Great pictures, Christopher! thank you for posting them. I DO hope you'll get a chance to put up one of that magnificent Purple Skyliner when it's in bloom...I can't help but sigh a little regretfully when I read about your own very organized and sensible approach to soil-preparation.I think that THAT is the way it "should be done" I wish I could be like that. Hopefully for any new areas I will be able to emulate yout technique at least a bit, but for the older ares,all I can do is weed, and try to do mulching(with cardboard) in patches around the plants.It's really too much for one person,probably.

I managed to capture a few more new faces for
the year today. I'm arranging them as though we're taking a walk
together. I realized that I didn't nab pics of the partial-shade border
against the side of my house -- will have to do that tomorrow. In any
case, that one has the biggest gaps because I'm waiting to order more
Polyanthas for there. But let's get started.

This is my tiny
front "box" garden. You can see 'Baltimore Belle' hugging the trunk of
an on-its-way-out Japanese maple. Against the porch railing is 'Souvenir
du Dr. Jamain in the left corner, 'Duchesse d'Angouleme' aka 'Wax Rose'
in the center, and a tiny "Maggie" behind the red pot, which contains
'Homere' and is sitting there until "Maggie" grows more. Then next to
that red pot is an upright Sedum whose name I can't remember, and
'Moonsprite' behind it. Behind 'Moonsprite' and in front of 'Duchesse
d'Angouleme' is 'Comtesse du Cayla', which suffered barely any damage
through Winter, despite having only spindly baby canes right now.

OK,
now at the base of the tree facing my walkway is "Huilito", which I
wove three of its long canes into 'Baltimore Belle' where it's hugging
the trunk. BB is actually planted on the other side of the tree. Then
the next rose going toward the sidewalk is 'Arethusa', which I recently
learned may want to get huge -- so probably not a good spot for it,
unless it doesn't mind getting a harsh haircut every Spring. That puff
of "grass" is actually a Dianthus whose name I can't remember.
Then the next rose near the front is a tiny 'Baby Faurax', who looks
just like 'Marie Pavie' in foliage until it blooms purple. That clump of
green leaves coming out between the wood and the cement is Ceratostigma plumbaginoides,
which I planted in the bed. I know it spreads, and part of it decided
to creep out from under the wood edging. And that bit surged ahead of
the rest, probably because it warmed up faster. You can see some other
little clumps of it by the front corner. It blooms true-blue in Autumn.

That
big green spreading bush dotted with many buds and a few open
near-white blooms is 'Marie Pavie' -- just one plant. There was a cane
from the center crossing and rubbing against two others, so I removed
it. The other canes were leaning, and then settled on being
near-horizontal, looking like an umbrella when it leafed out. Then, with
that hole in the center, new growth exploded straight up. The dark pink
blooms in the lower right corner belong to "Pickering Four Seasons",
which you'll see in the next pic, as destroyed by my iPhone camera. That
central bit of "grass-like" foliage belongs to Hemerocallis
'Joan Senior' -- I think. I'll remember when it blooms. All the tags for
them are gone, but I have their names in a file, so I'll know them when
they show their faces.

That silver foliage belongs to Stachys byzantina
‘Helen von Stein’, which was a big clump there a few weeks ago, until I
lifted and divided it. I plopped some other pieces elsewhere. Just to
its left is 'Pink Soupert', with 'Blue Mist' to the left of it. Behind
'Blue Mist' is a struggling 'Leonie Lamesch', which was down to one thin
stem after all the snow broke the rest. It's recovering. Behind it a
ways is 'Vineyard Song'. In the center, behind 'Marie Pavie', are 'Lemon
Spice' and 'Mirandy' -- two HTs I simply couldn't imagine where to put,
so I plopped them there.

See what my iPhone does to "Pickering Four Seasons"? And I wonder what critter did something to that one bud.....

Taking
a pic of 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' is such a tease. From far away, I can
see its accurate color, but just as blobs. Get in close enough for
detail, and the color turns fiery red. This is the happiest medium I
could do.

OK,
moving to the south-facing side of the neighbor's house, we see
"Grandmother's Hat" against the railing, and the next pink under the
window is 'Napoleon'. That bushy green blob is a green Santolina, then there are some Penstemon and Achillea
as well. Unseen here are 'Rival de Paestum' to the right of
"Grandmother's Hat", and 'Ducher' to the right of 'Napoleon', then "Dutch
Fork China" to the right of 'Napoleon', then 'Perle d'Or', then
'Cramoisi Superieur'. It seems 'Louis Philippe' -- which was further to
the left of "Grandmother's Hat" -- didn't make it through Winter. I'll
try again with another plant, but keep it in my back porch if it's not
substantial by Autumn.

Whenever I want to show the garden to someone, I walk around this way -- it seems like more of a surprise.

First bloom about to open on 'Ducher'.

"Dutch Fork China" -- sending up stout canes surrounded by last year's baby canes.

The
other half of the bed, all with a fresh layer of coffee grounds. 'Perle
d'Or' seems below the window in this shot, and is putting forth a few
thumb-thick new canes.

'Cramoisi
Superieur' -- as sold by Angel Gardens, which is also where my now
deceased 'Louis Philippe' originated. I figured if I got both from the
same nursery, I wouldn't end up with two of the same thing, considering
how mixed-up these two are. They were definitely different, but I think
they're the reverse of how they're sold on the west coast.

And finishing this post with a non-rose -- this is Amsonia hubrichtii
in bloom, which is nice and all, but its main beauty for me is its
foliage. It moves beautifully in the wind, and turns brilliant yellow in
late Autumn, before dropping its top growth for Winter.

.....to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

OK, now we're walking into the back yard via the opening between the fence and the yard-sharing neighbors' raised deck. The first thing you'd see if you were really here would be a bare stretch of a thin border by the fence -- still don't know what I want to plant there yet. I tried Ipomoea alba, but as lovely as they were, I was never home when they bloomed. Then last year I tried some "climbing" Nasturtiums -- but they're really "long sprawlers" which would need to be tied in as they grew. And it looked sloppy. So this year....it's empty still. And I didn't take a pic of it.

