December Roses

Somehow last month the pale pink, pink, off-white or white roses have captivated my attention. I think I will never get tired of these soft muted colors.

The most beautiful rose that was blooming last month, with no doubt, was 'Belinda's Dream'.

I bought this slightly pink Hyacinth forcing glass last autumn and I love to us it as a vase for pink roses. There is something about how the tinted glass picks up the pink hues of the roses.

To me the pale pink very full flowers of 'Belinda's Dream' are irresistible. 

'Mary Rose' with her easy going, unpretentious, happy blooms.

'Mary Rose'

My 'Climbing Iceberg' was also blooming profusely last month.

A rose that didn't bloom much, but managed to churn out a few of her gorgeous blooms, after generously being fertilized a few weeks ago, is 'Georgetown Tea'.

'Georgetown Tea', again. Here is the flower a little bit more open.

I love how the out petals fold backwards in the mature rose flowers of 'Georgetown Tea'. So graceful!

'Moonstone' bud.

Only can admire the elegance of the buds of this rose!

A rare sight in my garden: A bloom of 'Captain Christy'. Unfortunately the rose is still a very weak grower and mildews. But the old fashioned charm of the blooms is quite enchanting. 

'Our Lady of Guadalupe' in the winter morning sun.

Same rose photographed under different light conditions. 

'Our Lady of Guadalupe', once again in the morning sun. This rose is one of my most profuse bloomers and has one the quickest repeat. But it mildews since I have it (probably five years or longer) under certain conditions regularly. I know I can have completely or almost completely disease resistant roses in my garden and even though it is a pretty rose I am considering to take it out and try another variety instead.   

But when 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is good, it is really good. 

'Marie Pavie' a rose that never fails to mesmerize me with her delicate charm. 

'Pierre de Ronsard' looking down on me against the clear blue California winter sky.

'Pretty Jessica' is not a generous bloomer in my garden, but I love her color, form of the blooms and her delicious fragrance. On top of that this rose is completely healthy year round. 

Hope you enjoyed to see some roses, that were blooming last December in my garden. I know that most of my readers are facing a very different garden reality at this time of the year. Wishing you that winter is not too hard on you or your plants.

See you in the garden!

Christina

I am linking to 

Rose Garden Malevik

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden

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

November Roses

Dear Readers, with these photos of roses that have bloomed in my garden in November, I would like to wish all of you and your loved ones a happy and healthy New Year 2015! I hope you enjoy seeing these images and I am glad, that I was able to get this post out literally in the very last minutes of the old year!

To my delight the mild warm weather of November this year brought out almost as beautiful roses as you can find in spring.

Here is a scene from the front yard. On the left side from the front to the back you can see 'Old Fashioned Girl', 'Pink Pet' and 'Climbing Iceberg'. From the right, there are peaking a few branches of 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' into the photo.

'Pink Pet' outdid itself this autumn. 

The 'Climbing Iceberg' roses to the right and left side of the garage were very lovely, too. Here you can see the one growing on the right side...

...and these blooms are the top of the 'Climbing Iceberg' growing on the left side of the garage. 

Iceberg roses, no matter if it is the climbing or the shrub rose are always so cheerful. It just makes me happy to look at them. 

In the front yard another 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' rose was strutting her stuff. To the right side of the rose I planted a new perennial that I am quite fond of. With its lavender colored delicate flowers it compliments 'Our Lady of Guadalupe quite nicely, I think. The name of the plant is plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'. We will see how it will fair in the long run in my garden. If you wonder what the piles of dirt do on the walkway, well, that was the work of racoons. They were "beautifying" my front yard every night for quite some time last month, grrr....

'The Prince', also growing in my front yard continued to delight me with its incredible colored blooms.

'Sweetness', the last rose for today from my front yard, also let you believe that it was spring.

Moving on to the backyard, 'Moonstone' was the indisputable star there.

The flowers of 'Moonstone' can be sheer perfection when it is good!

And the rose was certainly in top shape last month.

One rose flower was more beautiful then the other...

...as these photos document.

The faithful 'Pope John Paul II' never ceases to amaze.

'Stephen's Big Purple' came out with some more blooms, too.

I still don't know what to make out of the bold dark pink color. To me this rose doesn't look purple at all. The name seems to be a little misleading at least in terms of the way the roses turn out in my climate. 

 'Irresistible' had some nice flowers, too.

'Nimbus' continued to fascinate me with its exquisite colors.

The combination of rose, mauve and brown tones are quite fascinating in this rose.

Thanks for stopping by today!

See you in the garden in the brand New Year 2015!

Christina