My gardens here at the Cottage aren't quite up to that type of admiration yet. I did get some compliments on the photos I took of the main bed last year though, which did make me feel very good! My grandparents used to get people stopping to take photos of their house in spring, it was surrounded by rhododendrun and azalea they had planted in the 60's, so they had grown as tall as the roof on the porch and garage. It was quite striking. I wonder now and then if the new owners kept them or not-I do know they were divorced a few years after buying the house and he lives there now (gotta love facebook, lol). There is one house I have always admired the garden at near our old house. It's not a big garden, just a nice bed around the front of the house/walkway, but it blooms from spring to fall and always looks so perfect. I've seen an older woman tending it sometimes, usually dead heading or cleaning out weeds, but never had a chance to stop (it's on a very busy road with no shoulder) to tell her how lovely it is. I even google streetviewed the house when doing the original gardens here hoping for inspiration-too bad the streetview image was from WINTER. I know she has daffodils, tulips and daisies, but I can't recall what else I've id'd while passing at the moment....

Thank you all for your kind comments. They have made my morning! I put a few plants in the yard four years ago when my husband and I built our new home. I had no idea I would be bitten but the gardening bug the way I have. I love every single aspect of it, from planning to playing in the mud, even pulling weeds. I thoroughly enjoy photographing my garden blooms and arranging them in bouquets. We live several hundred feet off of the road in the woods and the property is not visible from the road. So I really appreciate the opportunity to share what I do with everyone on Garden Web. So thank you all for humoring me and having a look. Also a big thanks to Beth and Iris gal for help with Mondiale??? rose. I have tried to do several google image searches on Mondiale and came up empty handed. The picture on the tag did look like my rose when it is first opening. I have been meaning to try a knockout rose and I guess I have. Does anyone know what kind of knockout it might be? Carrie

It is indeed an artistic expression, and I can appreciate its beauty. However, if I want to know what a rose really looks like, unless I am a bee, I much prefer a shot at some intermediate length. Of course, it need not include a shot of the entire bush. Take your Lady shots, for example. The first close-up pic suggests a very orangey tone. The full bush shot reveals a more yellow impression, while pic 3 & especially 4 suggest a strong pinkish impression. Apparently, there is coloration change as the blossom ages, and the blossom clearly has multi-faceted hues. But I would never know that pictures 1 and 4 are of the same flower. All are artistically satisfying, but I suspect that the full bush shot best represents reality. Perhaps they are taken at different locations or under different light conditions. Also, if there were only the first pic of the Lady, I would have little idea of the size of the rose. I once had a friend who had a photographer friend of hers take a series of pictures of her garden as a record of that season's blooms. He produced a beautiful series of close-ups, many of very tiny flowers; but she was disappointed, because although the pictures were artistically satisfying, they completely lacked context. I don't say there isn't a place for close-ups; they can convey details that even an intermediate shot misses. I just wish more posters would give us more context in their shots and try to convey the garden impression of the flower (including size). There seems to be a general approach of taking a photo as close up as possible in an effort to "wow" us or to imitate the often misleading photos of hybridizers.

I am located in the Kansas City, MO area, not exactly California. I have grown Kordes' Brilliant in the Pacific Northwest and here in the midwest. It gets about 4 - 5 feet tall, has reasonably good disease resistance, but does benefit from a regular spray program. It is one of my first to flower and last to quit. Its growth habit is straight up, almost cylindrical, but spreading a bit. Its flowering habit is what you would expect as a grandiflora which would be a good class for this rose, but that class is not used in Europe. It blooms singly and in trusses as shown. The color in the photograph is quite close to real and is quite stable from beginning to end and through cool and heat. It does not have much of a problem with our winters here either with the multiple freeze-thaw cycles. It is fairly sturdy. It is one of the few that I have more than one of in the garden. It is available from Hortico and Vintage Gardens. I would put it as one of my better oranges.