Sunday, April 19, 2015

Rose Spring Flush in the Front Yard

The spring flush in the front yard has been wonderful so far, considering that we are since four years in a severe drought here in California, have mandatory water restrictions and had already two heat waves.




I would estimate that the blooms of some rose varieties are one third smaller than usual this year and also the quantity of flowers is a little less, but it amazes me how much the roses are still able to bloom under these very difficult conditions.



It is certainly one of my favorite times of the year! 



'Marie Pavie' has almost reached the peak of her spring flush.



The rose in the middle of the photo is 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' of which I am growing three specimen altogether in the front yard. Like every year this rose struggles with powdery mildew, but its ability to bloom seems to be not diminished by that. In the blue container to the left of 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' I have a geranium Martha Washington 'Regal Elegance Rose Bicolor' growing, which I almost threw away last year, because it was plagued by White Flies. Now I am so glad that I didn't. I think is goes well with 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' and I am considering to plant it into the ground in this location later this year.



I still like my two obelisks with the hummingbird wind chimes a lot. They are set up opposite to each other at the sides of the walkway to the house. The blue of the hummingbird is a nice contrast to the white blooms of the 'Climbing Iceberg' rose peaking around the corner in the background and to the off-white flowers of the 'Old Fashioned Girl' miniature rose in the foreground.



This is the view of our front door that you get, when you are standing directly in front of it on the street.



But you can't walk up to the front door in a straight way, you have to enter the curvy walkway that leads up to it from the side and this is what you see when you are about to do that. The white rose in front of the garage is 'Climbing Iceberg'. The white rose spilling over the decorative wall to the left is 'Marie Pavie' and the light pink rose in the middle of the picture is another 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'.



The Pygmy Date Palm in the previous photo above is underplanted with penstemons - sorry, their name has escaped me - which have become weaker and weaker over the years. I believe that the palm roots are suffocating them. Still some were able to bloom this year, again. They have such a pretty blue color and I love the bell shaped flowers.



When I open my front door looking down to the street this photo shows exactly what I see. This year I have placed four Martha Washington geraniums in the front yard either in containers or planted into the ground and I am very pleased with the color that they add in addition to the flowering roses. I think they complement them very well.



View of the flower bed to the left side directly by the front door. The rose to the very left is 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'. The rose in the center of the photo is 'The Prince', which barely had started to flower when I took the picture. To the feet of 'The Prince I planted geranium Martha Washington 'Regal Elegance Purple Majesty', which picks up the color of 'The Prince' perfectly.



Before you leave our walkway to the house to enter the street, you pass by 'Marie Pavie' and get a nice whiff of her myrrh fragrance, that is wafting through the air. The rose to her left is 'Pretty Jessica', which hasn't bloomed yet. On the right side of 'Marie Pavie' I took out a very garish alstroemeria this winter and replaced it by a lavender colored miniature rose called 'Lavender Crystal'. Unfortunately, the miniature rose is struggling after the transplant from the container into the ground, but I hope it will settle in and grow into a strong, floriferous plant. The lavender flowers of this rose are quite exquisite!



Writing up this post has made me a bit melancholic, because I wonder how long I still will be able to grow roses in my Southern California garden. The reason for this is, that as of April 1st this year California Governor Jerry Brown has imposed mandatory water restrictions for the whole state of California. He demanded a 25 percent cut in water use.



As I said in the beginning of this post, we have already mandatory water restrictions here in San Diego effective since the 1st of November 2014. But I fear, that with the latest announcement of the Governor, the City of San Diego has to increase the currently existing water restrictions even more. 

Up to now I couldn't imagine my garden without roses, but the situation is very serious, so maybe I have to start to get used to the idea...

Wishing everyone a great new week!

See you in the garden!

Christina



23 comments:

  1. Your garden is beautiful Christina, lovely planting and landscaping. The blooms may be smaller and fewer but it does show their resilience. Hopefully the water restriction won't get any tighter.

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  2. Están preciosas, espero que sigas con tus rosas y que las disfrutes. Feliz semana.

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  3. Gorgeous pictures of your frontgarden Christina, the combination of palms and roses is wonderful and I love the view to your frontdoor from the street. The ornaments of obelisks with a lovely blue hummingbird is different, but magnificent together with the white roses.
    I've heard a lot about the drought in Southern California. I really hope the new water restrictions are not disastrous for your roses.

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  4. Your front garden is filled with beauty! It must be such a joy for your neighbors as well as to you and your hubby.

    I like your obelisks.

    I am sorry your water restrictions are tighter. Hopefully you will get some wet weather to end this drought soon. We need rain down here. It is staying north of us these days. We keep getting predictions that don't happen.

    Love & hugs and continued happy rose growing ~ FlowerLady

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  5. Very beautiful garden! I like the design, so neat! The roses are fascinating!

