A Rainbow of Color for Bloom Day

I went to a gardening seminar several weeks ago.  The speaker said she was going to reveal how to design a garden and look like you know what you're doing, whether you do or not.  My ears perked up!  Really?  I wanted to know the secret!  

She went on to say that the easiest way to make your garden look good was to stick to only two different colors, and eight different types of plants.

My heart sank.  There is no way I could ever do that.  

I tried to put in a white garden.  I had all kinds of plans to use only cream and white roses, intermixed with other white perennials, and a little purple thrown in.  Sounds like it might fit her plan!

Unfortunately, one of the first plants I bought for this new garden was red.  

Red!

So much for my white garden.  Guess I don't have much self-control.  Now, instead of it being "the white bed", I call it "the new bed". 

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and I realized that my garden has an entire rainbow of color in it.  Want to see?

White:

Lion's Fairy Tale rose (in the new bed - actually white!)

Pink:

Cupcake miniature rose (in the new bed, too)

Red:

A lot of reds:  canna foliage, Home Run rose, Hot Lips sage, Knock Out rose in back  (not the new bed - whew!)

Orange:

Pat Austin rose (uh, yep, in the new bed)

Yellow:

Charles Darwin rose - I am in love with these beautifully shaped blooms!
(Yes, this is part of the new bed.)

Green:

Luna Moth  (Goes with any color of garden!)

Blue:

Black and Blue salvia
I've read these could become invasive.  Oops!
(Not the new bed.)

Purple:

Unknown - but I love this color!
(Not the new bed, either.  But if I can find it's tag, I'm going to get some for it!)

Hope you enjoyed my garden's rainbow of color!  Do you have more than two colors in your garden?

Unrealized Expectations

I planted the rose 'La Marne' in my garden last year, and it did not meet my expectations.

La Marne

What I expected was just another rose bush.  One that took a year or two to settle in before it started blooming profusely.  One that suffered in last year's record heat and drought.  I expected just another rose bush.

What I got was completely different.

I got a rose that walked through the heat and drought of last summer like it was a camel.  A rose that wouldn't stop blooming.  It wouldn't even slow down.

A rose that took a pretty picture, looked good with companions, and was cheerfully pink.

A rose that stole my heart.

Only slightly fragrant, it's smooth, almost thornless stems make me swoon.

I walk around to this side of the garden and I can't keep my eyes off of lovely La Marne.  It is definitely the star of the show in this new garden area.

Bush shot

Would I recommend this rose to you?  You bet!  La Marne is designated an Earthkind rose, grows in zones 6 to 9, can grow to 6 ft tall (or kept at around 3 ft), and will steal your heart, too.

I Dream in Color

I dreamed of a garden.

And after a bit of trial and error, I realized roses did well in the sunny soil here. 

So then I began to dream of a rose garden.

And after some work, a few years of waiting, some mistakes, and a few changes, my dream has begun to come true.

I'm still changing things, and still waiting.

But when I dream, I dream in color.

Start a garden.   

And you'll be dreaming in color, too. 

Mighty, Small

What to see one of my most prolific blooming roses?

Carnival Glass

You may be surprised when I tell you this is a miniature rose.  I bought it on a whim, thinking a miniature rose would look sweet planted in the front of this bed.  I have been extremely happy with that impulse decision.

Not only is Carnival Glass a prolific bloomer, but it is also disease resistant and hardy in zones 5 though 10.  I have mine in the ground, where I keep it to around 2 tall and wide.  It has a slight fragrance, but you have to bend down so low to smell it, I don't think that's important.  Blooms are up to 2 inches wide.  They look quite sweet in a bouquet.

Carnival Glass (in front) planted in my garden

It would be stunning in a pot, too.

Bush shot

I completely understand people that get addicted to miniature roses.  They're sweet little shrubs with an abundance of tiny blooms.  After getting Carnival Glass, I have purchased several other varieties of miniature roses.  I have yet to be disappointed.

Yes, I know - it just might be the start of an addiction!

A String of Pearls

Every woman should own a string of pearls, don't you agree?  (If you're a woman, you'll probably say yes, if you're a man, maybe not!)  Pearls are classic and will never go out of style.  Simple and beautiful, they dress up any outfit from a simple black dress to an outfit with blue jeans.

Today I'm going to introduce you to a rose that is like a string of pearls.  Simple and beautiful.  It could fit in almost anywhere.