But what you see below is a few feet in, where the clematis begin. First is 'Edo Murasakai', then 'Niobe'. You'll also see some Trumpet and Orien-Pet lilies here and there, with Oriental lilies against the garage and in the part of the border with 'Clotilde Soupert' through 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. But we'll get there in a bit.

Looking to the left over the deck railing you see "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As" swallowing another part of it, and starting to go into the tree. If you look along the bottom edge of the center of this pic you'll see lavender -- that's a clematis climbing into NMICA. The red new growth you see in the lower right corner belongs to "Thomasville Old Gold" -- one of my potted Teas. I asked the neighbors if four could live there for a bit, until I get the cemetery roses planted at the end of Summer. "OMG, I'd love them on the deck!" was what Michelle said.

At the base of the previously-scalped Callery pear are two roses and two clematis. The rose you see -- or maybe missed -- to the left of the lowest clematis bloom is a tiny 'Eugene de Beauharnais'. The poor thing was getting its buds bitten off by squirrels who thought they were berries, then spit them out. Then when a few opened in Summer, they fried -- it was originally in my front "box" garden, where "Huilito" is now. So I moved it -- in Summer -- last year. And, of course, that wasn't the best idea. But it's coming back, and gets midday shade here.

The other rose is much more substantial -- 'Orfeo' is at 12:00 relative to the tree here, if 'Eugene de Beauharnais' is at 3:00. I started it out by training it to "hug" the tree, then tucked ensuing 15+ feet canes into the tree. It still needs to grow more before it does what I envisioned -- poking out dark red HT blooms from between the tree branches. But in the meantime, clematis 'H. F. Young' here and 'Henryi' in the next pic use 'Orfeo' as their trellis into the tree. The two wrap around in multiple directions, and at this point I know which is which only when they bloom.

Clematis 'Henryi' is obvious by its white blooms. But look closer. See the pink? That's "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As". See the modern HT-like foliage, and maybe some red buds? That's 'Orfeo'. I'll have to thin the tree a bit again to give 'Orfeo' some more sun. I want him poking out through the tree in multiple directions.

OK, back to the right, looking at the fence again. This is clematis 'Diamantina' climbing up the deer netting I nailed to the fence, and weaving into part of the now-immense 'Purple Skyliner', which is the rose whose foliage and unopened buds you see in the pic below.

Another clematis doing the same thing is 'Omoshiro', and again the rose here is still 'Purple Skyliner'.

In the right corner and along the top edge -- yep, the whole thing -- is 'Purple Skyliner' again. Where you see big foliage and fat, round, dark-pink buds is 'Mme de Sevigne' -- well, one branched cane of her. The others go in other directions, up and over some other roses like an umbrella without its fabric. The blue against the fence is clematis 'Blue Light' -- and maybe another or two. I went a bit blue-purple clematis crazy back in 2014. What better partner for roses, right?

Oh, and more Trumpet and Orien-Pet lilies.

Another clematis on the fence, working up and into 'Purple Skyliner, is this one -- 'Ruutel'. It's actually about the same color as -- maybe a touch pinker than -- 'Purple Skyliner'. I was actually hoping that the clematis would be more red and the rose more purple. But, it's sorta tone-on-tone colors with contrasting shapes.

OK, now if you were looking to the right at the fence before, you'd be looking to the left and down the path now. Along with some sprays of tiny buds from -- you guessed it -- 'Purple Skyliner', the OGR with the purplish-red buds is 'Monsieur Boncenne'. This rose was often mixed up with 'Baron de Bonstetten', and both bear a striking resemblance to the CA found rose "Pulich Children". I'd order PC and compare, but I'd rather not have two of this rose. As gorgeous as MB is during the first flush, he goes naked by July here without fungicides. And I just may consider giving him (and another one or two) some if the Castile soap spray doesn't work this year.

At the top edge of the pic, just to the right of the bricks, is 'Mme Dore'. Not much to see there yet.

Oh, look -- more lilies! They have their time on the stage in July, when most of the roses (except Chinas, Teas, and Polyanthas) are taking a break. I got them as mixes from Van Engelen -- 25 each Oriental, Trumpet, and Orien-Pet.

.......to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

Just gorgeous!!!!!

OK, so now you've stepped down from the brick-lined path and into the patch of grass I suppose is my "back lawn". Turn about 45 degrees counter-clockwise and you look at this -- the back of "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As" eating the raised deck railing, with 'Reine des Violettes' just beginning to open blooms in the right edge of the pic. As usual, her blooms are almost magenta on day 1, turning purple on day 2 or 3. The lighter green foliage running against the bottom edge of the pic is "Rose de Rescht" in a clump on the right, and some arching leggy canes on 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' on the right. Clematis 'H. F. Young' is planted on the right side of the tree -- in pics before what you saw was where he wrapped around to the other side. Clematis 'Henryi' is white, and does the same thing from the other side. Though also lavender-purple, the clematis on the railing is something else -- supposedly 'Countess of Lovelace' but it's blooming single now.

Oh, and yet more lilies.

'Reine des Violettes' is more like 'Reine des Magentas' on her first day. You can see how the bloom form is similar that of her neighbor, "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As".

The other rose on the other corner of the railing is 'Georg Arends', whose color is similar to that of NMICA, but it has a totally different form -- larger, and old HT-like. Basically, it's 'Frau Karl Druschki' form with 'La France' color and fragrance. Fitting, since those are its parents. That one would have been seen nearer the base of the tree, but it's not blooming yet. There was a pic of it in a previous post in this thread, however.

OK, so after looking at the railing, turn back toward the fence, but look at the bed in front of it instead of the roses and clematis climbing onto it. Here's another arm of 'Mme de Sevigne' with some blooms opening. The darker foliage to its left -- with some red new growth -- belongs to 'Tamora'.

If you remember where 'Monsieur Boncenne' led to 'Mme Dore' at the corner, well 'Botzaris' comes next when you turn 90 degrees. This one is going to have a big show, and here's the opening act.

