December Roses

All the rain that we were having here in Southern California in December brought the roses back to live after more than five years of severe drought and many were blooming beautifully again. Hence I would like to resume my habit to show you which roses have been flowering in my garden in the last month. I have to say, though, that there were more roses flowering, I just chose the ones of which I got a good photo for this post. So here they come!

I am really happy with this picture of rosa 'Auckland Metro'. I shot it while venturing outside between rain showers. The bloom is drenched in natural rain drops. I feel somehow the roses can withstand natural rain better than irrigation water. It might have to do with all the chemicals that are put in the drinking water nowadays.

Here is a bud of 'Auckland Metro'.

And another rain shot.

'Grandmother's Hat' showing a lovely, saturated, pink color in the cooler weather that we finally had in December.

The buds of rosa 'Bewitched' are particular elongated and always very elegant.

The fact that rosa 'Iceberg' is very common and easy to grow in California, doesn't diminish the beauty of 'Iceberg' in my eyes.

Another shot of 'Iceberg'.

I like how the sun back-lits the flowers of 'Iceberg' in this photo.

Certainly one of my most unusual roses is 'Nimbus'. The mauve color of this rose has a very brownish tint, which makes it quite special.

What do you think? Isn't the subtle coloration of 'Nimbus' to die for? 

The noble rosa 'Pope John Paul II'. One of my all time favorites!

Fully open flower of 'Pope John Paul II'. A little bit tattered by the rain. White roses always seem to be the most vulnerable to the exposure of water on their petals.

The Tea Rose, 'Georgetown Tea' was especially floriferous last month. 

Close-up of a bloom of 'Georgetown Tea'.

Another image of the bush of  'Georgetown Tea'.

Rosa 'Moonstone' lovely, huge flowers on a very sickly bush.

Small spray of rosa 'Piere de Ronsard'.

The same spray later with one fully open bloom. 

One rose that was absolutely outstanding last month is 'Belinda's Dream'.

I am so in love with the pale pink, perfectly formed, big blooms of this rose.

Above is a bush shot of 'Belinda's Dream'. The winter flush was almost as prolific as you would expect it to be in spring.

Some more images of 'Belinda's Dream', just because this rose is so incredible beautiful and I wanted to show you the different facets of it.

I hope seeing the photos of my December roses brought a bit of joy to you, my dear readers, but especially to those, who are suffering from a cold winter. I know how harsh the winter can be from my many years of living in Berlin, Germany, and really feel for you!

See you in the garden!

Warm regards,

Christina

I am linking up to
Life and Linda - Dishing It & Digging It
Cedar Hill Farmhouse - The Scoop
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup
21 Rosemary Lane - Share your Style

The Most Exciting Garden Time of the Year!

Each time I do a stroll through the garden at this time of the year, I see something new. The garden is rapidly changing from day to day.  One rose after the other is starting to open its flowers and many perennials have begun to bloom as well. It is simply a joy to be outside and take it all in and often I can't help but just being in awe of the beauty of nature. Spring is definitively my most favorite season of the year here in Southern California!

Hardy geranium 'Biokovo'.

Rosa 'Georgetown Tea' flirting with the spring sun.

Rosa 'Marie Pavie' spilling over the decorative wall in the front yard.

Close-up of the blooms of rosa 'Marie Pavie'.

This is rosa 'Marie Pavie' again, shown from the other side. This photo is taken at about the same time as the photo two pictures above. This side of the rose gets more shade and most buds haven't opened, yet. But this shot shows well how full of buds this rose is. 

To my big surprise my 'Verbena Bonariensis', which I planted last autumn, has started already to bloom. The label said that the plant was supposed to flower in summer, but in Southern California you never know.

Rosa 'Climing Iceberg' glowing in the sun.

Same 'Climbing Iceberg' rose. It is also incredible full of buds this year. 

Rosa 'Captain Christy'. 

Another bloom of rosa 'Captain Christy', a little bit more open.

My humangous rose 'Pierre de Ronsard' in the backyard. This year it is very healthy and is also bearing loads of buds.

The color of  'Lavender Crystal' is almost surreal.

But this extraordinary color comes with a price. The little bush is suffering badly from blackspot. Almost the only rose in my garden that is plaqued by this disease. 

Of course, even though this is a wonderful time of the year, not everything is perfect. I am not completely happy with this combination here in the front yard. The Martha Washington geranium in the blue container seems to be too garish and it is badly clashing with the lavender blooms of rosa 'Lavender Crystal' to the very right. This part definitively needs some tweaking.

This is also an example where not everything was going according to plan. The lanzett shaped leaves in the background in the middle of the photo are purple flowering gladiolus coming up. The scragly plant in the middle of the circle of gladiolus is another 'Verbena Bonariensis' that almost died on me. Maybe only one fourth of the original plant is left. It was supposed to fill out the circle of gladiolus but, oh, well....

One of the first flowers of rosa 'Grandmother's Hat' hiding deep in the foliage of the rose.

This is a scene from my White Garden Bed. I finally planted five white flowering gaura lindheimeri 'Belleza White' behind the white column and they already are starting to bloom. The rose to the left is 'Pope John Paul II' and to the right is 'Chandos Beauty'.

Close-up of gaura lindheimeri 'Belleza White's' first blooms.

This is my third trial to get this area "right". First round I planted in place of the gauras white flowering irises, which died on me. Next attempt was to plant white flowering amaryllis belladonna, which only bloomed for a very short time in July or August and pulled in their foliage most of the time, because of the heat that we are having here. So the area behind the column was simply bare dirt. Hopefully I am more lucky with the gauras. So far I like the way they look!

Wishing everyone who celebrates it a very Happy Easter!

See you in the garden!

Christina

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Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden