How many Italian Cypress? They are a beautiful backdrop to your roses.
One can never have too many Italian Cypress, more, more :)

Please continue taking pictures.

I think we have about 14 down by the studio that were already in place, two flanking the top of the driveway that we planted which are already quite tall, and two near the bottom of the driveway that we just put in last year. They require so little care to do well.

Ingrid

I never get tired of seeing your pictures! Your terrain is very interesting to me, too.

Ingrid, please keep the photos coming all winter.
We all need them. Even if we are not snow bound, we could be rain bound!
Daisy

A beautiful garden indeed ! I myself am starting to get into Italian cypresses. How long did it take yours to get big, Ingrid? and how big were they when you put 'em in? Also,since I think your climate is tormented by drought ,which is a problem that I,too, must face: what is your opinion on Bishop's Castle?Flower looks splendid, but as a plant? is it a waterhog-type? does it have some of the issues we discussed in another thread that plague The Ingenious Mr Fairchild, for example? thanks, bart

Just lovely, Ingrid.

Ingrid, your garden is less green than mine, but much more flowery. Very nice roses! Thanks for the photos.
Italian cypresses are about the easiest tree there is for our gray clay and Mediterranean climate. They hardly even get watered the first year after planting, or fertilized, and they still grow. Now I understand why Tuscany is full of them. We're still adding more. Italian pines are also good, but for several years after planting they need to have the snow knocked off them after a good snowfall or they'll bow right over.
Melissa

Beautiful pics, Ingrid. Your roses have such beautiful colors.

Oh, Ingrid, don't be silly. The more pictures you post the better! They're all gorgeous!

So beautiful, as always. Your Souvenir D'un Ami is pretty dark pink. I love the mix of color, texture & height.
(glad to still see Spice:)

Ingrid,

I always enjoy looking at images of your garden! It appears very well tended to, and yet at the same time, appears to effortlessly blend with, and I think enhance the natural setting.

Lynn

Ingrid.....I`m inside waiting for an ice storm, so you were spot on! Winter weather is so yucky and looking at beautiful gardens takes the sting out. Your garden is really lovely. It is obvious that you work long and hard on it. You have challenging conditions but you have created a little bit of heaven. More please.....Lesley

Your roses are looking so good right now, I think you should enjoy posting the pictures. Summer heat is so tough and now when the weather is being nice you can share your flowers when other gardens are dormant. I really like your garden an even though the heat is hard on the plants, they will most likely improve and stand up to it once they get to be much older with more stems and foliage and roots. They will shade themselves better as they grow larger so keep them going and growing this winter and spring. You have such a beautiful natural setting for your garden. I love the colors and the trees and shrubs beyond. All I have is the street and the houses next to me so I think you are lucky that you aren't always trying to crop that out of your pictures. Just keep posting anything you like to share.

Ingrid, you have a lovely garden. Just the kind that we'd all love to spend time in. I have a soft spot for Spice and SDLM so they were my favorites of the plants to look at. Love to look at your pics anytime. Lou

Looks lovely! Calandrinia grandiflora (aka Cistanthe grandiflora) makes a great and super-easy companion to Limonium perezii, by the way. A single cutting is plenty...

What a pick-me-up! Ingrid thank you so much for your pictures. It is such a dreary sad day here. Rainy and cold with ice on the way is appropriate weather to go along with my sad morning that involved euthanizing one of my horses.

Promise me you won't embargo your photos until Spring!! (OK, I know I'm playing the sympathy card here...but whatever works.)

Ingrid,

I think GL lied too; he said that Malmaison stayed small. Small? (I am rubbing my eyes here.) Is that plant on its own roots?

Spectacular views, by the way; and great photos of a captivating garden.

Are you tallying the votes yet?

Best,

Larry

Ingrid - Your pictures are lovely. I am so glad you are able to enjoy your beautiful garden. Thank you for sharing with us!

Waiting for the ice storm to hit here.....just going thru your garden again Ingrid and loving it. Lesley

After watching the news, I'm so afraid for all of you in the path of this terrible storm. Please stay at home if you possibly can unless you happen to have a tank in your garage.

subk3, I wish I could be there to hug you on this dreadful day. Only those of us who deeply love animals, and there are many here, can understand what you're going through.

