Camellias at Descanso Gardens

Yesterday my husband and I had an errand to run in Los Angeles and since it only took us the morning to get it done, I suggested a visit to Descanco Gardens, which is close by. It was a nice, relatively mild day with a lovely, clear, blue sky, therefore I thought it would be ideal to visit this public garden. Besides other things Descanso Gardens is famous for its rose garden and its camellia collection. I initially was eager to see the roses, only to find out that they were hardly blooming anymore and that the gardeners had started to prune them so I was a little bit disappointed about that, but the camellias alone were absolutely worth the trip. See for yourself!

All photos shown in this post were taken by my husband.

We were obviously not the only ones interested to see the camellias.

I loved the flower shape of this one. Look at the bloom that is hanging down in this photo. Isn't the form adorable?

Camellias come in many colors and forms nowadays and are referred to as "the roses of winter" and rightly so.




To me the contrast between the dark green leaves and the flowers is what makes these plants so very appealing. The leaves sometimes look like polished leather to me.

Habitually I stick my nose into every bloom in reach. And so I did with the camellias at Descanco Gardens. I was surprised to find that some of them are quite fragrant. My own two 'Nuccio's Gem' camellias (a white japonica variety) have no fragrance at all, so I was happy to find out that this is not the case with all camellia varieties.

There is a garden called the "Fern Canyon", which I happen to find an almost magical place.

The ferns are shaded by Coast Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia). These trees have a majestic appearance and the ones at Descanco Gardens are obviously quite old. You can't help it but have to admire the beauty of these giants.

Have a closer look at how beautiful the structure of this tree is. Just marvelous! The Coast Live Oaks are also shading the camellias in this garden. They basically grow in an oak forest. Without the shade from the oaks the California sun would burn the leaves of camellias badly.

Unfortunately we had only very little battery power left in the camera, so we did not take extra photos of the name tags of the camellias in case they were there as we usually do. That is the reason why I can't offer any names to the camellia flowers that you see. Sorry for that!

I always think that white camellias are very special. They are hard to beat in terms of the elegance that they radiate. This one has particularly beautiful, dark, shiny, healthy, green leaves, which go so well with the white blooms.

Some camellia flowers have almost a frilly appearance and look very dainty like the one in the photo above.

If you are into camellias I would recommend a visit to Descanco Gardens at this time of the year, if you are in the area. You won't be disappointed!

See you in the garden!

Christina

November Roses

Due to a crash of my hard drive, followed by a very busy business trip I am coming in late with my post about roses that have bloomed in my garden in November. Still I wanted to show them to you!

Altogether my roses definitely have been winding down last month and that is to be expected. Still my aim is to have a few roses blooming year round and since I am living in Southern California that should be possible. What I did notice is that my established roses (I am talking about the bushes that are in the ground for three years or more now) are able to flower better and longer into the winter season. The other thing that occurred to me is that the Miniature and Miniflora roses that I grow in containers seemed to have been even more willing to bloom in November than my established roses in the ground. Maybe that is just a trait of the Minis and Minifloras? I have to observe these roses for a longer time to draw any conclusions, I know, but so far I am very impressed and happy with my Miniature and Miniflora roses. I am so glad that I "started to play with them" last year. Since most "regular" roses are reaching outrageous sizes here I am also pleased that they stay in bounds and can be kept in a container long term, which you can rarely say about for example a Floribunda or Hybrid Tea rose in my climate.

Here is a selection what opened up for me in November:

"The Prince" gave me the most beautiful bloom in November out of all the rose flowers that I got, I think. To my delight my camera captured the fascinating, unique, dark, crimson color of this rose quite well on this photo and at least on my monitor it looks very close to reality. I really adore this rose!

'Jilly Jewel' is one of my newer Miniature roses that do so well in containers. I have high hopes for this rose for the next year.

'Pierre de Ronsard' also gave me some lovely flowers. Its pink inner petal color is much darker than in the summer, which I prefer. It is also a clear pink and not an apricot or coral color, which is more to my liking, too.

The charming romantic blooms of 'Sister Elizabeth' continue to please me.

This is 'Irresistible', another Miniature rose. Its color is more a yellow/cream right now (usually it is much lighter) and some petals show splotches of red color (see the petal at the bottom and center of the flower), which I actually find not very appealing, but still any bloom is a joyful sight to me at this time of the year.

'Baronne Prevost' let herself down and gave me one flower. I think word got out to her that I am contemplating to shovel pruning her, because she mildews a lot and didn't repeat blooming in the autumn. I am not sure, if giving me one bloom is enough reason to keep her one more year...

