Congratulations, Ingrid! It actually doesn't look as if there isn't a "drought", nor that heat and any insects have been issues. You have found the right combination of things and the garden shows your efforts! I'm thrilled with you!

I'm enchanted with your garden and how well it complements your house.

You did a great job, Ingrid! I wish I has something similar to yours :)

It's great to see how good your garden is looking on the drip system, Ingrid. And when I see your Le Vesuve, I wish I'd been sent the right one, despite the prickles. Delicious colour and form. I love that crumpled look. I've just planted 4 new ones - Triomphe de Luxembourg, Dr Grill, Rosette Delizy (trying again with this one) and General Shablikine. I'm excited to see the blooms.

My Etoile de Lyon and William R Smith didn't grow much their first year, and are not doing anything so far this Spring. Fingers crossed for these two.

I also planted Easy Does It, but it doesn't look to have survived the dogs having a great time getting it out of it's box! A stick in a box - what fun!

Trish

Lovely blooms, Ingrid. I like the swirl of pastel shades in Gruss. Foggy mornings in CA bring back fond vacation memories.

Thanks so very much for your kind comments. To see the garden, and especially the roses, come back from the brink has been a wonderful feeling. I was certain that the butterfly bushes, which were mostly sticks, and two of the crape myrtles, would have to be taken out, along with many roses. Thankfully they seem to have made a comeback, although there are still poor-looking areas where I haven't replaced roses yet or the new ones are too small to fill up their spaces. I'm amazed that the roses seem to be doing well without any fertilizer, only the leaf mulch that I have around them; all they really needed was water. If we were to have copious winter rains I would fertilize afterwards, but right now it seems safer not to until I know that the ground is totally irrigated.

Trish, I also have a new William R. Smith and I'm amazed at how slowly it's growing. I had another one years ago (pre-drought) that grew very quickly but then just as quickly died when the drought set in. Triomphe de Luxembourg looks gorgeous from the pictures I've seen. I wish I had ordered it myself.

I can recommend drip irrigation without emitters (what I was told in Australia is called spaghetti hoses) which is simply the tiny hoses that come off the main hose without anything attached to the end. The only other thing I've done, which also showed an almost immediate improvement by the roses, is to scrape a bit of soil away from around the trunk and then build a low soil wall near the outside perimeter of the rose (less distance for the larger roses) and let the water collect there, with a mulch of soft leaves and other organic debris inside the ring. I save kitchen waste water which is almost clean and has coffee grounds and fruit and vegetable waste mixed in it and give the roses a big bowel full every day, picking a different rose each time. By the way when I say I, most of it is really my husband's labors, with some of the easy stuff done by me. He deserves the credit for my new and improved garden.

I love this Ingrid! Your garden is beautiful! I appreciate you sharing the good times and bad. I have learned so much from you. My tea garden is inspired by you and is such a joy to me. Thanks for sharing your beauty.

Ingrid, your garden and surroundings are beautiful as always, and like Sheila I consider you an inspiration. We went to drip watering in July -- also without emitters, except for potted plants -- and I love it. I really like Le Vesuve; crumpled works for me.

Your gardens are always so picturesque. Beautiful roses for a beautiful setting.

Very splendid, Ingrid.

Your garden looks brilliant!

Steven

I'm so grateful for the additional lovely comments. Sheila and Sylvia, I'm proud and honored to have inspired you, because so much of what I've accomplished has been inspired by others, and to be able to pass that on is a privilege and joy. I'm happy to also pass on whatever I've learned in my garden to someone who may be in a similar situation and can utilize that knowledge. Sylvia, I'm thrilled that the drip watering is working for you. I never dreamt what a difference it would make for me. Sheila, I'm quite sure your tea garden will surpass mine because you have much more room and in a short time it's already grown so much. I feel that I can claim it as my godchild and will be so happy to see it grow and flourish.

prettypetals and Steven, as a gardener whose work is not seen or appreciated by many in the real world, your praise means everything to me. Sharing is such an important part of it all.

Time to get some more roses Ingrid, your garden is looking splendid, so I fully expect to read of a full order book for this fall...

I'm so glad you like it, Marlorena. Are you perchance being an enabler? What a hard time you'd have convincing me! I already have one on order - Plum Perfect. Well.......one or two more wouldn't hurt anything, right? Hmm, wonder if I could rip out some irises then I'd have more room........... This is so wrong!

I can see a huge gap in your ''nearly rose less garden area''.... my goodness what are you waiting for?.. get cracking... it seriously needs some pink... or white...

...otherwise, it's lush...

Your garden is gorgeous looks well kept , the roses look amazing seems like the drip system is working for you

I'm happy for you now that your garden seems to be recovering and you feel much better about it.

Marlorena, I have White Meidiland there and Wild Edric which is not blooming at the moment. I've lost many roses there because for several reasons it's a poor environment even though it has a drip system. Just haven't been motivated to do much there right now.

rose_crazy and Nik, it's amazing how my mood has lightened since the roses have perked up. Only a gardener would understand, and I know everyone here does.

Your garden looks great, Ingrid. I'm so happy to see things looking so good. Hasn't the weather been wonderful for the past few days? Love it! Lisa

Thank you, dear Lisa. Yes, I'm absolutely loving this cooler weather. You don't learn to appreciate it until it's been taken away for a good long while. What a relief after that.