Happy June to you! I hope you’re all enjoying time spent in your garden this spring. We’ve been so busy, as I’m sure all of you are, too. We’ve also had a string of technical problems which went on for weeks but has finally been resolved. During all of that nonsense, I found out my Macbook, which is about 7 years old, is considered “vintage.” Isn’t that funny? I’m in my 40’s so what does that make me? 😉
The roses are finishing up their first flush of blooms. That’s ‘A Shropshire Lad’ above. This rose has some of the prettiest flowers but it’s been very slow growing for me.
New to our garden is ‘The Albrighton Rambler’. It reminds me of a rose we’re judging at Biltmore right now. Hmmmm…..
Mme Ernest Calvat, that sassy lass, has looked better than I’ve ever seen her. Can you believe this plant was just a rooted cutting last summer? She must have liked our spring because she only just finished flowering yesterday. Wowzers.
I love this rose. Oh my word. This is ‘Basye’s Purple’, a hybrid rugosa. I had this one on my wishlist for a long time so I was thrilled to get a cutting from reader, Susan, last summer. Do the leaves look a bit chlorotic to you, too? Apparently that’s normal. I had the same head scratcher a few years ago with another hybrid rugosa with a similar trait to it’s leaves.
Here’s a perfect little treasure, the Centifolia known as ‘Burgundian Rose’ (among many other names.) The leaves look neat and tidy like Buxus, actually, so even when it’s not in flower it’s pretty to look at.
I was determined to get my Lauren’s Grape poppies going again in our new garden but darnit if I didn’t get the beds prepared enough last fall. In a moment of frustration last winter, I ran around the perimeter of the house tossing seeds like a crazed person and this is what has come up. Lots of tiny ones behind the retaining wall and a few larger, healthier plants in the raised beds.
St Swithun finished blooming but Munstead Wood is still cruising along. I’ve begun taking cuttings of the roses that have completed their first or only bloom cycle.
Many roses are still in containers but they are getting big enough to be planted out soon. This is ‘Nymphenburg’, a hybrid musk. These photos are not doing this rose any favors. Trust me when I tell you it’s gorgeous in real life with a really nice scent.
Another rose I didn’t get a great photo of but is so fantastic, this is ‘Red Smith’s Parish’, and what I love most about it is the blooms which start out candy pink and deepen to pure scarlet. I think I actually have a better shot of this rose on my IG if you’re interested.
The rockery is coming along. I am trying to restrain myself from filling in the bare patches since I know these perennials will eventually get bigger! Some schemes are doing better than others. Powdery Mildew has been a big headache this spring, affecting so many of the roses. Also, various larvae are going to town on their leaves and I’ve been picking them off constantly. I see the birds and other beneficials casually cleaning up our pest problem and I’m like, “you guys need to step up your game.” It takes time getting that balance. Also, a whole bunch of sweet peas went to that great garden in the sky and my big plans for a giant sunflower patch fell through. Isn’t it just so maddening when you put time and money into seedlings and they, for whatever reason, just don’t work out? The ups and downs of gardening!
Here’s something that did work out and I’m so pleased about: these cedar supports Jesse is building for some of our roses. They look exactly like the picture I had of them in my head and they’re going to be great to get those long, whippy canes trained up. If you’re curious, they cost about $20 to make–easy peasy. Does anyone want the plans for these?
Last spring I planted a bananas ton of Clematis and then promptly forgot what was what. Have I told you this already? I’ve been slowly puzzling it all together, as they bloom, and when my computer died recently one of the things I was most worried about saving were my notes on my Clematis! I’m such a nerd.
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a talk at the North Carolina Arboretum in conjunction with the Asheville Blue Ridge Rose Society’s annual rose exhibition. My talk was on growing easy-care fragrant roses and I pulled a lot of the content from this blog. I’m glad I did it, but I think it highlighted the fact I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of gal. 😉 In between having small heart attacks about giving my presentation, I managed to get a few photos of the exhibition room.
The next day we visited the Hendersonville Garden Jubilee and I picked up some plant loot like some more scented Pelargonium, Siberian Iris and berry shrubs. There’s a photo of some of my finds on my potting bench. If you’re ever planning a trip to WNC, you might like to visit during the Jubilee. It’s so much fun! And Hendersonville is only about 40 minutes drive from downtown Asheville, so there’s that.
Speaking of things going on in our neck of the woods, Jesse and I recently started up a fun adventure: we’ve rented a tiny-tiny space in an Antiques mall nearby. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that Jesse has a pretty serious hobby of bookselling vintage and antique first editions. We live in such a small house, though, and between storing my jewelry supplies and his books, things were getting out of hand. When the opportunity presented to move product locally we jumped! Since there was room for me, too, I stuffed that case full of sparkly goodness along with his books. I’ve taken my shop down, here on Hedgerow Rose, until I can sort the inventory so bear with me. The two of us have only ever sold online before so we’ll see how it goes.