Back looking at the fence again, this is 'Bubble Bath' -- the rose after 'Purple Skyliner' -- with clematis 'Blue Light'. You can see three white puffs forming a triangle just below center in the pic -- that's 'Bubble Bath'. Her -- I think it's a she -- foliage differs from her neighbors' 'Purple Skyliner' to the right and 'Bleu Magenta' to the left in being a bit more puckered. If you enlarge the pic, you can see where one ends and the other begins.

Down in front, to the right of the 'Bubble Bath' trio, is 'Tamora', but no blooms yet. To the left of 'Tamora' are some about-to-open buds on 'Pierre Notting'. This is a Bourbon-like red Hybrid Perpetual -- not the yellow Tea called 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting'.

I think the single-flowered blue clematis in the lower left corner is 'Lasurstern' -- I remember putting two of similar hue, each on either side of 'Bubble Bath', the difference being that one was single and one was double. Looking at my list, those seem to be the two. There's a bloom on clematis 'Red Star' against the left edge of the pic, climbing into 'Bleu Magenta'.

Oh, and yet more lilies.

Here's a better look at that 'Bubble Bath' trio. And you can more easily see that "puckered foliage".

And another better look, this time at unopened buds on 'Pierre Notting'. FINALLY I captured its color correctly. Of course, the blooms aren't open yet.....
:-/

And here's my secret fave, 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. Why? Well, I just love what he does, even if his main bloom time is done by mid to late July, with a modest repeat in Autumn. I just love the presence. And that despite being a Bourbon, he's one of my top 5 cleanest roses in this NJ garden without fungicides. And his blooms smell divine.

Yeah, far from being a graceful shrub, but it's the presence. I can't put it into words. Planted elsewhere I'd hate him. If he didn't come down from Buffalo with me, in a 2gal container sitting in the hot moving truck for 8 hours, maybe I'd feel differently. He didn't bloom for me until I started building the garden, after I had his gawky self for a year. I can't explain it. He's my boy. Don't judge me.

........to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

Oh, I should have mentioned in the last bit of the last post that the upright and handsome rose on the left edge is 'Prospero'. I don't share many pics of him, but not because I don't like him. My iPhone destroys the color of his blooms in pics, so I don't even try anymore. But I'm mentioning this rose because it seems he's finally found his feet, and is putting out some nice growth this year.

Anyway.....

From facing 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' in the last pic of the previous post, continue to your left. It's a small stretch of a double bed -- Gallicas in the back under the limbed-up arbor vitae, and some miscellaneous repeat-blooming roses in front, the bed divided by railroad ties. To the left of aforementioned 'Prospero' is 'Golden Buddha', who's looking a bit gawky now after recovering from being splayed out by last week's rain. Why I thought these two would make good neighbors I don't know -- this spot is sort of my "odd corner". Then to the left of 'Golden Buddha' is a gap -- my entrance into that part of the garden for maintenance. To the left of the gap is my six-feet-tall 'The Prince', which I planted there because of his reputation as being "wimpy when own-root". I imagined him maxing at about three feet tall. I left him to see how big he'd get, but now I've had enough -- he's getting a harsh haircut after the first flush.

So, why do I mention all that? To explain why I didn't take pics there -- it's just awkward. So we continue to the left of 'The Prince', where 'Clotilde Soupert' is just beginning to bloom. Yes, they look odd when only the first few outer petals expand. Even odder is that she now looks almost like a groundcover, after being hit with so much rain. Another case of "I should have pruned the rose harder in Spring". Oh, well....she'll be a mound of pale-pink snow for the first flush.

At the end of this row, against the garage, is "Sophie's Perpetual", which I think will FINALLY put out some decent growth. Not tiny by any means at about 24" tall, it's more a case of growing well while in a pot, then just inching along for two and a half years after. She has very little Winter damage, so it's not that I keep cutting her back. And strangely, there's a whiff of "myrrh" in her perfume this year, which last year smelled like just about any other Bourbon in my garden.

The tree branches behind her were put in to support "Secret Garden Musk Climber", but that was a pipe dream thinking that rose would do well here. Winter just keeps knocking it back. I may go with either 'Mme Alfred Carriere' or 'Lyda Rose' there instead -- if this one dies. I've already replaced SGMC once, but I won't again. Not a bad rose -- just not right for here.

Another of my gawky-but-I-love-them-anyway roses, this is 'Honorine de Brabant' about to open her first bloom of the year. As with 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', this is another oddly healthy Bourbon here. Another is the aforementioned 'Mme de Sevigne'.

I think this might be the year that 'Rose du Roi -- original' will stay upright without support. The trick is to avoid the flirtation of all that green-to-the-tips growth after Winter and cut the canes down by about a third regardless. You know the "Portland trait" of having a ruff of leaves around the blooms? That's because their canes have progressively shorter distances between buds as you get near the top. That also means becoming top-heavy. So to anyone growing roses with this growth habit, do yourself a favor and cut them back harder than you think you should. They'll branch out lower down, and that will keep some weight at the bottom. They'll still have a "naked knees" look, but at least they won't be "naked save for a hat".

Behind and to the left of 'Rose du Roi -- original' is 'Paul Neyron'. At the left edge of the pic is 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte'. And in the right corner is "Bermuda Spice", who (yay!) kept quite a bit of cane through this past mild Winter.

P.S. If the lighting looks odd, it's because this pic I took early this evening. All the others I took this morning before work.

"Bermuda Spice" has very variable blooms. This one is showing a bit of yellow at the base, otherwise pale pink, with a pinker center -- and already smelling of red grapefruit.

Meanwhile, another bloom about to open has pronounced "blushing" to the outer petals, resembling some old paintings of 'Hume's Blush'. But I didn't see this last year. I posted two pics of "Bermuda Spice"'s first flush from last year on HelpMeFind. Compare those to these. Funky.

And one last look at the main beds before going back inside.

Oh, see the gap at the back by the fence? See the tall, upright rose to the left of the gap? That's 'The Prince' -- wimpy my butt.

And that's it for now.

:-)

~Christopher

Beautiful indeed! You should stay in that house forever! :-) It's like reading a rose tale, keep writing! I will have to keep my eyes open for Souvenir de Victor Landeau. Did you say that rose was in Buffalo- the "ice land"? It sure can take the cold.

