry thank you so much. Just sitting here with a glass of wine experiencing our first snow fall. Too soon too cold.
Just loved the garden. No matter how I try I just cant imagine how one goes about planning such an expansive garden. Over here we debated for months how to set up five pastures. Goes to show.
In the past I've had the pleasure to see a few Frank Lloyd homes and they are like no other. He designed his homes, the landscape and the furniture. I wonder if his student designed her furniture and helped with the garden design? Curious.
Thank you again.
Jeannie

The size is indeed amazing, it looks more like a park than a private garden. :)

Overall though I think I like gardens somewhat smaller and somewhat more cramped - there is too much of bare ground for my taste. :D Roses themselves are glorious though.

Sherry, I'm already longing for blooming roses, at the very beginning of winter here. I'm thinking of driving south in January. Will there be plenty of roses blooming in Florida then?

Carol (in MA)

Sherry, California congratulates Florida on its rosy success. Green Acres sounds like a magnificent garden. This comes as no surprise to me. Is Florida not the home of Malcolm Manners, world renown battler of RVM? More recently, is it not the home of my own brother in Ocala who has begun in a modest way to grow roses himself? I know a several-generations native Floridian who thought roses could not survive in that state. I told her about Fortuniana rootstock and china roses. With those available, Floridians can indeed grow fabulous roses.

Rosefolly

Fabulous pics.

Sherry - thanks so much for posting. I have a few odd spots in my garden, and I may use the potted roses on gravel idea. (scaled down, of course) :)

I wonder how long they have been working on this garden? I love clipped hedges, though I would never have the guts to do anything as spectacular!

Carol, a lot depends on how far south you're going and how bad the freezes have been. More than likely we will have had freezes in January. The worse/stronger the cold front the colder and farther south it goes. So who knows. Temps in the 20s will shut down the blooming process for some time.

Thanks, Rosefolly, for saying it all - and so well. There were many, many people at this open garden, so hopefully word will spread. And thank you for feeling my pride.

We also saw another lovely garden in Brooksville yesterday. That garden is on HMF as Nottingham Forest, I believe. We enjoyed it very much as well. He even grafts his own roses on fortuniana himself.

Sherry

Sherry, FYI, I think your "heron" picture is of sandhill cranes. Beautiful pictures. Weren't you exhausted?

I'd love to see it in person!

I love the "wizard pots"! Also all the topiaries and such are SO impressing. D:

floridarosez9, thanks for the correction. Judy didn't think they were herons. I corrected the photo. Hope the slide show updates. It was so exhilarating that we didn't feel tired until the very end, and we were very glad to sit down in the car. Whew. We were thankful for the clouds, too.

mendocino rose, come ahead!

Aimeekitty, yeah, they're very cool.

Sherry

Ok, I'll be the dolt, Sherry, is that you in the pics or your friend? (Nosey but only so to put a face to a name ;-)

No, Lago, I am behind the camera, taking the photos. Totally incognito, haha.

Sherry

But we saw your shining smile last summer, Sherry, in your open house slide show.

Smarty pants.

Sherry

That is an impressive garden! Beautiful trees and topiary.
And so many roses.
But am I being churlish, when I say that after a while, I found it rather boring?
I understand that with such a large acreage, it is impossible to undertake anything else. But Sherry, I personally find photographs of your own garden, infinitely more interesting.
Perhaps it's because, it is on a more human scale, and we have watched it develop over time.
Your own garden has just as many roses pro-rata, but, you have used lots of companion plants as well.
This, with your design, gives it so much charm and personality.
I can look through photographs of your own garden, over and over again.
Daisy

um, I am with Daisy here! Your little patch has SOUL.

LOL, Daisy & Suzy, you Brits are such a bunch of cut-ups!! (I had to look up the word churlish. Having a bad day?) I do thank you very much for your sweet comments. They really are appreciated.

Now back to Carol's garden. Since I have never been to a grand public rose garden, I was immensely impressed with the expansiveness and grace of it and the effort required to keep it so meticulously. As we all say, gardens evolve and mature, and we don't know what her plans are for the future, but I know from my own small garden that companion plants are a very large maintenance issue. Here in Florida with year-round growing, annuals have to be replaced at least once and more likely twice, so I can understand not going there. I'm glad you were both impressed with it. Thanks for looking.

Sherry