Oh ‘Dark Desire’….you saucy minx.
‘Erinnerung an Brod’ is such a beautiful rose. I’m so glad I managed to get a clone from our (huge) shrub we left behind.
‘The Generous Gardener’. NO DISEASE at all on this rose. Of course, now that I’ve written that I’ve jinxed it, haven’t I…
‘Hot Cocoa’ was a gift from a fellow ABRRS member’s garden. I love the coloring, don’t you?
The hydrangeas that came with the house never bloomed last summer, but as you can see, they are now. Here’s what I did to rejuvenate them: I cut them back to about 2′, gave them each a dose of HollyTone fertilizer, and several shovels-full of compost. Seemed to work!
Recently, I did my fourth day of judging at Biltmore for the rose trials. The next time will be when everyone gets together in September for a final day of scoring and the results for roses entered in 2014. {EDIT: whoops I’ve got one more in July!} This has been such a fun experience and I can’t wait to see everyone this fall.
This view hasn’t changed much over the weeks. The garden is filling in–slowly. See the wheelbarrow? That’s the part of the yard I’m ready to tackle next as far as making new beds.
‘James Galway’ is being very forgiving with me for planting him in a way too shady spot.
See? Still giving me blooms, although I’m sure there would be more if it were sunnier here.
At the end of this month, I’ll be making a trip back to State College for my grandmother’s 90’th birthday party. If the weather is nice, I’m sure to visit my old stomping grounds at the Arboretum to see the roses but I’m not sure I’ll go back to the old garden. I’ve heard the plants got torn out and I don’t think I want to see that. I’m sure to share photos of my travels on Instagram if you’d care to follow along. Wish me luck!
I love your blog. I have been taking notes of all the roses I want to grow you’ve mentioned. I live in NC and will definitely check out Hendersonville next year. So sad I missed it.
Thank you Kristy! It’s always nice to meet a fellow NC resident! 🙂
Laurie, I’m living vicariously through your roses. After a week of unseasonal, extreme, blistering heat, my roses are dried up crunchy spheres, shrunken beyond recognition. The once bloomers were in their glory when it hit, so they’re done. What’s left will be potpourri.
To my surprise, the roses that made it through were the most delicate looking. Spirit of Freedom, St. Swithun, Bonny and Marjorie Fair. Speaking of delicate, your Albrighton Rambler – so beautiful!
And, I may have killed my precious Munstead Wood by tossing in a shovel full of peat moss in the hole – I know, what was I thinking! It just withered away. I dug it up, defoliated it, cut it way back and put it in a bucket of water. An Endless Summer hydrangea went in the acidic rose hole. How could I be so dumb! I’m glad I have your roses to look at until mine recover.
I WISH I could browse through Jesse’s books. Several bibliophiles in our family. Does he specialize in any particular genre? A case of rare, antique books and handmade jewelry is a lovely combination.
Oh Andrea my heart breaks for you! I know what that’s like to wait all year for your roses and something outside of your control destroys them. That’s happened to me, too, so I can commiserate. Interesting to hear which of your roses did OK and I’m going to keep those in mind when I add more (must get rid of more lawn, first.) I’m sorry to hear about your Munstead! I’m sure it will bounce back, it’s a tough little rose. And I’ve certainly maimed my fair share of plants so you’re not alone there, either. 😉
Jesse’s books: he collects mainly what he calls “modern” first editions. His idea of modern is anything in the 20th century, with a focus on midcentury–a lot of science fiction from that time period. Personally, I’m an antique books lover. I have a few in my collection that go back to the 16th century! So, whenever the two of us are hunting for books to add to his shop, I beeline for the antiques area and that’s my contribution to the collection. If there’s anything in particular you’re looking for, let me know! 🙂
The era is right, but sounds like he probably wouldn’t have anything by modern poets – you know, the weird ones that don’t make sense or rhyme. 🙂 But, oh, my goodness!, would I love to browse his collection. Couldn’t your next move be up here to the north woods? I would be in awe just holding one of your 16th century books.
Thank you for the Munstead encouragement. Is that your Albrighton Rambler in one of the cedar supports? I’m anxious to see how it grows.
That’s Arcata Pink Globe in that cedar support photo. It’s a rose that can get bigger and bigger if you let it, so I’m going to control it’s size so it sort of fits the support if that makes sense.
I told Jesse to keep an eye out for your modern poets next time he’s hunting down books! But if you’re ever in the central PA area, you would LOVE visiting when they do their annual book sale. It’s amazing!
Yes, I would love the plans for the rose trellis columns pls!!! Thanks…everything in your garden looks beautiful!