I got 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' from Vintage Gardens, back when I was still in Buffalo in 2012. I ordered quite a few from them and Rogue Valley Roses -- as farewell presents to some special people I'd be leaving behind. And I couldn't help but get a few for myself, once I found a place and was given permission to "plant a few flowers" (ha!). At the time, I wasn't yet aware that Vintage Gardens would be closing in just another couple years, and I lucked out by getting this one -- and a couple others -- because no one else carries them anymore. Bourbons get a bad reputation as being disease-ridden, when in reality, it seems that it's just some of the more popular ones which happen to be so. But not all of them. Strangely, some of the ones fading into obscurity happen to be healthier than those carried by all the specialty nurseries. I suppose that if they were mentioned in any of the British rose books, people "had to have them." If Peter Beales or Graham Stuart Thomas or David Austin didn't glow about them, no one sought them out.

But anyway, yes, SdVL arrived in Spring 2012 and was planted in its 2gal container, and this was before I finalized my "magic mix". It was potted with equal parts Scott's topsoil, Bovung dehydrated manure, and shredded hardwood mulch, with Jobe's Organic Knock-Out Rose Fertilizer mixed in. It survived being on my exposed front porch all Winter in NJ -- 'Mme Isaac Pereire' and 'Belle Story' suffered fatal damage being treated the same way, leaving only 'Charles de Mills', 'Cardinal de Richelieu', and "Darlow's Enigma" to join SdVL in the garden. SdVL grew rather vigorously upright, then leaned and sorta "self-pegged", and has continued this trend. When a cane looks bloomed-out, I remove it or cut it back to a vigorous lateral that is essentially a new cane. New canes emerge just before and running through the first flush, and they bloom either with the second flush in June through late July, with the last flush in Autumn, and/or the following year during the first flush. It's like a Bourbon flowering cane factory -- just keep the new ones rolling in to replace the old ones. Sure, it's not a "graceful shrub", but I kinda like how it reminds me of a giant tarantula with its pair of front legs in the air in a threatening posture (ha!) It doesn't start getting blackspot until late Autumn, then just the lower third. But by then, who cares?

After the first flush is over, I'm going to start taking cuttings. Should I put you down for one of SdVL? You can't buy it anywhere in the US anymore.

:-)

~Christopher

Is Vineyard Song healthy in your garden?

Thanks Chris, a big YES, please do! :-) Did you started growing old garden roses when you were in Buffalo? Back in 2012 I knew nothing about OGR, I was busy growing KOs and Capet roses after killed 300+ HTs, this forum and threads like yours got me into growing more old garden roses. I ordered 3 big roses from RVR 7-8 years ago without knowing they were old garden roses: Blushing Lucy, Darlow's Enigma and MAC. MAC is gone I think after all these years, it was going down the hill after 2 cold winters. nothing came out of root this spring after something chewed off the left over 2 thin canes in the winter.....still water the MAC root everyday, it's a own root, it should be back to life, right? I found a rare once bloomer from Canada last weekend: Antonia D. Ormols. If you are interested I can try to root one for you in the fall, not good at rooting yet, it's one of the things I need to learn this summer. I was just reading how to air layer roses tonight, and bought a sprinkler system for rooting use 3 or 4 months ago...... right now working on digging holes to get some potted roses planted.....and have to dig more holes after that, 40 bare root roses are coming, it sounds crazy, but they are fragrant bargains hard to pass....... :-)

A wonderful stroll through your garden! Can't wait to see how it continued to unfold in the coming weeks! Gorgeous.

modestgoddess -- yes, 'Vineyard Song' is healthy here. That one was planted directly as a band in 2014, and as such has lagged behind by about a year. Now it's only slightly larger than bands I babied last year before planting there, so it all worked out.

summersrhythm -- OK, I put you down for one. That list is getting long -- I'll be having ziplock-covered plastic cups all over. To answer your question, the first OGRs I bought were while I was in Buffalo. I picked eight Gallicas and eight Albas to go with four pre-planned garden collections from Bluestone Perennials, using a grant from the city through the block club for my street. The grant was for "beautifying" the little lot at the end of the street. By that time I had already been reading about OGRs, being as I wasn't able to have a garden since I left my last one on Long Island when I moved to Buffalo. In that garden, the roses were just Austins. As I kept learning about them through books and online reading, I wanted to "meet" them, so my farewell gifts were also gifts to me. If only for a little while before passing them on, I got to "meet" some of the favorites I'd been reading about. In terms of actually planting my own garden with them, here in NJ was my first.

:-)

~Christopher

Great pics! Though I'm sure they don't do your yard justice. Walking around surrounded by all those roses must be a real treat. That Nouveau Monde is especially beautiful. I just love great big roses covered with blooms.

-Chris

Thanks Chris! You're doing a wonderful job with your 1st own garden! Do you guys have Garden Walking in NJ, you could educate people about old garden roses......and start gardening with old roses trend. I hope that garden you started in Buffalo is still there, may be it's on Garden Walk map. :-) Thanks again.

I don't blame you for having a soft spot for SdVL,Christopher; that is one beautiful flower. I suspect that a lot of bourbons (it IS a bourbon, right??? or wrong???) have a kind of awkward habit, though not annoyingly awkward like some of the Austins, IMO, since it seems you can always train them onto supports,or mask the defect as you've done (in the picture, the plant looks quite graceful, I think). I'm definitely sold on Mme de Sevigne, thanks to your pic. Btw, I've found I've been unfair to Charles XII; it's only been in my garden about 2 and a half years,I found (checked e-mail history) . Probably just needs more time...

Beautiful as usual, Christopher.

SdVL is gorgeous! I hope at some point this rose will be back in commerce as it definitely appears to be worth growing.

Lynn

Just throwing this on the thread -- a huge bloom on 'Mme de Sevigne' which I captured this morning before work.

Christopher, keep the pics coming!! It is such fun to read your posts and thanks for sharing your lovely garden as it grows!

Some pics early this morning before I left for work.

:-)

~Christopher

Is that a dianthus in the last picture? What variety?

