I think that cultures that share a language and were both originally colonized by the same culture share quite a bit of common design traditions, and you are letting the language/terminology get in the way. Curb/kerb appeal is simply real estate/television design makeover jargon that has been picked up by mass culture here, and references making a good first impression from the street. Pretty basic concepts both here and there, I would think. The concept of privacy screening may well be either cultural or individual, it isn't the same for everyone here, or there, but more linked to individual preferences. Here in California, which for better or worse is a garden design fashion leader, due to our combination of popular culture disseminated by television and cinema, geography, market size and population, we have multiple influences on design beyond the English garden tradition. Indigenous cultural influences are virtually nil, while the Latin/Spanish/Mexican influences are huge, and can be traced back to Roman, Persian as well as Arabic design influences. More recently, but still at least a 100 years ago now, Asian influences, particularly Japanese in California's case, have played a role. From what I see of New Zealand regional landscape design, you share some gardening trends with California in particular. Smaller sized lots for older, more urban areas for one. A coastal maritime climate as well as mountains, which shapes how we garden and the plants we use, and importance of captured views beyond the garden, screening to control winds and make gardens more comfortable to be in, and plantings that use both natives and imported exotics, that wouldn't survive in more extreme continental climate gardens. New Zealand plants and Australian plants are quite common here, as are succulents and bromeliads which seem equally popular in more contemporary New Zealand/Australian gardens over there. I'd also hazard a guess that at the higher economic end of garden design, there is virtually no difference in styles between California and New Zealand, aided and abetted by mass media such as international garden design magazines, television and newspapers. I happen to live in a part of California where the local and regional design tends to be more distinctive and individual than most other parts of California. There are no new subdivisions of mass produced tract homes in my town of Berkeley, and the entire inner Bay Area around San Francisco Bay is for the most part neighborhoods of older homes(relative I know, nothing much here older than 120 years), built in multiple styles over decades, on mostly small lots. As we also have an influx of people from all over the world settling here, gardens at the local level are distinctly less suburban looking and more international in flavor. Particularly here in northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, we are also blessed with a nursery industry that is still regional and not a national/corporate hegemony, with nursery owners/horticulturists that have broad interests in plants from around the world suitable for California conditions. Not to say that this doesn't occur elsewhere as well,(North Carolina and Washington and Oregon states also have this), but having a broad range of plants to design around also makes for less homogenized landscapes.

Here I am scribbling notes "for next year" when I *know* I don't have any more room. I *know* that I shouldn't be searching out new roses to buy. I *know* I just have to have some of these beauties! Nestor, Marechal Davoust, Alfred Columb...oh, my goodness me. How wonderful all of these roses appear, and knowing that you love them I will take it that they are well worth growing. Thanks for sharing these with us, Celeste!

WOW!! Thanks a bunch Celeste. Those are the best pics I have ever seen of Mayor of Casterbridge to date.....The blooms are amazing.....a very strongly supported cup with tufts of exterior petals outside the cup and moderately and artistically packed interior petals. The contrasting button eye fits it well. My one question about MOC was whether or not the blooms were large enough, but going from the proportion of the blooms in comparison to your hand, they look HUGE. How large would you say MOC's blooms are? I have only heard a few vague reports that they were small, although like yourself, I have heard so little about Mayor of Casterbridge. I was only going to get 1 pink.....but now I have to kill one of the children and choose between Pretty Jessica, Mayor of Casterbridge, and the other pinks. I have a feeling I might end up getting 2 of the pinks....which would still make the decision terribly difficult. After 3 days of viewing and researching, I have only decided on a white in winchester cathedral. :) I'm still looking over yellows at the moment and my top 2 so far are Golden Celebration and Charlotte, although I would have probably chosen Charles Darwin as it has big cup shaped blooms, but it doesn't look as if Roses Unlimited carries him. That is going to be a toughy decision there. Happy Child is still a possibility as well, although it's a little more lemony color rather than a yellow that I am leaning more towards at the moment. Grace is a unique Austin. The bloom form is unique from the others. I havn't looked at the apricots much yet, so it's hard saying off hand which ones I am seriously considering. I know I saw Carding Mill and really enjoyed it's appearance or substituting it for an orange blend like Lady Emma Hamilton.....or going off the wall and choosing The Alnwick Rose...although I've heard the blooms are quite small. Still have a lot of research to do on Apricots, Oranges, and Alnwick itself. I still have to choose on one of the "reds" too yet. :) At least I have Evelyn and Winchester Cathedral down though....assuming they still have them in stock.

Tom, Thanks for mentioning this. Winter protection from cold winter winds is definitely a must for most but especially us. We discussed this issue above in a few posts, but my backyard where most of my garden (and Japanese Maples)is located is protected on all sides. Two sides, north and east, by a wood fence that borders my yard and two neighbors, and the western side by my house. The southern side has a chain link fence partially protected by bamboo fencing, beyond which is a large neighboring yard. Even the side that is more exposed has houses beyond the yard breaking up wind from that direction. My front yard facing north gets most wind between my house and a neighbor's, but the north winds get partially blocked by the neighbor's house. Here, I have a few Maples, two of which are most exposed to wind--one an AP 'palmatum' (parent cultivar) has done fine for two years. The other a Acer Shirasawanum 'Palmatifolium' I put in this year. I will probably put wire around this and burlap or other protection as suggested. Other palmatums: A Red Dragon, Hogyoku and Bloodgood have done fine for two years and a Kandy Kitchen over the winter. These are in a bed that get some north winds exposure in the front. Back to my backyard though I have a micro-climate created by the enclosure of the fences. I plan to extend and improve my bamboo fencing. And in fact, when I go to the best Japanese gardens typically they have all the most delicate and finer plants located in an enclosure of some sort here (at Botanic Gardens). Actually making a garden enclosure is not just for protection but looks nicer as well. I also have two Norway Spruces anchoring the corner of my backyard garden which provide a windbreak. I also have other conifers (Pines) in the garden which provide some protection from wind too. A larger Norway Maple away from the main area provides some afternoon shade for summer heat, but I have had to prune this to allow more sunlight to get through. My pleasant surprise is that these cultivars are much hardier than they have been given credit for, but we here in northern Illinois have not seen drastic winter temps. I haven't seen temps in the -25 degree range for over fifteen years. Since I've been collecting (very short time) the winters have reached -15, but this is only for one or two days. Long term cold fronts typically are in the zero degree, plus or minus 5 degrees range. Wind chill can be much colder. But it is the temperature below ground that is key. In fact, snow as tough as it is to deal with in some ways actually protects the roots from the cold and wind. It is a natural insulator. The real killer is actually late frosts after a warming trend as many here on the forum can attest to--the killer Spring frost of 2007 that drastically affected the Southern states and southern Illinois though not here because the warming trend here was brief enough that it did not cause the trees to leaf. These type of events can quickly take the life of our trees as I found out this year with a small Bloodgood. Late frost can happen in any zone, but affect areas that are more prone to drastic temperature swings in the Spring. More later, Ken