The shady part of the garden

All looking serene and lovely, Ingrid. Your William is so much paler than some of my blooms. I'm considering another rose with more color where I have a baked Reve d'Or. I was thinking of a Mrs. B.R. Cant, or a Georgetown Tea, but maybe Le Vesuve would be the best. I love yours.

Nice photos Ingrid but so sorry about your high heat...Hopefully it rains soon for you!

Feel like I say it every time but I think it all looks gorgeous. Doesn’t look dry, crunchy or water deprived to me:)

Hi Ingrid

Beautiful pics. I’m in So California too. The rose blooms get fried in this weather. My bushes have looked pretty good so far probably because of the nice rain we got in the winter.

Do you have thrips? I’ve had them the last few years, and they really do a number on the bushes.

Lovely, Ingrid. Your Le Vesuve looks the happiest of all of them. Evidently some classify it as a china, so it makes sense that it keeps going in high heat.

Jackie

Le Vesuve is such a wonderfully shaped bush. It would be beautiful even without flowers! I adore your garden Ingrid. The roses just seem so much a part of the landscape and flow so gracefully with in it.

Even in the heat, your roses look great, Ingrid. One would not know how hot it is, looking at the blooms.

The milkweed and salvia look so pollinator- friendly. Monarch butterflies and others, a lovely place for them...

Sheila, about Georgetown Tea I remember someone who grows it saying that it doesn't hold up well in the heat with its thin petals. My Le Vesuve gets afternoon shade from the house, and I should mention, having once fallen into it, that it has small but absolutely vicious thorns. I would not choose to grow it again; it's a truly scary bush. With its small leaves it could very well be a China. Mrs. B.R. Cant might not be a bad choice, not terribly thorny and the blooms don't turn tiny in the heat.

I cheat by taking pictures after sunset. During the day it all looks much less inviting, trust me.

Jim, oursteelers, Kristine, Krista, Stephanie, socks and Jackie, thank you for the lovely words. socks, I'm sure I've had thrips for some years, but this year has definitely been the worst judging by the poor appearance of the buds and blooms. I don't spray and have to hope that natural predators will keep them in check to some extent.

Ingrid do yo have any problems with your milkweed in your rose garden.... I am constantly pulling it out... moving it to my butterfly garden giving some to fellow gardening friends... I use to just leave it, but I find that it grows so ramped that my roses don't get the air flow.... so I get more black spot... it also seems to bring in white fly and then the white fly gets on the roses.... it also makes it hard for me to spray.... I know many people don't spray... but during the summer I bring out the spinosad because of the chili thrips..... but I try and NOT hit the milkweed.... though I am sure chili thrip likes it too...because I get major attacks on it during the most active time of chili thrips but still I still don't want to hurt the butterflies....

Though I do like the look of milkweed in the rose garden...

Sharon, this variety of milkweed doesn't proliferate, although as it's grown taller it does rather crowd the roses. In looking outside now I notice that the milkweed has more branches now, and when it's cooler tonight I'll cut some of them back. I don't have much of a problem with black spot, but I think I'm going to shorten the milkweed somewhat because good air flow is important for roses. I wasn't aware that milkweed brought in white fly, that's not good news. I did notice on one bush there were a lot of yellow aphids on the under surfaces of the leaves of the milkweed. It's interesting how every positive seems to carry some negatives with it. Oh well, I just planted some more milkweed among the roses, which I wouldn't have done if I'd known all this. It's survival of the fittest around here, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the long run.

That is a good point about Georgetown Tea, Ingrid. I have it and Madame Lombard from ARE and I still wonder if they are the same. It is 100 F for the high today and you are right the blooms frazzle in heat. I have Mrs B. R. Cant in the stucco Tea garden, and I also like her shape.

I guess we have to be there to see the distress! Because I sure can't see any in these pictures! A truly exquisite set of pictures. Ingrid, every time you show Aloha and I see mine I'm reminded how similar it is to Zaid. Zaid is holding up magnificently in the Heat and its blooms last for quite some time. It seems to thrive on the heat and Sun. Just a thought.

Vapor, I must admit that what you've said about Zaide and the pictures I subsequently saw on HMF whetted my appetite. However, it seems to be available only from Palatine which would mean multiflora rootstock, which may not be best for my climate. Also, Kordes roses have a reputation for turning into giants in our climate, with flowers mostly sprouting at the top. I'm also torn because I already have four roses arriving in the fall, and I question whether I should be ordering roses at all with it getting ever hotter here. There is the dream and there is the reality and, more than ever, the two seem to be on a collision course.

I too some more photos earlier this evening:

Baronne HdS does hold up well in the heat. The blooms don't look wilted.

I've always liked the look of dark pink and light pink roses together.

MFK and your other blooms are lovely as well.

Abraham Darby is in a pink mood today... I read on Helpmefind that Aloha is a parent of AD.

I saw 'Le Vesuve' in public gardens only (well maintained) and have to say that I was always disappointed with the look of the shrub as well as its blooms. But your 'Le Vesuve' completely changed it all for me. Absolutely beautiful!

I am amazed to see so many blooms in the dry heat at this time of the year. Your garden radiates with serenity and beauty.

I think you once mentioned the name for your penstemon, 'Blue ... (something)'. I looked it up because I would like to have a blue penstemon and I think it was sold at Annie's Annuals.

I know that California has had more then its share of disastrous weather. Your yard however is still my dream.

I wonder if you're thinking of penstemon azureus, which has been discontinued, or 'Blue Springs Foothill Penstemon' which it is not. Okay, I just found it, it's penstemon 'Sour Grapes'. I wish Annie's had 'Sour Grapes' because I absolutely love that one. If you google the name and look under images you'll see that it seems to have many different colors, and at one time or another I've seen all of these colors on this one plant.

Patty, that is such a lovely complement. Thank you kindly.

These are incredibly lovely photos, Ingrid.

Aren't they just? Thank you Ingrid. :-)

Yes, now I remember. It was 'Blue Springs Foothill Penstemon' but it must have been someone else's if you never had it. I didn't order it because it was borderline for my zone.

What beautiful photos, Ingrid. Your Coquette des Blanches is lovely. All the colors of the garden look gorgeous.

It's interesting to see the close - up view of the milkweed seeds and pods.

vesfl, sorry for the confusion, I do have 'Blue Springs Foothill Penstemon' but it's not the one pictured above. I have several, in fact, but they're all young and only one so far has bloomed. If it blooms again I'll take a picture although it doesn't look like much since it's young and small. Penstemon 'Midnight' has darker blooms and I like it a lot, but it's much taller and can also grow quite a bit wider, so it needs careful placement and quite a bit more room.