-Chris

Christopher, I do believe that you're getting pretty close to a full spring flush of roses. The growth is phenomenal and I imagine part of the reason is the continuous application of coffee grounds. I thought this year would be phenomenal and indeed it is. Congratulations on all your hard work having paid off so wonderfully.

Really beautiful.... the roses are stunning and I love the way you've edged your beds.

chris209 -- yup, it's Dianthus 'Rose de Mai', with Austin rose 'Happy Child' behind it. Unfortunately, I think I snipped back the Dianthus too much, since it's usually blooming by now. Instead, it's just a foliage plant at the moment, but I like it even as that. I'm sure it'll start making buds soon. In fact, I think I overdid the coffee grounds a bit by the Dianthus, since several seemed to have had some dieback over Winter. I think that they just hate being wet over Winter, and the grounds held too much moisture. So now I'm going easy on them. Luckily, as long as a little bit remains alive, they tend to fill in again rather quickly.

ingrid_vc -- thank you so much! And yes, I'm about to hit full-flush. Unfortunately, I've been working so much that I get glimpses early in the morning before work, and again when I come home late at night via my iPhone's flashlight. Well, at least my neighbors sharing the yard are enjoying the show. I'll be home earlier tomorrow, and working only at night on Friday, so I'll get to catch up with my babies then.

rhoder551 -- thank you so much! The edging was a "kill two birds with one stone" kinda thing. I wanted to cut back the Callery pear to let in light, and then was left with lots of branches. At the same time, I needed something to make edging for a raised bed. So I took the problems of "what to do with the branches?" and "how to make edging with little money to spend?" and let each be a solution for the other.

And now, I'm off to bed.

:-)

~Christopher

So we went through a long cool and damp spell, and now this week we're hitting the 90s -- it's still 90F right now, after 7pm. But 'Abraham Darby' kept this huge bloom perfect for me until I got home from work. After things cool down a bit, I may go out and snap a few more pics.

OK, the sun is setting, but I was not in a pic-taking mood after watering all 100 or so pots. That was more important after this week's heat. Tomorrow morning I'll take a walk around.

:-)

~Christopher

I slept a little later today, and so I missed the optimal hour for capturing as much of the garden as possible. But, I did still manage quite a few pics today. Unfortunately, not all are of optimal quality, so please use your imagination to filter them properly.

'Duchesse d'Angouleme' -- the one with the aka 'Wax Rose'.

'Comtesse du Cayla'.

'Buff Beauty'.

My "not quite as shady as I originally thought" border against my house, with 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' climbing up the corner of my raised front porch, and 'Buff Beauty' along the side, plus various ferns and hostas and other things -- including my musk strawberries (Fragaria moschata). Roses in here now are 'Denise Cassegrain' just past 'Buff Beauty', then 'Sweet Chariot' which is about to bloom, then "Lindee". I plan on adding more Polyantha roses here in the future to give some shade to the ferns, which have been getting burnt when the sun hits here late in the day.

This is the side of the Japanese maple's trunk facing the walk to my front steps. "Huilito" is planted against the trunk, and three of its 36" or so canes are tucked into 'Baltimore Belle', which is hugging the tree here. If "Huilito" is at 6:00 here, 'Baltimore Belle' is planted at about 2:00, with clematis 'Sweet Summer Love' at about 12:00. The clematis is making its way into 'Baltimore Belle' in many directions. That will bloom at the end of Summer. "Huilito" is about to start -- note the pink buds. It has some shorter bushier canes which project forward.

A bloom on still-tiny "Maggie" planted at the corner of my front steps and the raised front porch.

Going around to the south-facing border against the neighbors' house, only 'Perle d'Or was in enough shade at the moment to allow for a reasonable pic.

Walking along the path into the back yard, between the fence and the neighbors' raised deck, you'll see 'Georg Arends' planted at the corner, climbing the railing and mingling with "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As". And here's a bloom on 'Georg Arends'.

Going up into the Callery pear tree in front of the neighbors' raised deck is 'Orfeo', whose blooms are really the color of 'Crimson Glory' rather than the fiery red into which my iPhone transforms it. The matte drooping foliage belongs to "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As".

'Purple Skyliner' has begun its show, with large purplish-pink blooms of 'Mme de Sevigne' to the left of center.

The rose not currently blooming just to the right of center in the pic below is 'Jude the Obscure', which offers some soft-yellow contrast to all the purplish colors going on here at the moment.

'Purple Skyliner' with clematis 'Diamantina'.

I managed to ALMOST capture all of the purple tints on 'Monsieur Boncenne' -- which may be the same rose as "Pulich Children".

.....to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

'Yolande d'Aragon', with an up-close pic of an opened bloom in the second pic.

'Mme Dore' is planted at the corner where the path meets the edging, with 'Monsieur Boncenne' on one side of it, and 'Botzaris' on the other side.

.......to be continued.


:-)

~Christopher

I have yet to accurately capture the purple color of 'Prospero' as it appears in life. But you can see the beautiful form of the bloom. 'Golden Buddha' is peeking in from the upper left corner.

Horrible depiction of color, but there you are -- 'Golden Buddha' to the left, 'Prospero' in the center, and a bit of 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' on the right.

'Golden Buddha'.

'Honorine de Brabant' has less of a pink base this year, with many blooms resembling those of 'Variegata di Bologna'.

But, as with most striped roses, variation is the norm.

Again, overexposure was my nemesis today, but here's 'Honorine de Brabant', with 'Happy Child' on its left, and Amsonia tabernaemontana between them.

Looking back at the corner of the neighbors' raised deck railing by the stairs, some blooms of 'Reine des Violettes' are peeking out. The white unopened bloom behind it belongs to my potted 'Devoniensis', which is sitting on the deck. The stout canes to the right belong to 'Paul Neyron', which is always the last in this spot to begin blooming.

..........to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

And one last shot -- I was trying to get some "wide angle shots of the main beds" but only this area wasn't drenched in sun at the time. Along the left edge is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' wrapping the corner, with 'Golden Celebration' to its right, some dark blooms on pegged 'Pierre Notting' if you look closely, then a bit of 'Tamora', with a pegged part of 'Mme de Sevigne' weaving toward the front edge. 'Bubble Bath' is the white rose against the fence, and mostly obscured by the sun in the upper right corner is 'Purple Skyliner'.