This is Perle d'Or rose (translated it means Gold Pearl).  It's small peachy-pink blooms are like tiny little pearls, glistening in the sunlight.  So sweet, so petite, so delicate.

But the rose is not.  Designated an Earthkind rose, this rose is tough, drought tolerant, tolerant of many types of soils, disease resistant, and grows in zones 6 through 9.

Mine has gotten quite large (over 5 ft.), but this rose could easily be kept around 3 ft tall.   It would look wonderful grown in a container as a patio rose where you could see the details of its bloom.  Not yet convinced?  This rose is almost thornless, and fragrant.  I listed it as one of the top 5 old garden roses in my garden.

Classic, simple, beautiful.  Just like a string of pearls.

I'm Seeing Red!

The Knock Out roses have started blooming in the walking garden!  Oh, how I love to see them bloom.  This makes me fall in love with this garden all over again.

I know Knock Out roses have been much criticized.  And a lot of rosarians may wonder why I grow Knock Out roses here, when I grow so many different types of roses.  Well, let me explain.

Remember, this bed was designed to be a plopping garden.  A garden with a lot of bulbs and perennials.  When I put this garden bed in, I knew this bed might take a lot of my gardening time.  But I wanted roses here.  Of course, I also wanted those roses to be easy maintenance, very disease resistant, bloom constantly, and red.  I could have chosen another rose, but I chose Knock Outs.

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I'm tired of feeling like I need to defend my choice.  Knock Outs are a rose, and if you find them too many places (shopping malls, every neighborhood, along the highway), that is because they give people what they want - a rose that is extremely disease resistant and blooms constantly.  I know they're not disease resistant in every area, but here, they are ideal.  The only thing lacking is fragrance.

I'm glad I made the decision to put Knock Out roses in this bed.  (There are other roses in this bed, by the way.)  From now on, in this blog, I'm treating Knock Outs like any other rose in my garden - without embarrassment or apology, and with love.

Magical may not be the first adjective you think of when you think of Knock Out roses, but especially in spring when they first bloom in my garden, they are magical to me.

Oh, My!

Abraham Darby has only been in my garden for a couple of years.  He's stuck in the back, where I have to go behind the main rose garden to see him.  The plan is for him to eventually grow high enough as a climber to bloom over the other roses in another year or two.

Seeing a flash of color, I decided to travel back there to see if he was blooming.

Oh, my!  

Gorgeous.  Huge (every bloom is 3-1/2" across!).  Fragrant. 

So many petals stuffed into one bloom!

Don't look for me in the garden - this year I'm going to be behind the garden.  Enjoying Abe.  

Abraham Darby

Watch out, Tamora!  If you don't start blooming soon, Abraham Darby just might knock you off your throne as my favorite Austin rose.

I'm joining Chris at The Redneck Rosarian for Fill the Frame Fridays.

I Can't Believe It!

I was shocked to see the first rose bloom of the season!  After all, it's still February!  Last year's first rose bloom was the rose 'Home Run', on the 21st day of March.  Almost one month's difference!

This year, it's Carefree Beauty.

Carefree Beauty

Sure, this rose has always been an early bloomer.  It usually blooms before most of the other roses.  It bloomed in March of last year.  But ...  February?!!

And there are lots of little buds just waiting to open!

Well, there you have it.  The first rose bloom of the season.  In February!

Plants Do The Strangest Things!

How do you spell relief?  Well, in my case, I spell it f-a-s-c-i-a-t-i-o-n.

What's that, you say?

Fasciation on rose bush

I had something wrong with one of my rose bushes.  Something very, very wrong.  Something odd.  Something that got me worried.  I was almost in tears, wondering if this was something that might also affect my other roses.  So, I asked the experts on Gardenweb.

And the answer I got back from michaelg was:

"A ribbon-shaped stem (probably formed of multiple stems fusing together) is called fasciation. Branches off a fasciated stem will form abnormal patterns. It is just a birth defect that originated in the growth bud for that stem."

Fasciation!  I had heard of fasciation in plants, but never seen it in my garden.  I was so relieved that it was not something much worse (or something I had caused!).

Thought you might want to see something pretty after that horrifying picture!
This is from last summer.

