Gorgeous roses all, with my favorite being Liv Tyler, Baptiste Lafay and Sonia Rykiel. My garden is one of the great passions in my life and I can't imagine a life without roses, especially old roses. The care I've given them has been repaid many times over with the happiness they've given me over the years. The planning, the planting, the growing - it's all been so exciting and pleasurable. Even the setbacks and challenges have added spice to my life, especially after I've overcome them! The garden will never be perfect, but striving to make it so is making me perfectly happy.

Thanks Suc_gremlin! I'm not sure - I would have guessed very old just looking at it, but it was so inexpensive - under $30, so maybe its not? Or maybe the seller just didn't know how awesome it is and I got lucky... I read they have to be at least 6 year old to flower, so at least 6 I guess... I'd love any guesses as to its age if anyone has an idea!

Banana Custard I've never tried. I actually had Caribbean Crush a while back, it didn't make it through the winter several years ago ... it was quite pretty - the colour is cool because each flower stalk is a bit different so it looks really interesting. I would have replaced it but I haven't seen it for sale around here since. You're right, it is not as vibrant as pictures in magazines/catalogues would suggest, but it quite pretty nonetheless. I like Southern Charm although it tends to be floppy. The colour is really nice (kind of a mix of pinks, lavenders, creamy flowers, majority being a peachy pink), and I have it paired with a bluish-purple delphinium which I think looks good. I used to have Summer Sorbet as well ... not sure where it went :( It was a nice deep colour, the deepest of any Verbascum I've grown and I wish it hadn't vanished ... I really like Smoky Plum so far ... nice colour but very small still (first year it bloomed was this year). It is a dwarf variety though, so it will never get too large. Nigrum is huge, strong stalks, much bigger and taller than I had expected. Not quite as dark a flower as I expected from the name, but a really good back of the border plant. Album bugs me a little because they look pretty in bloom but then seed quite a bit, and pulling out verbascum is kind of annoying the next Spring!! I have always wanted to try Sugar Plum too - looks like a great light purple. Pink Petticoats has ruffled pink flowers which is another I'd like to see. And I'd also really like to find Clementine, a nice coppery-orange looking one (and the only orange Verbascum I've ever seen). And now 16 candles, I love the yellow and purple combo on the flowers.

Nice tour of the neighborhood! I've never been to Iowa, but it does remind me a lot of Upstate NY and PA. What time of day did you take these pics? Looks very nice and quiet. Usually mornings and evenings are the worst here because of the people commuting and there's always road work being done which adds to the traffic! That mansion is beautiful! Whoever lives there is very rich, thats for sure! I always like to see some dawn redwoods, they look really nice, but I rarely see them at big sizes around here since most people have to cut them down because they plant it close their homes or run out of room, or something like that. Thanks for sharing! -Alex