Christopher, OMG!!! What you have accomplished in your young garden is amazing. Definitely inspirational!!

Realizing that our climates, and yours compared to others may be so different, I think there can be certain gardening practices, that can mildly or majorly improve rose growing in other places. You've shared your Christopher's mix, would you mind sharing your other rose care tips?

Lynn

Christopher, I love how your garden is so gorgeous and naturalistically draping here and there as OGRs are wont to do. This so helps us. It is amazing to see this progress so quickly. I love your rose and other plant selections. You have lucky neighbors.

Thank you both! I don't think I have magic powers or anything like that. All I've done is read a lot about the roses I enjoy, consider their natural tendencies and habits, and try to "bend, not break" them into doing what I want. What some see as a rose's liability I see as its potential for a different use. In other words, rather than spending a lot of energy trying to turn a rose into a lousy version of something it's not, make it into an exceptional version of what it is. So, for example, many bemoan some Hybrid Perpetuals like 'Reine des Violettes' for being gawky and bare lower down. That's because they're wanting these roses to be grown as shrubs, or in a "bedding" style. These roses simply don't work well that way. Sprawly and gawky does work well when used as a short climber, or pegged high and allowed to weave through other things. Since these roses also tend to be more disease-prone than some tougher once-bloomers, that spread-out way of growing also provides better air circulation, thus (at least somewhat) minimizing foliage "issues".

Many wild roses -- including those featuring prominently in the ancestry of many of the oldie and oldie-like roses we here love -- don't naturally live out in the open, getting all-day sun, and growing as neat, compact shrubs. They live at the woodland edges, or in clearings between trees, or perhaps clambering around until they get high enough to reach the sun. While many roses can work as "specimen shrubs", I personally feel that many others "want" to be tucked in among other things. Have you ever had a rose irk you by sending out random gawky canes that seem to be reaching for something that isn't there? Or perhaps a rose will be upright at first, then keep flopping over? Maybe there isn't anything wrong with the rose -- maybe there's something wrong with what you're expecting it to do. They are rather amenable to training and pruning, but what I did here is just "let them go wild" for their first couple of years, pruning only in early Spring to tidy up and remove Winter-damage. I wanted to see what they'd do if allowed to do so. Then, rather than adhere to "strict pruning" to make them into what they're not, I just said "OK, you want to send up long, stout canes that can't quite support themselves? Then I'll guide you to where you'll get support, or discretely tuck some in."

Another thing I try to do is visualize multiple steps beyond the immediate consequences of my actions. This is also why I haven't used fungicides -- but may begin, on a very limited basis, and only on those which can't seem to keep leaves without it. But first I'm going to see if a Castile soap spray, perhaps with some other "safe" ingredients, makes a difference. See, using fungicides would have the immediate effect of keeping blackspot at bay. But further effects could very well involve harming the soil food web which I need to keep breaking down all those coffee grounds. And if they're gone, that means that beneficial fungi attaching to the roots of my roses will likely also be gone, which means that the roses will need more water and fertilizer to compensate for what would no longer be provided by the fungi. Plus, those fungi have their own systems of keeping harmful organisms at bay, so without those fungi, I'd have other organisms proliferating, possibly causing other problems.

Another aspect related to this visualizing is my watering -- I rarely do it, save for things in pots. Many things in the garden will get to the wilting point, especially when it's hot and the sun is hitting them directly. In fact, at this point, I wait and see if anything is still wilting after the sun has already passed by it. Then I'll water, and when I do so, I really soak that area. I don't use a sprinkler or drip irrigation because I don't want steady trickles of water keeping the moisture high in the soil line -- unless the top layer is really soaking, it acts like a sponge, and lower down gets nothing. So for water to get lower, the top has to be beyond saturation. Going along with this idea, if I know it's going to rain after a long period of no rain, I'd prefer to water heavily right before the rain, rather than at some midpoint between the rains. This way, when the rain actually falls, water will soak down deeper, since the top layer is already wet and can't hold much more.

I also check points in the beds by carefully digging down a few inches. I want to see life, and lots of it. The more things are crawling around, the more air and water and nutrients are making their way to the roots. With what I do in my garden, the "mulch" layer is really a cold compost pile, spread very wide but only a few inches deep. Within it are critters and organisms eating away at the coffee grounds -- and they are fiercely competitive, despite the plethora of food available. Spiders and other predatory arthropods are attracted by the detritivores, but those predators will also go after pest insects and critters.

There's more that I do, but essentially it comes to those points. Stop working in your gardens for a bit and just sit and stare -- and try to visualize what's going on. Imagine how plants will look three years later. See what happens if, rather than fighting something, you do nothing.

Of course, I can get away with much of this because of where I garden. I wouldn't recommend my "tough love" approach to watering for people in areas which don't get as much rain as I do here. But the principle of "bending, rather than breaking" still applies.

:-)

~Christopher

Your garden pruning style is so much more romantic than the tight pruning I've seen on shrubs including Rosarie d la Hay in Paris. That surprised me. Nik, Melissa, Bart don't prune that way either thankfully. Maybe there is a space problem in the public garden. The climbing roses were glorious there though. You'll probably have to go to Ninfa some day too.

Christopher your gardens are beautiful. Everything looks like it just naturally grew there! Your comments about fungicides harming the soil food web got me thinking. Have you seen the product Actinovate? it seems like it's something we could be using that would be safe, but I don't know how effective it is. I don't spray but this might be an option.

Very sound advice Christopher. I also don't have an irrigation system. I do hand watering with either a watering can (mostly for the potted roses that need to be watered frequently, and I mainly use rain barrel water for that) or the hose. I too like to soak the base of the rose with water, i usually flood it and then see if it drains. It takes me a long time, but it's also a good time to inspect the roses and see what is going on. I also can spray off aphids or spent blooms or diseased leaves easily. I have a very wide front yard and I was using those expandable hoses last year, but they kept bursting. This year I bought two 50 foot Zero hoses and they are great. They are lighter than rubber roses but don't expand or contract. I added on expandable hose on the end, so now I can water my whole front yard with the hose, no more lugging water over to the far spots, thankfully!