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  6. Hallo liebe Christina,

    Dein Vorgarten ist ganz bezaubernd und wie herrlich es bei Dir blüht!
    Um die wunderschönen Palmen beneide ich Dich!

    Liebe Grüße,
    Ingrid

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  7. Hallo Christine, wie exotisch das alles aussieht! Eine ganz andere Welt. Wunderschöne Rosen hast du.

    Sigrun

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  8. Lovely roses and everything is perfect in your garden. Beautiful, Christina !

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  9. Dear Christina, it must be difficult to have such a drought. I once heard that people in GB used their bathwater to water the flowers in the garden. Maybe it is something to consider? (And be gentle with the soap! ) Your roses look beautiful. I have to wait for some weeks but I have seen some rose buds in the front garden. Groetjes,

    Hetty

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  10. Christina your garden looks lovely as usual! Not a weed in sight and the roses are glorious. I can't wait for ours to start blooming here in the uk but it will be another 6 weeks or so before they do.
    Your drought must be very worrying on all levels. We did use bathwater here during a drought, and there was also a slogan "Save water - bath with a friend "!!

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  11. Your roses are beautiful, Christina. I love the 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'. The water restrictions are scaring the heck out of me too - according to the most recent notice I saw from our water provider, we have a 35% target, although I understand that the numbers are still being finalized. We're getting additional rain collection tanks (big ones!), adding a thicker layer of mulch, and shifting areas to drip irrigation where we can. Drip lines may be easier than you imagine to set up in your front area.

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  12. Oh dear, I do hope California pulls out of this drought. It affects all of us, for so many reasons. I don't want you to have to get rid of your roses, either. (I love those little Palm trees!)

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  13. Christina: i'm fan of your Marie Pavié: this rose is so beautiful in your garden, amazing!
    Your obselisque looks lovely! All is perfect!
    Je t'embrasse!

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  14. Your roses are very lovely - you have very fortunate neighbors who get to see your beautiful front gardens every day! I hope that there is some way to save your roses. Perhaps with soaker hoses or gray water cisterns? Where there is a will there is a way! xo Karen

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  15. Que tes rosiers sont beaux chère Christina, ils donnent tous une avalanche de roses majestueuses. J'ai vu un reportage sur la sécheresse qui sévit en Californie. Je suis désolée pour toi qui aime tant les roses mais ne te précipites pas pour arracher tes rosiers la sécheresse va bien se terminer un jour peut être prochain et tu retrouveras des feuillages luxuriants.
    Belle soirée

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  16. Hi Christina, I'm astounded at how well the roses are doing in the harsh conditions you have. You have created a lush oasis, your neighbours must really enjoy it. I'm sure if you do have to change how you garden due to the water restrictions you will create something equally lovely, if different, with plants tolerant of drought and heat. In the mean time, enjoy your roses while they bloom. Incidentally, the penstemkn looks like one I used to grow called "Sour Grapes", which I always thought was a horrid name for such a lovely plant.

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  17. Your garden is beautiful. I love the date palm tree at your front door. Unfortunately they do not grow in this colder region.

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  18. Really lush and beautiful in spite of the drought!
    Hope your roses will survive...

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  19. The extent of the drought is very worrying. I do hope there is an end to it soon. Your garden is so lovely and it would be awful to lose the roses. I hope you will find a way through it. We use drip irrigation here and it is very good.

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  20. Your garden is beautiful! It definitely doesn't look drought stricken at all. I do hope the drought ends soon.

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  21. Your spring garden is gorgeous! I hope you get some significant rainfall soon. You have such a bounty of roses, it would be such a shame if you had to give them up. I absolutely love the penstemon too. The blue and lavender mixed shades are so beautiful.

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  22. Your garden is lovely. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Rose is particularly beautiful and I love the name of it. Perhaps you can recycle gray water if the drought extends longer than planned. My grandfather used to do that years ago when we lived in California, we too went through these droughts when I was a kid. I'm quite surprised to hear that Jerry Brown is governor *again*? Sheesh, I've been away too long

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  23. Liebe Christina,
    oh, das tut mir so leid! Ich höre ab und an in den Nachrichten von eurer Dürre
    und hab immer überlegt, ob du wohl auch betroffen bist. Nun lese ich, dass
    es sehr ernst ist. Das wäre so schade um deine Rosen! Wunderschön blühen sie wieder
    und man sieht es ihnen bis jetzt noch nicht an. Natürlich schätzt du das ganz anders ein
    und hat einen anderen Vergleich. Ich drücke dir ganz doll die Daumen, dass die
    Wassersituation sich bei euch wieder bessert!
    Ganz viele liebe Grüße
    sendet dir die Urte

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