'William Shakespeare 2000' presenting one more of his impeccable flowers.

This rose is called 'Moonlight Scentsation' and is one of my favorite Minifloras right now. It smells truly strong and I love the color. Depending on the light and the age of the flower the color can be an almost ghostly grayish/white. Very interesting and unusual for sure!

'Sweetness' was also still producing a number of blooms and they were all very pretty. The foliage of this rose has been completely clean, which is pretty unusual for a Hybrid Tea. I highly recommend this rose for its lovely flowers, but also for its disease resistance.

The true star of the month of November was 'Pope John Paul II'. This Hybrid Tea rose gave me an incredible flush so late in the year. The flowers were very big and as perfect as they can be for a white rose that is organically grown and not sprayed. As 'Sweetness' the Pope is completely clean here, which is an extra bonus. This is also one rose that I would highly recommend if you would like to have a great white Hybrid Tea rose. I will finish this post with photos of a couple of more blooms that I got from the Pope. Aren't they drop dead gorgeous? I could definitively have more than one bush of 'Pope John Paul II' in my yard!

This last picture shows quite well how perfect the form of this rose is.


Are any roses still blooming in your yard?

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

See you in the garden!

Christina

Arundel Castle, England, Part III

In this post I will continue with my tour through the Arundel Castle grounds. After we visited the Chapel Garden and the Fitzalan Chapel of Arundel Castle we moved on to explore the grounds further.

(you can click on the photos to enlarge)

This beautiful red wrought iron gate was so inviting to walk through, already promising more lovely gardens to come.

And indeed, what be saw next surprised us and exceeded all our expectations. A formal garden with beautiful wooden structures, terracotta containers, lovely trees, and many interesting architectural features to look at. It completely convinced me that any garden, big or small, should hold a surprise, something extraordinary and unexpected just for the mere pleasure of the visitor and the gardener itself. By the way, in the background you see the Roman Catholic Arundel Cathedral, which was build for the 15th duke of Norfolk.

If I remember correctly the wife of the current duke of Norfolk is in charge of the design of the Arundel Castle Gardens nowadays. I think, she is doing a fabulous job blending traditional garden styles with modern elements and this way keeping the gardens fresh and exciting to visit. Again, if my memory does not fail me, this part of the gardens was called the Collector Earl's Garden. Interestingly, the urns and columns that you see in this area are made out of green oak rather than out of stone, which you may assume at the first glance when you look at them. I love the golden elements adorning the urns. They just add the right amount of "bling". In this garden many beautiful terracotta containers were used, which convinced me again that they have their place in a garden and can add so much charm to it. I wish I could grow 'lady's mantle', which is used at the feet of the urns surrounding the pond.

Close-up of one of the golden lion heads of the urns. On this photo you can clearly see that the urns are made out of wood rather than stone. I wonder why they choose to go with wood.

Looking into the opposite direction. Isn't it a breathtaking sight?

Here I took a picture from a slightly different angle. To the left you can see the red wrought iron entry gate. The whole composition of this area is just so perfect.

Just one more shot so that you get a more complex impression.

Architectural features blend perfectly with this garden.

A closer look at this building. I believe it is adorned with elk antlers. How neat is that?

Looking back at the Cathedral. I think that the urns, columns and the wooden pavilion structure visually go very well with the Cathedral in the background.

Here you see the large wooden tunnel like structure a little bit closer. Somehow my husband did not want to move out of my photos of this structure. So now he has to live with appearing on my blog, since this is the only photo that I have where you can see the structure as a whole.

He was really in a good mood that day and I am happy that he could enjoy visiting the gardens, too, since usually he is not into gardening at all. I am grateful that he is almost always willing to visit a public garden with me in which I am interested in. He is truly a good sport.

I love how the climbing plant is conquering the wooden structure and the chartreuse green plantings in the containers give such a nice contrast.

Here we are inside the wooden structure looking to one end where the use of the same urns that we saw outside already is repeated. I assume that they will plant something in the containers soon.

 

One last closer look. I would love to know if by now the have planted something in the containers and if so what they have chosen. Maybe any British readers or other visitors of Arundel Castle can satisfy my curiosity?

Just as a side note, on Thanksgiving we saw the movie "The Madness of King George". Arundel Castle was used to pretend to be Windsor Castle. Very good movie by the way, even though it tweaks history a little bit. If you want to see more of the Castle and like to watch a good movie I highly would recommend this one. 

If you want to see other parts of the Arundel Castle grounds tour, please click on the following links:

Part I (the formal rose garden) click here

Part II (the Chapel Garden and the Fitzalan Chapel) click here

See you in the garden!

Christina