I did some reading on fasciation in plants, and this is what I found:

It can be caused by damage from weather, insects, or pests.  Most of the time it is temporary, but some new varieties of plants have been introduced from fasciated plants.  Although it has been known to affect numerous types of plants, it is a fairly rare occurrence.

Whew!  That's a relief!  I'd hate to see that on my roses again!

But at least from now on I'll know what it is!

Fascinating fasciation - has this ever happened in your garden?

1 - Blooms

Roses can be wonderful, and they can be frustrating.  If I had to choose just one rose that was the best bloomer last year, you would probably be surprised at the winner.  I know I was.  That's because for a couple of years I was frustrated with this rose.  So much so, I almost got rid of it!  I'm so glad I didn't.  Because this year, it was covered with blooms nonstop.

The #1 rose for blooms for 2011 in my garden goes to Carefree Celebration.  It was spectacular in spring.  It was spectacular again in the fall.

Carefree Celebration

Why did I ever think about getting rid of this rose?  Well, it fades to a funny color.  One that didn't really appeal to me.

But this year, there were so many blooms, I didn't notice that.  At all.  All I noticed were blooms, blooms, and more blooms.

I hope it blooms that way again this year.  But even if it does, it may not be the winner again.  I have some more roses that are maturing, enough to possibly knock Carefree Celebration off her throne!

Carefree Celebration grows in zones 4b through 10, to around 4 to 5 ft high and wide, and is disease resistant.

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On another note, I have been awarded the Liebster Blog award from Wisteria and Roses.  Thank you, Bama Girl.  This award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers.  Liebster is German for 'favorite' and I was honored to have been named.  In accepting this award, I must pass it on to 5 blogs with less than 200 followers.  My favorite subject is roses, so I want to give this award to the following rose lovers:

Organic Garden Dreams

If Only Sweat Were Irrigation

Red Dirt Roses

Lucy's In The Garden

Garden at Nina Place

Congratulations!

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I was also nominated for the Versatile Blogger award from Nitty Gritty Dirt Man, Graphicality-UK, Gardens Eye View, and Blogging in Myrtle Glen.  I want to thank each one of them for thinking of me.  The rules to accepting this award are:

1. Add the Versatile Blogger Award.

2. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

4. Include this set of rules.

5. Forward this award to 15 fellow bloggers, and inform them with a comment on each of their blogs.

So, here's a little bit about me:

To finish my bachelor's degree, I went to night classes and worked during the day. (#1.  I'm a hard worker.)  I first decided to major in geology, but there was not a college near me that offered that degree, so I changed to computer science.  Computer science got too time consuming, and classes for a teaching degree were only offered during the day, so I changed to math.  Then I changed it to business, because that was what everyone told me was most logical.  But business classes were not fun to me, so I changed again to Speech.  (#2.  I'm very versatile!)  (#3.  Majoring in English never entered my head.)  And finally, just when I was going to change my major again (!), I was told that because of the "sunset rule" I would begin to lose credits.  I knew I had more credits than necessary to graduate, if only they were all in one field.  So, I talked to my professor and he came up with a plan for me to graduate by taking only two more (of his) classes.  (#4.  My teachers always liked me.)  I graduated with a very liberal arts degree, which is affectionately known in our family as "The Smorgasbord Degree" (#5).  My mother always said I was stubborn (#6.  I like to think of it as determination instead.), and I guess I am because I don't know many people that go to school for 20 years for a 4 year degree.  (#7.  Maybe I'm not so smart after all.)

And here are the 15 blogs I am awarding the Versatile Blogger Award to:

On a Hays County Hill

Quarry Garden Stained Glass

Microcosm

Southern Rural Route

Bumble Lush Kitchen Garden

Experiments With Plants

Cohocton River Rock Micro Farm

Plano Prairie Garden

Women Who Run With Delphiniums

Soil Sister of the San Joaquin
Growing and Cooking

Beautiful Boonton and A Novice Gardener

Gardening Under the Influence

Leslie's Garden and Other Delights

Children of the Corm

Congratulations!

2 - Pretty Pairs

Companion plantings can really compliment a rose, but can a rose compliment another rose?  You bet!  Here are two different combinations of roses that I found particularly pleasing this summer.  I bet you can come up with some beautiful combinations, too.

This pair of Iceberg and Showbiz are contrasting:

While this pair of Julia Child and Bright Lights coordinate perfectly:

Yes, roses paired with roses can be a beautiful thing.