Oh, I love the photos! Thank you for posting the wide shots. :) It helps newbie gardeners like me see how you're doing things. I'll post a few pictures of my baby roses soon. I have people repairing water damage here today and kids sleeping (first day of summer vacation, so I'm letting them) and dogs who aren't at all sure about the men traipsing in and out... but I did get pictures this morning!

Someone was by my side as I took photos, but in an instant she spotted a bird. She was way up at the top of the slope, where I hardly dare go. Thankfully the bird flew off and she came to me. Inside for her.

The messy slope.Hard to get up there. No irrigation(hose) and hot. A work in progress.

The photo below is from February of this year. You can see where I started cutting into the Privet hedge, thinking I could do it. HA! What a joke. That thing was 8 plants. This hedge was about 60'long x 12' high. What was I thinking?

Below are two photos of today. I'm still working on it, but it's a big improvement.

Looking down the row.

One more. Ugly pot ghetto. It's gotten too hot, so they've been dragged into some shade for now. Lisa

Doesn't it make you want to cry Lisa, when you've laboriously put together a long post and umpteen pictures and the whole thing disappears? It also makes me want to throw something large at the wall. I love your no frills, totally honest approach and how you're showing work in progress, which is inspiring to all of us, even more so with the physical limitations you're saddled with, and the worries about Millie, who of course steals the show as usual. I do hope you're not overtaxing yourself in this awful heat (well, probably about 5 degrees hotter where I am), but still quite a drain on you. I'm amazed how many companion plants you manage to fit in, and that they don't all die on you as mine tend to do. Hooray for your taking out more useless, water-guzzling grass, especially if it's an area where you have morning sun and afternoon shade, the most precious orientation we could possibly have in our area. Your property is still very much a work in progress, which is very exciting, although I'm really glad that I got through that period before my energy took a nose dive. I wanted to ask, are you growing or planning to grow many tea roses? I can't for the life of me remember much about the roses you have. That is quite a steep hill you have. Planting on that has to be an adventure!

Robin, I'm looking forward to your pictures. It's so nice to have some people who are just starting out and have an interest in old roses, and to be able to watch the progress of their gardens.

Edited: Our posts crossed, Lisa, and I just now saw the second set of pictures. What you've done in the area of the fortunately gone privet hedge is marvelous! What is that large pink rose at the bottom of the fifth picture? You're doing great work on the slope too. Having a pot ghetto is like having your own mini nursery, which is a great idea of you can keep everything alive, which I couldn't if my life depended on it. You're a super gardener.

Oh I think it's great to see some photos of your garden developing Lisa, you're very modest about it, but you have some nice roses coming along there, and I love that Orlaya, I keep meaning to get some...

Thanks for inviting us to share photos too, I'm one of those who enjoys seeing gardens whether they are flawless or under construction, as that's how we all start out...

Rather lush for November... something like the tropics.. I like spiky plants, and you have quite a nice one there... are the red thingys rose hips? I can't enlarge it.. if not, what are they please?...

Lisa, thank you for sharing your down-to-earth photos! It's so encouraging to witness transformations from early days to maturity. Maturity comes in time and with labor, but every redesigned and renovated garden starts with piles of nursery pots and cardboard slabs. Sections of my garden, like yours, are in the cardboard stage, but we'll both achieve paradise, piece by piece. :-) Like Ingrid, I applaud your grass removal. I'm in the process of removing what's left of our back lawn. Thank you for boldly sharing full garden shots. I love your garden! Pats to Millie. Carol

Lisa! Those are great! Millie is always such a delight, and I'm so excited especially to see photos of your slope. It looks great and mine is so discouraging. I love how your garden looks - thanks so much for posting these!

Virginia, that looks just magical...