I really appreciate your long and thoughtful responses Christopher - lots of information and lots of pictures! Your approach to gardening is spot on - I'll have to reconsider the fungal issue I'm seeing in my young Souvr DDr Jamain. I was tempted to just see how it did in it's shady spot, and last year did no spraying and did not tidy too many of the black spot leaves. Just kind of let it go. It's quite big now and we have about a dozen blooms vs last year's yield: one. This year I've fussed over it a bit more. Maybe I'll lay off a bit. Anyway it's wonderful to see your Duchesse d'Angouleme! She is a beauty, and so many others are gorgeous. Thank you for sharing!!

OK, this may be getting old, but I keep trying to capture the garden via my iPhone. Next year I'll be sure to have a proper camera. In the meantime, some more shots from today.

'Comtesse du Cayla' is still small, was planted only last year, but suffered virtually no Winter damage. Today a second bloom opened on it, and this one is much more double than the one from yesterday.

Planted nearby is 'Baltimore Belle', which is climbing into the old Japanese maple. And it seems she wants to begin even earlier this year than last year. There was a handful of blooms looking just like this, scattered around.

Now in the back yard, "Bermuda Spice" continues its season-long bloom time.

"Bermuda Spice" is at the left edge, then some various potted things showing pinker blooms. BS's two closest neighbors are 'Paul Neyron' shown below, and 'Rose du Roi -- original' which is closer to the log-edged front of the bed. This pic was taken from the neighbors' lower deck area. You can also see 'Reine des Violettes' planted against the railing by the stairs. In the brown pot on the right is 'Devoniensis', which will be moved to a more prominent position now that it's begun blooming as well.

Some close-ups of 'Paul Neyron' with my hand for comparison. These aren't the largest blooms it can produce, but they're not too shabby.

Shifting further to the right, you can see 'Reine des Violettes' peeking through the railing, meeting up with "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As" -- which still has plenty of unopened buds waiting in the wings.

And here's a closer look at 'Reine des Violettes'.

Looking at this area from the other side -- while standing on the grass. 'Rose du Roi -- original' is just starting to lean from the weight of its blooms, but not nearly as much as last year when I left it unpruned in Spring. Unfortunately, the sun was really hitting it there, but you get the idea. The white bloom left-of-center belongs to 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte', which is probably the same rose being sold as 'Annie Vibert'.

And that splash of light-colored stuff near the lower left corner? Well, that's "an organism" which appears sometimes after a dense layer of nutrient-rich organic matter has been wet for a period of time. I see it sometimes with all the coffee grounds I put down. And I know what it is, but I'd rather not mention its name here in case someone gets afraid. It's totally harmless, if only a bit unsightly. If I really cared about getting rid of it, a splash of soapy water would make it "deflate" back into the soil.

Here's another view from the grass, looking at 'Reine des Violettes' against the railing by the stairs, with a bloom of 'Abraham Darby' photobombing from the left. And this pic shows why I don't mind 'Reine des Violettes' being gangly and somewhat bare -- if it was denser and fuller, it wouldn't work there. I accept her for how she is and put her where that would be an asset rather than a liability.

...........to be continued.

:-)

~Christopher

OK, not ideal because of the sun, but not horrible either. 'Abraham Darby' is about dead-center here. The open space is allotted for 'Lady Hillingdon' and 'Tip-Top', which both suffered damage from that late freeze we got. Both are starting to regrow virtually from the soil line. The rose near the left edge with the purplish-pink blooms is 'Rose de Rescht', with 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' arching around behind it.

'Rose de Rescht', with some of 'Abraham Darby' sneaking in from the left, and 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' near the upper edge.

The part of the bed on the other side of the brick-lined path is much fuller, since there are more roses with arching growth. 'Botzaris' is the white at the log edge, and 'Bubble Bath' is the white against the fence. All the large purplish-pink blooms you see belong to 'Mme de Sevigne' -- except for those on the left edge, which is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. You can make out 'Golden Celebration' in that area as well. The blue-gray-green blob in the path is wooly thyme.

Another shot of this general area.

Another partial success at capturing purple on 'Monsieur Boncenne'. It's still not 100% true-to-life, but it's better than I got last year.

Right near 'Monsieur Boncenne' is one of the self-seeded Orlaya grandiflora plants which are blooming in the beds. It's rather like a more polite version of Queen Anne's Lace.

Over by the garage is 'Charles de Mills', but my iPhone destroyed its color. The white rose is 'Clotilde Soupert', which will get a haircut after the first flush. The lavender flowers in the upper right area belong to some Hesperis matronalis which I seeded last year. I'm hoping for a "fight it out" match between them and the Gallicas there.

Wow, Christopher, just fantastic! All looks very graceful and healthy.

Wow, what a garden! The fragrance must fill the whole street........your Honorine de Brabant is huge and lovely, glad to see that. I just received a free one from a nice lady on this forum, it wasn't doing well in her garden in FL...I am its new keeper now. I'd find a big spot for it, I babied it for a few weeks now, it's starting to grow again, I shall plant it today. Keep the rose tale in your garden going......Don't you have a rose club in your area? You got to show people the power of OGR. :-)

It just keeps getting better and better. Honorine de Brabant has become one of my favorites in the garden. I'm curious how the rebloom will be after the first blush since she has the reputation of making more leaves than blooms after that. It would be so worthwhile to have a better camera for your garden. By next year when you have the camera the roses will be even more spectacular.

Wow beautiful rose garden Chris.. my wish list just keeps on growing how fragrant is Mme de Sevigne? Thanks for sharing.. I look forward to more blooms from your garden.

ingrid_vc -- I, too, noticed that 'Honorine de Brabant' seems focused more on growing than blooming if left to itself. Last year, I pruned it in late Winter, and it was glorious for its first flush in late Spring. Then it grew and grew, since I let it "go wild", and I got only the occasional bloom here and there, the last sometime around Halloween. This year, I'm trying an experiment of sorts -- the roses which are "stingy" with rebloom were just lightly tidied up in Spring, but otherwise left rather big. After the first flush, I'm going to prune them as "the books" say to do in late Winter, and see if that gets a better rebloom.