I feel overwhelmed by your warmth and praise, and frankly don't feel that I deserve much of it. This is a small and simple garden, with no finesse in its design and no big and glorious roses. I could name so many people here who have much more spectacular and evolved gardens, and they have been my inspiration. But thank you so much for your wonderful posts. If it gives anyone even a little bit of pleasure, I'll keep on posting until the cows come home.

bart, it took six years for the cypresses to get to a respectable size (at least 20 feet) and I started out with little ones in one-gallon pots. I did water them quite a bit when they were small, whether they needed it or not. I give Bishop's Castle quite a bit of water so am not sure whether it's a water hog or not. It's in full sun and is one of my most disease-free roses. It's bushy and not gawky at all.

bluegirl, you'll always see Spice; I've decided it deserves to stay.

Kitty, I'm so lucky to have that wonderful background. I never cease to feel incredibly fortunate.

hoovb, thanks for making me aware of a plant that should do really well here without having to drown it in water. I don't think I've seen it locally; may have to order on-line.

cramoisi, my SdlM is really not that large, somewhat under 4 feet tall and about 5 1/2 feet across. It is, however, still growing. It was bought as a 1-gallon own-root plant at Chamblee's in September of 2009.

Lesley, what a gorgeous picture! Please stay safe during the storm.

Ingrid

Thanks for the info on the cypresses. Hopefully mine will grow well even without much watering! bart

Oh get outta here - you know we lap them up, Ingrid. Can't get enough.
Calandrina is easy-peasy from seed and you just cannot have too many shrubby salvias (greggii, jamensis, microphylla and hybrids) - I have a couple of glorious purples(Purple Queen, Nachtvlinder) and palest yellow (Claire de Lune), creamy peach(salvia X jamensis Sierra de San Antonio, Lowrey's Peach) - they really are top plants which bloom for 6 months continually and smell fabulous (although not keen on Hotlips).

Camp, I looked up the salvias and quickly became overwhelmed; there are tons of them. I never cared for the greggi I found locally, unattractive colors that weren't to my taste. Now you've opened a Pandora's box, thank you very much, with the 700 different varieties available. I need to find a good on-line source and go from there. Thanks for the info, though; I think a few could easy add some interest to a few lackluster corners.

Ingrid

Ingrid, you need to stop swearing.

Sherry

P.S. Your garden is still absolutely lovely and made for sharing.

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

Thank you sooo much for sharing! Everything in my North Texas garden is covered in ice at the moment. So I do appreciate the opportunity to swoon. Please don't stop sharing.

Sherry, I'll try to keep it clean from now on. Thank you and shopshops for the compliments and permission to go on. You're all so nice.

Ingrid

Gosh Ingrid how could we ever mind seeing more photos of your garden, especially when many of us are looking at sticks now.

We had several days of very cold winds and nothing much wants to bloom now, but that's still a lot better than having everything buried under snow and ice.

Ingrid

I love, love your garden and your beautiful pics of it.

Yours, too, lesmc.

Ingrid,

Your photos = Motivation!

Lee

floridarose and Lee, YOUR words keep me motivated. Thank you. This is one of the greatest things about this forum, that we cheer each other on and truly enjoy everyone's successes and commiserate with the failures that we all know only too well. That kind of good will and empathy is priceless and heart-warming. It's the reason I can't stay away from here for even a single day.

Ingrid

Like shopsshops said, it's been really cold here in D/FW, so seeing your garden is a treat.
Your SDLM is a superstar.
Glad you decided to keep Spice.

Randy

Thanks Randy. Yes, SdlM is no doubt my best rose in every way. I probably should have ordered two dozen and saved myself a lot of grief. Spice is a quiet rose but it does have its moments throughout the year, and ripping out a perfectly healthy rose that blooms a lot is more than even I can do, especially since it has so few thorns.

Ingrid

subk3, I just came across your post of Dec. 5. That is sad news about your horse. So sorry to hear such news.