Thank you so much, Holly! I think we’re planning on building a few more this week so I’ll take photos and measurements for you. 🙂
Hi Laurie, I agree with you about ‘Nymphenburg’ – I love mine, even if it is rather tall! I chuckled when you used the phrase “plant loot”. Cute. Cheers from Australia!
Hi Jane! Thank you for telling me about your Nymphenburg, that’s good to know. I was planning on putting it against the house and I wanted it to grow between two windows so I’m happy to hear it can get tall! 🙂
I would love the plans for the rose columns! We are having the opposite problem with our seedlings. We planted 6 packets of tomato seeds this year (different varieties) we figured not all the seeds would sprout, and we would loose quite a few of the ones that did sprout. Fast forward to several weeks later, they ALL grew, so we say, we will loose some when we transplant. NOPE. We have over 400 tomato plants!!! We have already warned our neighbors that the tomato fairy will be visiting their porches all summer. 🙂 If that wasn’t enough of fiasco, we planted two packets of lima bean seeds, they did nothing. zip. zilch. So we bought a flat of plants from our local high school plant sale, then we bought another flat cause they were 50% off, it was for a good cause, and why not. Famous last words, cause then those two packets of seeds sprouted, 4 weeks late. Now we have over 100 lima bean plants. Apparently we are prepping for an apocalypse, if anyone wishes to eat their body weight in lima beans or tomato’s this summer come on over. lol also I did sunflowers, planted them along the fence between us and our sweet neighbor, thought the variety I picked got about 6 feet tall. Nope it’s the mammoth variety they get up to 12′ tall. Had to explain to our neighbor I accidently planted 2 story tall sunflowers, and was not intentionally trying to reenact the Great Wall of China with Sunflowers. lol
Hahaha! Your story about your seedling gave me such a laugh! That’s too funny. 400 tomato plants!! That’s insanity. I wonder if there are any schools in your area that are doing gardens that you could donate plants to? Just a thought.
BTW, I dunno but a great wall of sunflowers sounds pretty fantastic to me. 😉
I always enjoy your posts and pictures ! Thanks for giving us a tour of your garden .
Sorry your sunflowers didn’t take . I planted them in a bed with zinnias , and maybe only 50 out of a half pound bag came up 🙁 . I’ll enjoy the 50 though !
Your clematis are beautiful ! Id love to see more pics of those !
50 sunflowers sound pretty amazing to me! 😉 It’s my own fault ours didn’t take off–I planted them in an area that I didn’t prep enough and they’re also not getting enough sun. I’ll try to get more photos of the Clematis. I finally figured out what each one is! They’re still small and only producing a smattering of flowers. (If you’re curious, I purchased the majority from Bluestone Perennials…they have great prices on Clematis!)
How wonderful!! Your roses are looking so lovely. And the clematis (still wishing I had planted some) and everything else. Sorry to hear about the sweet peas and the sunflowers. 🙁
Congrats on your rose talk and the wonderful new business venture with your husband. What fun!! I hope it is a smashing success!
Oh, and I think you’ve helped solve a garden mystery. My mom has a rose growing in her garden (that was there when she moved in) and I had a feeling that it might be Bayse’s Purple and after seeing your photos and hearing your description of its tendency towards yellowed foliage, I’m convinced that’s what it is. Thanks for that!
And thanks for sharing so much beauty!
Ha, Laurie, I see Anne beat me to it. Yes, I think we now can take the little plaque that reads “I have no idea what this is” off the rose. Unfortunately, it seems to be the most favored by the local deer and there have been no buds left to open yet this season. It is one of two roses I left in the jungle we dug out and turned into the new rose and peony bed. All the new roses are David Austin’s zone four own root plants. Had a bit of a disappointment though, when they sent an errant rose that should have been A Shropshire Lad. They still weren’t able to replace it this spring due to mislabeling in their fields. I’ll have to be patient to see it next spring and until then will look upon yours with just a little bit of envy.
I am such an admirer of your gardens and all the hard work you do to get them to become what you see in your mind’s eye. You asked if anyone would like the plans for the rose support. I certainly would be grateful.
I know it’s difficult to get to writing blogs when life is so full, but I do watch for your postings and enjoy them. thanks. Seems like an inspiration to have one of a kind books and handcrafted jewelry sharing space in an antiques environment. My best wishes on your new adventure.
Anne and Sharon, I always love when you two stop by. You’re so encouraging and kind! That just tickles me to no end that my post was able to help you solve your rose mystery. 😀 Glad I could help!
Oh! I’ve got that cedar support tutorial up so let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week, both of you!
I so love pink roses. Thank you for sharing the beauty and the joy of gardens with us.
My pleasure! Glad you like them!