It worked with 'Rose du Roi -- original' which I cut back hard on half its canes after the first flush because it wasn't self-supporting. The result was a bit scary for a couple of weeks, since that one leafs out only in the top few inches, which made it top-heavy and caused it to flop. After cutting it back hard, I was left with leafless canes maxing at about 24" tall. But they soon branched lower down and leafed out again, and had a second flush soon after. Once I saw that what I did didn't kill the canes on which I did it, I went back and did it to the others I left untouched. They did the same thing, but behind the first set by a few weeks.

What I'm going to do with 'Honorine de Brabant' is first look to see if there are canes or laterals which had few or no blooms, and remove them entirely -- I figure they're "spent". Then I'll cut back canes which did bloom well by about a third. I've noticed that reblooming OGRs like Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals don't "rebloom" the way Chinas and Teas and Polyanthas do. The former groups bloom after new growth has reached a certain size, their first flush being on what grew the previous year. The latter groups just leaf out what remained after Winter, then send out bloom sprays on that, which later become new growth. In other words, my Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals want to leaf out, grow, then bloom. My Chinas, Teas, and Polyanthas want to leaf out, bloom, then grow. So I'm thinking that to get the Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals to rebloom better, they need a kick in the pants to send forth new growth, rather than just extending what they already put out before the first flush.

haku84 -- 'Mme de Sevigne' does not disappoint in the fragrance department. Everyone talks about 'Mme Isaac Pereire' as being the most fragrant Bourbon, but I've smelled quite a few, and I think that generally this "family" of long-caned Bourbons with kinda similar blooms are mostly very fragrant. This would include 'Mme de Sevigne', as well as the rose sold as 'Souvenir du President Lincoln', 'Deuil de Dr. Reynaud', 'Mme d'Enfert', etc. If you have an old Vintage Gardens catalog, they'd be the Bourbons of growth habit #3, or in some cases #4 -- as is my 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', which is also quite fragrant.

:-)

~Christopher

Thanks Chris.. Im new to the world of roses so I do not have such catalog but thanks for your response.. I will be doing research on the roses you have listed.

Again, thanks for the pictures. I LOVE that P. Skyliner with the dark blue-violet clematis,as well as many another of your combinations. Also admire your gardening attitude. Though my climate is much drier than yours,I don't water established roses at all ( Melissa doesn't either, I think. She's a bit further north than me, but basically it's the same type climate). There just isn't enough water for that! plus, your theory about the water going down deep is, I think, spot on.

I used to try to spray-I say, try, because my huge garden is also exposed to the south-west. Spraying was an enormous job,lugging the heavy back-pack sprayer up the steep slope, and of course it was hard to find a slot of time in which the hot sun wasn't beating down trying to fry everything. I tried to do it once a month-probably not often enough to be effective. It wasn't effective. I stopped,encouraged by Paul Zimmerman and the people at the Bierkreek nursery. I think I'm in my third year "on the wagon" and my garden is certainly NOT more disease-y than it was when I sprayed; on the contrary, I think it's doing better. Paul Z. warned that it does take a few seasons for the roses to kick the fungicide habit,however. I do have a few problem "children",but I think in many cases this is due to soil issues,since they are almost all roses I planted before I finally got the knack of how to do soil improvement for my garden.They also are for the most part Chinas and Noisettes; in other words, roses that want to bloom constantly,so I think they might be more sensitive to poor soil than other types. I don't see why you'd want to start spraying at all; your roses look absolutely lush and delicious!!!

'Baltimore Belle' enters the stage. Others have as well, but I've been working so much that I keep missing pic-taking time windows.

:-)

~Christopher

Baltimore Belle is absolutely exquisite. What a gorgeous sight to see it going up that tree.

Christopher! Absolutely amazing and to see you have such a kind and generous heart to give to that cemetery is so rare these days..Your yard is amazing and I can see you know your stuff.Jeez, I would come down there just to take a tour of your yard in full bloom...That is so amazing...Do you grow for beauty or for fragrance or both?

I see you also like the coffee grinds thing! I use them every where..I never have to worry about hard soil or a lack of aeration due to the massive amounts of worms they encourage in my yard. Way to go. And to think of all that worm poop that refreshes the soil while at it.

You think a lot like me both in beauty and the way you work your soil. Thank you for this thread and your advice, and I am a new follower of you)

How do you keep the leaves of your roses so green and disease and pest free? Do you start a program of spraying early in the year as a preventative? So nice!

Thanks so much! Fragrance was certainly my first main goal, but there are a few in there I wanted to grow even if they weren't that fragrant.

The foliage looks perfect because these pics were taken during the first flush -- before blackspot hits. I don't spray here, and some get hit hard during the Summer. But that's just how it is in the mid-Atlantic. If I bothered to spray fungicides, I'd become a slave, and chasing a perfection that really isn't possible here. So, after the first flush, I neaten things up a little -- which includes stripping foliage of any that are badly affected by July. I've noticed that new leaves forming from that point don't seem to be nearly as affected as the first set of leaves.

As far as other pests go, I also don't do anything. The roses were discovered by the aphids and sawfly a year after I planted them. The following year, there were far fewer -- because the beneficials found the pests. Now that the roses have gained some size, they're large enough to support perching birds which pick them clean of aphids. I've seen wasps eating sawfly larvae, but I'm sure there are other things eating them as well.

I've discovered that rose midge has found me, but I've figured out how to spot the damage early. I snip off any "burnt tips" or other signs and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. And if I keep up with repeated fresh layers of coffee grounds, I think I'm smothering the pupae that drop to the soil. In any case, they don't seem to get going until after the first flush. Having mostly oldies that pause during the heat of the Summer before blooming again when it cools down, there's also fewer buds to get eaten.

My philosophy is that by promoting as much life in the garden as possible, you'll find that things sort of balance out. If I used fungicides, that would mess with the fungi in the soil which I need to help break down the coffee grounds. If I used pesticides to kill the aphids and sawfly larvae, that would mess with the other critters which eat them. It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

:-)

~Christopher