Marlorena, that's a Turk's Cap Mallow, native to this area. I'm rather pleased that I grew one from seed that has watermelon pink flowers instead of the usual red... Hummingbirds LOVE this plant. Here's a closer look at the flower (clashing with the coleus beyond)

The spiky stuff is Palmetto; I think we have both Scrub Palmetto (Sabal etonia) and Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens).

Virginia

Thank you, Lisa. It is so inspirational to see a work in progress coming together. I think slopes are really attractive, but a challenge to get started. Are you going to try Tea roses, as Ingrid asked? I'd probably call 911 trying to remove that hedge.

Virginia, thanks for the information... actually I was quite fascinated reading about the Malaviscus drummondii, as Thomas Drummond was from Scotland and he travelled through Texas in the 1830's.... I have an interest in Western history and it often surprises me how some of these early explorers managed to survive [hostile Natives, snakes etc..]..

I'm not sure if I've seen it here as a Conservatory plant, it looks familiar but I might be thinking of something else.. whatever, I think it's a standout for me... I'm no good with seeds, so I think that's a pat on the back for you to grow this..and a pink one too..

Never heard of Palmetto... gosh you have some interesting things going on there...

Thanks for the encouragement! I had a busy morning and dozed away the rest of the day yesterday, so it was fun to read all your comments this morning.

Ingrid, the pink rose is Princess Charlene de Monaco. Not an OGR, but lovely and fragrant.

Anyway, progress will go from my usual crawl to a near standstill, now that it has gotten so warm. I am kicking myself for not getting more done while it was cooler.

Here is more of the bed that gets the morning sun and afternoon shade. That's the DA Mary Rose in the center. I have a lot of flowering tobacco in here, most of it lime green. There is some of the Mutabillis here as well, but I cut it down. It reaches 8 feet high by June, but always reseeds, so I'll be seeing it again. The red in the picture is more flowering tobacco. I purchased seed one year, and somehow ended up with red. Every year it reseeds, because I'm just too slow about removing things once it gets hot. Lots of cardboard here. I was happy to read that you have a cardboard garden, as well Carol. It looks bad, but it's the cheap and easy way to go!

I even have Hosta and a few Astible in the shade here. I planted them 5 years ago, before I knew better. They get extra water from nextdoor under the fence. That's the only reason they've survived.

I must be getting braver, or losing my mind because I'm just about to show a very wide shot. Where are all the others? Robin?? I'm airing my dirty laundry here in hopes that others will see that ALL gardens have a place on this forum. Virginia, yours is too lovely to count. It's lush and well kept! I like the watermelon turk watchamacallit too.

View from the patio, looking towards the morning sun/cardboard bed. Veggie box between patio and bed.

View from the patio looking to the slope. Arch unsecured, more cardboard, more plans, more work:)

On the right side of the arch is newly planted Lady Ashe climbing rose and Rooguchi clematis. They are being shaded from the afternoon sun.

Ingrid and Sheila, I do have some Tea roses. I have Duchess de Brabant, and Flamingo Garden Tea. I feel as though I have more... brain foggy today. I kind of thought Paul Barden's October Moon and Siren Keep might have some Tea in them, but it looks like SK does not. I don't recall October Moon. I wish those Teas didn't get so ginormous here in So CA! I know I am in prime Tea growing land. I live on a tiny lot, and want to grow a variety of roses with annuals and perennials in between them. I like bouquet material!! I wish there were some that truly stayed 3x3 in So CA.

Marlorena, yes I love the Orlaya. I bought a single plant last year, knowing I could scatter the seed around. I had not counted on how much better it would do this year, with its earlier start and our extra rain. It is 3x as large as the original was last year. They've thrown things off quite a bit in that bed. Well, now I know not to place them in front next year.

Virginia, you're exactly correct. I couldn't stand the thought of all that Privet hedge instead of roses. The craziness was thinking I could remove any of it myself. The spot where I hacked at it was to give the Winchester Cathedral Rose in front of it some more light and air. It was doing so poorly. The roots of that mighty hedge sucked every drop of water and nutrients it could get for at least 10 feet in every direction. WC has bloomed more in the last 4 months than in the 6 years previously. I am so happy with the new space, with one drawback. My patio is now hotter. The hedge no longer shades it. This will be resolved as the roses grow.

Anna-Lysaa, that slope is my biggest challenge! I emphasize with you. I did put one enormous climbing rose at the top. I tied him to the fence and I let him trail down the hill. He covers a lot of ground already, for only being in the ground about 8(ish) months. I only had space for one giant, and chose Paul Barden's, Mel's Heritage. I love it! I need to take a break. I'll have to look for mistakes later. "Herding cats", is no longer just a funny saying around here:) Lisa

Lisa, I say with great honesty that even the wide shots show your garden to be beautiful. I think we're all adult enough not to faint over a bit of cardboard. When we began our garden there were a lot of 18 x 18 inch tiles left over from a bathroom remodel and they were great for killing grass. I'd move them around as needed, and the grass never grew back, it killed it right back to the roots.

I'm thinking of doing something similarly brave and taking wide shots of everything at my place, and it won't be pretty. What I like is that it gives a good overall idea of the whole garden, which to me is immensely interesting.

Of course you had mentioned you had the tea Duchesse de Brabant, but my brain no longer retains much of anything. Mine looks like heck right now, even in its very shady spot. The delicate flowers just can't stand the heat.

Oh please do take some wide shots, Ingrid! Your pictures are always lovely. I figure if I'm going to do so, the time is now. Soon there will be more brown than green. Summer just isn't the best time to be showing my garden. Most things shut down, including me. My Duchess de Brabant is in full sun,all day long. I thought mine came from Burlington, but actually it came from Chamblee's. I don't know what more mine wants from me. For now, I'll just leave it alone. In this heat, just watering is a challenge. My daughter and I are going to try to go to the county fair, tomorrow. I really want to see the flower displays. I sincerely hope that Del Mar will be significantly cooler than inland. Lisa

Slopes do add visual interest, but I'm glad I don't have that to worry about. I hope y'all are careful on uneven terrain...

Lisa, I actually boasted about my pink Turk's Cap Mallow, but didn't show it. Luckily, I found a photo of it from this past winter. The foliage looks darker, but I'm pretty sure that was just the lighting. It's having a growth spurt now, and not blooming yet.

Even with the cardboard, your garden looks great. And will look even finer once the cardboard comes up and you magically have less lawn and more room for real plants.

Take it easy in the heat, please.

Virginia

That one is lovely. I'm a huge fan of pink. I don't see it around here. It may be a plant for a moister climate. That slope! Sometimes I think I should just plant 2 more giant roses like Mel's Heritage there, and just be done with it.

Lisa, I totally agree with Ingrid. The wide shot of your garden is lovely.

Lisa, monster roses on your slope sounds like a good thought. Let them do all the climbing.

Virginia

You're funny, Lisa!! As if your beautiful garden qualifies as a disaster because of a bit of visible cardboard. : ) It is really lovely and I can't wait to see what goes in once the grass is dead.

One of my problems is the amount of rain we get which makes every invasive weed grow like mad and my yard is large and on different levels. I've made huge headway in the past couple of years, but there's hardscaping issues as well. Everyone's home just looks so well kept and while I'm always working on it progress is slow. and backwards at times.

Anyway, I had a huge section cardboarded and mulched with my oak chips before leaving for three days. This was a huge amount of work and I was thinking to post a few pics, especially as I've recently pressure washed all the filthy balustrades. Today I come back to much of the cardboard all dug up and strewn by the resident chipmumk. I use carpet remnants as weed suppression also and it had thrown those everywhere, too. Sometimes I could give up, but I'll put it all back together tomorrow. It took too long to water all the plants. It's nice knowing we all struggle with similar issues and someday I will post some wider shots when I've tended to some issues. Promise. ; )